bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

I graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1995. I was an assistant to various designers, and then I opened up my own workshop within a year of graduating.
It was trial and error. After that came my collections and then a shop.
I always thought I wanted to go into art. My family felt like it wasn’t a job that could sustain me financially—so I turned to design.
They didn’t really support that either, but as I went on to open my own shop, they started coming around.
If my family didn’t suggest that I apply to the Polytechnic, I might have become a painter.
The first show that I did on my own, we hired out Rise Shopping Arcade in Tsim Sha Tsui. It was pretty memorable—I got my friends to help, found models, chose the music and made the invitations myself.
Every fashion show has incidents—the clothes are not ready, the clothes don’t fit, or the props break right before a show. Once, the music was delivered five minutes before the show began.
I’m nervous every time before a show. There’s a time limit and you want to do your best. Even right at the last moment, you’re still trying to mend the clothes to make them better.
The key to being a successful fashion designer is flexibility. Fashion design is a complex business—from choosing the fabrics and accessories like buttons and lining, to casting models and the atmosphere at the show—there are a lot of things you have to juggle.
It’s all part of the challenges faced by a fashion designer. You have to be into it and also know how to solve problems.
I’m the biggest critic of my work.
The biggest change in the Hong Kong fashion industry is the rise of fast fashion a few years back. Before, fashion gave people great, delicate designs. People aspired to this lifestyle. But when trends are changing so quickly and fast fashion gives you that quick fix—it becomes like instant noodles.
Online shopping also affects fashion. It went from people wanting to feel the clothes to just looking at something and buying it right away.
What is trendy right now is actually created by fashion designers.
Fans of the brand like the style that Spy Henry Lau created. If I designed something that simply followed trends, they wouldn’t buy my clothes.
A lot of my inspiration comes from films. I like making collections that tell a story. When I watch a film, I think about the historical background and why people are dressed the way they are.
Working with artists is different from creating my own collections. Stars have their own character and what I’m doing is just making them carry the clothes better. And when they’re wearing my clothes, they’re presenting them in the best way possible too. It’s a two-way street.
The first time I met Anita Mui, I didn’t recognize her. “Ah Mui” had always given me this impression of being an empress of the stage. When I laid eyes on her, she was just a girl, in her glasses, saying hi to me.
It makes you realize that when an artist is on stage they have a persona that is totally unlike how they are in real life.
The perceived bitchiness of the fashion industry refers more to front row gossip. For people who are in the industry itself— we’re working hard behind the scenes.
When I started out, people only wanted designer labels. That has changed a lot. Hongkongers dress really well. They look stylish—yet you wouldn’t necessarily see any labels on them.
Style takes time to develop. When you look at cities like Paris and London and wonder why people there dress so well—it’s because they have more history than Hong Kong.
There are too many people in Hong Kong who complain too much about their lives and the city they’re in. I don’t think it should be like this. Hongkongers work hard and strive to improve themselves. Right now, it seems like all people do is play the blame game.
But as long as Hong Kong doesn’t go backwards, I won’t leave.
As I’ve grown up, I’ve come to realize art is a personal thing—you do what you want to do, on your own. Design is different in that you communicate with people. You’re problem-solving and it has an effect on others.
I think that’s what I prefer doing—working with other people.
I wouldn’t want to do it all again. I don’t look back. I use my experiences in life and the things I’ve learned to develop more and more.
	 
Lau will be showcasing his latest collection at Hong Kong Fashion Week on Jan 13.


Best of the Best: Quotes from the Most Prominent People in Hong Kong

Designer Comma Leung is Crowdfunding to Make Wallets for the Blind

What Do I Need to Know to Survive in Hong Kong?

HK Mag Staff Pick Their Favorite Eats for the Last Time

HK Magazine Archive

Henry Lau

Magazines

Fashion designer Henry Lau is the founder of the clothing label Spy Henry Lau. He has worked with the great and the good over the years and continues to be an influential figure in the fashion scene. He tells Andrea Lo why he chose fashion over art, what inspires him, and his first impressions of Anita Mui.
