Learning curve for three Hong Kong fashion labels in Paris catwalk debut

Kenax Leung, Injury and ffiXXed studios revel in opportunity to work with world-class hair and make-up teams and stylists in world’s fashion capital, and hope to be back again

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Designer Kenax Leung (second from left) with models at the Fashion Farm Foundation show in Paris Fashion Week. Photos: Nowfashion

Published: 2:02pm, 5 Mar 2016Updated: 8:20pm, 4 May 2021

Three Hong Kong fashion labels took a big step up when they joined the world’s biggest designers by showing on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week. Injury, ffiXXed Studios and Kenax Leung presented collections at the French capital’s L’Ecole des Beaux Arts with the support of Fashion Farm Foundation, a government-funded non-profit dedicated to promoting Hong Kong fashion.

A model wears a Kenax Leung design at the Fashion Farm Foundation autumn-winter 2016 ready-to-wear show in Paris.

Injury, the label of husband and wife designers Eugene Leung and Dan Tse, showed a collection inspired by “current statistics showing that people only have six seconds of attention now”. How very apt in a season where high fashion has become fast fashion as big brands offer clients the chance to buy straight from the catwalk.

Twitter reacts to the Hong Kong labels’ appearance

“The six seconds thing was interpreted more as an attitude to our design rather than a visual thing,” said Leung. “We made design decisions intuitively and quickly.” The result was youthful and edgy, with plenty of easy-to-wear separates. Slouchy knits paired with shiny, thigh-high PVC boots. A great stripe fabric and a woven belted coat were standouts.

Leung founded the brand 12 years ago in Australia, and in those early days sought inspiration from subcultures – resulting in looks that were visual and graphic. But the designer, who trained in architecture rather than fashion, says that for the past four to five years, “we’ve been changing into something quite different, more high-end, more luxurious, spending more time on fabrics, silhouettes and the right accessories”.

Injury designers Dan Tse (third from left) and Eugene Leung (fourth from left) with models at the Fashion Farm Foundation show.

Other Hong Kong designers, many of whom take streetwear as their starting point, would be well advised to embark on this kind of creative maturation if they are to make it on the international circuit. Cool, edgy graphics only go so far, and it’s cutting, shapes and fabrics that translate into lasting appeal in the global high-fashion market.

For Kenax Leung, who also showed a fun, young, street-inspired collection, a play with sleeve proportions, layering and textural patchworking caught the eye. “This collection is inspired by a New York-based installation artist called MEL,” he said. “He works a lot in wood and acrylic, and cut-outs.”

Sleeves featured poplin openings, and the arty abstraction of some patched shapes was a clever link to the designer’s initial stimulus.