Street smarts

THINK HONG KONG couture, and names such as Barney Cheng and Vivienne Tam probably spring to mind. A number of the city's homegrown designers have made their mark internationally in high-end fashion. But now some enterprising talents are trying to put Hong Kong on the map in street vogue.

Highly influenced by skateboarding culture, ephemeral youth fads and the hip-hop scene, street fashion is rapidly evolving, predominantly involving casual wear such as T-shirts, tank tops and jeans.

New York and Tokyo have long led the field, with Stussy, X-large and Zoo York from the US, and Bathing Ape and Fiberops from Japan among the leading brands. And in the past year or so, Hong Kong names such as Knowledge, Double Dog of Double Brother and Dusty have begun to register with buyers in the west.

Knowledge is perhaps the best known of the group. Launched by skate shop 8Five2 last summer, the brand is fast making a name for itself. That's due in part to owner-designer Julius Brian Siswojo's strong industry connections.

A skateboarder himself and strategically plugged into the community, he invited several prominent artists to design five T-shirts for his debut collection: Alyasha Owerka Moore, of Fiberops; Arai of Hex Antistyle; Eli Morgan Gesner from Zoo York; Peter Huynh of UXA; and Eric Haze, the man behind the eponymous Haze brand who's also designed album covers for the Beastie Boys.

Siswojo and his wife, Annie Lee, added four T-shirts that hark back to the brand's Hong Kong roots, including designs featuring kung fu hero Bruce Lee and Guan Gung, the legendary Chinese general revered for his righteousness. Although the savvy entrepreneur concedes that recruiting famous street artists has helped raise the Knowledge profile, he says it's the quality and detailing of the clothing that established its reputation. 'If the graphics are cool, make good sense and have nice colouring, people will like it,' he says.