London Fashion Week may be known for launching the careers of multiple British designers, but last month it made history by welcoming Hong Kong label Izzue onto the official schedule, marking the first time a Hong Kong brand has hosted a solo show in the city. Attended by celebrities including singer Lily Allen and fashion designers John Rocha and Markus Lupfer, the show paid homage to the brand’s roots and DNA with edgy looks for both men and women. Bestsellers such as sweatshirts, trench coats, MA-1 bomber jackets, down puffers, biker jackets and short blazers were sent down the catwalk; each look transformed through clever cutting or deconstruction techniques. Each look was multi-layered. Twisted or extra-long striped tees or dresses were shown alongside brightly coloured hoodies that looked as though they had been dissected and reconstructed. Tailored pieces were made from PVC and outerwear came decorated with nylon straps printed with the brand’s motto “Live it Real”. Every look was accessorised with backpacks or bumbags and a pair of Doc Martens – a tribute to the brand’s close connection to British culture. “The show is timely as we are celebrating our 20-year anniversary. We launched at [department store] Selfridges a few years ago and it was the perfect opportunity to host a catwalk show here in London,” explains Deborah Cheng, chief commercial officer of I.T Group, which owns Izzue. Izzue gives Central Saint Martins fashion graduates a shop window in China “The group’s founder [Sham Kar-wai] has always been inspired by British culture, and Izzue, from the beginning, referenced this idea of cool London style. He once said, “If there was no [British magazine] i-D , there’d be no I.T.” Britons may not know much about Izzue, but the country’s creative energy has always been an inspiration for its design team. Wai founded the label in the late 1990s when British classics such as Doc Martens were taking over Hong Kong streets. “Back then we didn’t intend to create a high street brand – that terminology didn’t even exist. There was no Zara or Uniqlo and we saw a gap in Hong Kong. We always wanted to appeal to the youth culture,” Cheng says. “It was and still is about people who want to dress cool without having to spend a lot. I wouldn’t say our style is avant garde – it’s an understated brand. Since then we have been able to set its own tone and vision.” The brand’s name was chosen to reflect young people’s penchant for obsessing over certain topics or “issues”. It started out with glossy campaigns shot by Hong Kong photographer Leslie Kee and featuring Asian models and talents. Many of the later campaigns were shot in London, and in turn the collections started to feature the city’s street style staples such as leather biker jackets. Everything was styled together with an unexpected twist – a hallmark of British style. Over the course of the noughties the brand built a strong following among Asian customers, opening stores in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Macau and Singapore. In 2009, it started spreading its wings overseas, and opened stores in places including Paris, Canada and London, where the brand has been available since 2013. To keep things fresh, Izzue also embarked on a series of collaborations. Inspired by popular youth cultures such as music and street art, many of the collaborations were with British labels, including Underground, Tricker’s, Fred Perry and the Cambridge Satchel Company. For spring-summer 2019, they Izzue has joined forces with label Brandalised to access graffiti images from pioneering street artist Banksy, including The Grim Reaper, Exclamation Rat and No Parking, which feature on unisex T-shirts, sweaters and hoodies. The label is also committed to nurturing young design talent, as seen in its long-term partnership with the likes of Tsinghua University in Beijing. This season will see it collaborate with famed British fashion school Central Saint Martins and sustainable-fashion label PHVLO . Two students were selected to co-design a multi-function garment under the theme of “transform” with the Izzue design team. The initiative has resulted in a 10-piece capsule collection. While such projects have helped the brand increase its profile, Cheng admits that there are challenges ahead as the market becomes more competitive. “In terms of price we can’t beat Zara or H&M. What we are offering is a universal style. To keep doing what we do best, we need to expand our own design capacity. We have been very focused on China and Hong Kong, so now the team has to expand to a level that can have international vision. Details such as fabric, cuts, sizing, colours are different in other markets, and we can easily fill this gap,” she says. Part of this ambition includes opening more stores overseas (currently most of Izzue’s revenue is coming from its Asian business). Cheng thinks the brand has great potential thanks to its positioning and affordable price point. “We want to bring the brand to the world. I always have a feeling that there are so many brands from other countries that represent their style and aesthetic like Club Monaco or Roots did for Canada. We don’t have one that represents Hong Kong or even China, and I feel it’s more likely that we will achieve this with a more affordable brand versus a luxury brand. It sounds ambitious, but if Uniqlo or Zara can achieve this, why can’t we?”