Why Hong Kong label Magnus & Novus wants spotlight on artisans in China who cut and sew its made-to-measure men’s fashions
You won’t see the label’s founders posing for the cameras – they want the focus to be on the skilled workers in Shenzhen, over the border from Hong Kong, making its clothes, as they aim to create apprenticeships scheme
Hong Kong menswear brand Magnus & Novus is on a mission to protect and promote tailoring skills in Asia – and for co-founder Ethan Rye it’s all about the needle.
“When we talk about beautiful craftsmanship and hand work, really, it doesn’t matter whether the craftsman is Asian, black, or white – excellent hand work is excellent handwork,” he says. “It’s really about someone who knows how to use a needle. It’s about giving them a direction, showing them how to use that needle and what to do with it, providing them with the skills so they could do it while they’re blindfolded.”
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More than a luxury clothing and accessories label, Magnus & Novus champions ethical, sustainable, artisanal craft. When Rye and his partners established the house several years ago, Rye says they had a vision of preserving craftsmanship in China and resurrecting the fine handcraft that has existed in China for thousands of years.
“Today, it’s very difficult to find master tailors and skilled craftspeople in China, and we want to bring more awareness to that. As a humanist enterprise, we focus on ethical production, preserving these skills, and developing and training apprentices in our workshop in Shenzhen, where most of our products are made.”
The ultimate objective, says Rye, is for Magnus & Novus to create an academy of high craftsmanship in China, where budding apprentices can learn from both seasoned local artisans and experts brought in from overseas – European and British master shoemakers, tailors, embroiderers, woodworkers, spectacle shapers, for example.