IT WOULD HAVE been a far-fetched fantasy for cutting-edge designers such as Miuccia Prada, Jil Sander and Ann Demeulemeester to consider making a successful break into men's fashion 20 years ago. While the idea of men creating women's clothing is old news in the industry, the thought of having women helm menswear labels was still regarded as relatively novel - until the past decade. The roster of women designers creating menswear is ever-expanding. Designers such as Veronique Branquinho, Sophia Kokosolaki and Martine Sitbon have recently unveiled their menswear collections, and Hong Kong-based duo Carol Wong and Hilda Yim are the latest crop of cool chicks who have hopped on the menswear bandwagon. 'It's fun to dress a guy,' says Wong when asked about the birth of new menswear label, Schiele. 'I think women have a different perspective towards men's fashion. Male designers are often too direct and to-the-point with their designs, probably because they wear the clothes. Women can add a touch of finesse, a feminine side, to designs and I think that's something that male designers can't often do.' Asked what the collection - which for spring/summer comprises quirky, hand-embroidered tees, vintage-inspired washed shirts and city boy blazers - has in common with the erotic nudes of its namesake, turn-of-the-century Austrian painter Egon Schiele, Wong explains that the connection is more conceptual than literal. 'We were looking at old art books and we really wanted to bring in the name Schiele,' explains Wong. 'We wanted something artistic and creative and we wanted to capture the aesthetics of his strong images but not so much his borderline pornographic obsessions.' Educated at Parsons School of Design and New York University respectively, Yim and Wong first met when the latter worked as a fashion buyer at SoHo style mecca Steven Alan and the former designed a T-shirt line called Shopaholic, which is sold in Hong Kong, the United States and Japan. 'We first met in New York and I ended up coming to Hong Kong with my fiance- now-husband and Hilda and I just started hanging out a lot,' says Wong. 'Our significant others are both very fashion-conscious but found they couldn't find anything they liked in the city. Both tend to gravitate to labels like Martin Margiela, but found that most fashionable labels tend to be a bit camp. So Hilda and I just started talking about launching an accessibly-priced menswear line that had a sense of fun while preserving a masculine look,' Wong explains. The pair presented their first capsule collection in New York for autumn/winter 2002 as a way to test the markets - and found that feedback turned out to be surprisingly welcoming. 'We wanted to start slow and see and we were quite worried because our designs might be a little too fanciful,' says Wong. 'But then we were really happy because people were very receptive, which was a very good thing.' The duo were then given a big push when asked to participate in New York's annual Gen Art fashion show in January. Showcasing the work of fashion's most promising newcomers - Zac Posen, Chaiken & Capone, Amaya Arzuaga and Trosman Churba are all alumni - the pair were overwhelmed by the opportunity. 'We felt so honoured to participate in the event because the show usually features the best batch of new talents,' says Wong, 'We were even interviewed by The New York Times, which was really encouraging. They described us as 'young and refreshing'.' Aimed at detail-oriented men of all ages with lots of easy-to-wear separates, the label is tailored for contemporary, urban life. 'Inspiration can come from anywhere, whether it's walking down the street and seeing an old man in a tattered tee, or just looking at the people around us,' says Wong. ' We find that people in the arts and design industry tend to share our aesthetics and appreciate a garment being made unique and special. I can totally see a 50-year-old wearing our designs, but at the same time teens look good in them so it's not so much an age thing.' Schiele is currently being sold in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Tokyo and Shopaholic in Hong Kong. The duo will distribute their label in Paris at the end of this year. While most Hong Kong-based designers market their collections in freestanding boutiques and local fashion shows, Wong and Yim are steering in a different direction. 'We want to focus on design and let our showrooms abroad handle our distribution,' says Yim. 'We have not been participating in Hong Kong Fashion Week because it's more of a trade-oriented event and even though we want to span internationally, we still want to keep our label special and it's hard to present our looks in those venues.' That said, their absence is not an indication of a fear of being dubbed 'Hong Kong designers' - a name that is commonly associated with creativity-deprived, mass-market fashion. 'We don't mind being regarded as 'Hong Kong designers' at all,' Wong says. 'After all, being named 'Hong Kong designers' is more of a geographical label than anything else. We're not showing our collections during Hong Kong Fashion Week because we don't think the events here would allow us to present our collections according to our specific visions.' The duo have pushed their label to international runways but with a design team of just two people, Yim admits that the biggest difficulty in launching a label is having to balance quality and quantity. 'It gets difficult when you want to do something special and it's hard to find the right-sized manufacturers who would make the garments for you,' says Yim. 'We want to make sure that the pieces are unique and hand-produced but at the same time, we need to be able to satisfy production quantities so it's always a problem.' It's not all hard work and compromise, however. Asked about the best part of their job, the two chime in unison: 'Dressing the models,' they laugh. So, should we expect the two to stitch up womenswear anytime soon? 'Well, we have been asked to do smaller sizes but it's not really our intention to do womenswear,' say the pair, smiling again. Clearly, the girls have more than a few sound reasons to stick with the boys. carmen.li@scmp.com Hilda Yim (left) and Carol Wong are gaining an international reputation as designers of cool menswear, as their label Schiele's summer collection (below) shows. Photo: Dickson Lee
