Plastic fantastic

It's commonly seen at construction sites and in hardware shops, but is now surfacing in museums, at pop concerts and on fashion runways. The familiar red-white-blue woven plastic is no longer just a handy material, it's inspiration for art and design. The commonplace plastic is now being held up as a cultural symbol for Hong Kong because it epitomises key traits of the people: endurance and flexibility.

Much credit for that goes to Stanley Wong Ping-pui, aka anothermountainman, who popularised the concept through his installations at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in 2004 and the Venice Biennale in 2005. Since then, Canto-pop veteran Sam Hui Koon-kit has worn a red-white-blue costume at his comeback concerts as homage to the Hong Kong spirit, and pop duo Twins have a hit inspired by the stripes.

Fashion houses such as Helmut Lang and Comme des Garcons also have incorporated the stripes into their designs. And at Paris Fashion Week last October, Louis Vuitton unveiled a leather version of the red-white-blue carrier bag, stamped with the luxury brand's logo.

Fashion designer William Tang Tat-chi is delighted by such tributes to the Hong Kong cultural symbol. Although he's not a fan of the material, Tang recognises it has a key role in design. 'It's great that our lifestyle icon received such international exposure,' he says.

Wong traces the origins of the fabric to Japan, where it was created, and then to Taiwan, where it was manufactured. The tricolour fabric became ubiquitous at local construction sites during the 1960s and 70s when the booming economy fuelled a surge in real estate projects. 'They were always building something. It was when Hong Kong seemed to own this fabric,' says Wong.

However, the woven plastic became commonplace only in the 80s when it was made into large carrier bags. And the man who arguably invented the bags is 82-year-old Lee Wah.