Design of the Times

From Jan 17 to 20, Hong Kong will be transformed into a full-fledged couture paradise as Hong Kong Fashion Week Fall/Winter kicks into gear. Hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and hailed as one of the largest fashion fairs in Asia, the event this year has attracted 2,000 international exhibitors and will be expecting tens of thousands of visitors throughout the four-day fest. International labels and local talents will rock their latest on the runway, setting the trends for the coming year.

Last year’s extravaganza saw Vivienne Westwood strutting her Anglomania collection, and this year we’ve snapped up Parisien fashion house Rue du Mail for a couple of headliners. Not that we couldn’t hold our own, of course, with Hong Kong stars such as Barney Cheng, Ika Butoni, Dodo Leung and Gary Tsang doing our city proud with their own shows. At the same time, Korean and Japanese powerhouses Doii Lee and Keita Maruyama will be vying for the spotlight among numerous fierce Asian designers.

One of the highlights of the event, however, is the annual Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest. Sixteen local up-and-comers have been chosen as finalists, and they will be debuting their designs at the event, which is widely considered one of the most important fashion competitions in town. While the 16 talented finalists were treated to a shoot with renowned photographer Wing Shya (the results of which you can see throughout these pages), each contestant’s eye is on the big prize. The winner will not only receive a cash award, but also an opportunity to intern under the wing of Rue du Mail creative director Martine Sitbon in Paris.

But to these promising young stars, what does Hong Kong’s fashion industry actually mean, and how do they hope to shape it?

“I think the Hong Kong fashion industry is on the right track. The design part of the industry is doing quite well,” says Haze Ng Kwok-hei, a student at PolyU and one of the finalists of the competition. “Although the design industry is not the mainstream here in Hong Kong, there are now more and more opportunities for designers, more exhibitions, fashion shows and competitions,” he says. “I think the opportunities [for local designers] are quite enough in Hong Kong. Last year alone, I attended nine different design competitions. I think it’s quite a lot.”

“I think [shows and competitions like these] provide a stage for Hong Kong designers to explore their inspirations and to design for the public,” adds Jessie Wong-Tsz-wa, fellow competitor and Hong Kong Design Institue/Nottingham University incumbent. In the long term, she believes that the Hong Kong industry will inevitably have greater communication with mainland China. This is a view echoed by Texwood Ltd’s junior fashion designer Herman Sin Chun-kit, whose entry for the competition, titled Framer, is on our cover. “A lot of [Hong Kong’s fashion] resources have gone to the mainland,” he says. And the result is there is a smaller piece of the pie left in the city. Sin also thinks that the fashion education system in Hong Kong needs more support and enlightenment. “I feel that the younger generation’s got it down when it comes to creative thinking, but technique-wise, we don’t seem to be, well, I can’t say we’re insufficient, but… we could benefit from more resources [for Hong Kong schools],” he says.

Finalist Angela Ng Kei-kei, who is currently a designer at fashion label Chewthecud, has another take on the prominence and progress of the industry. “The majority of local Hong Kong people do not really pay much attention to the local fashion industry,” Ng believes. “Many Hong Kong people tend to support foreign brands instead of Hong Kong local designers. There is a big group of local young designers who have great dreams and talents, and it is hard for them to break out in Hong Kong.”