Kent & Curwen and its Hong Kong connection

It might have surprised many at the Kent & Curwen Royal Charity Polo Cup in the rolling green fields of Berkshire to see Hong Kong superstar Aaron Kwok standing beside Sabrina Fung (of the Li & Fung family) as she handed the winner's trophy to a dapper Prince Harry. Three golden lions, the very British insignia of men's fashion label, stand out in the background.

It exemplifies Hong Kong logistics giant Li & Fung's foray into front-of-house fashion in recent years, acquiring several sleepy European heritage brands under subsidiaries such as Trinity Ltd. The latter has run Kent & Curwen - founded in 1926 by Eric Kent and Dorothy Curwen and run by their family for two generations - following its purchase in 2006. And the storied men's (and now women's) fashion label has since grown steadily due to collaborations with major international charities, the Jockey Club and one of our biggest local stars, Aaron Kwok, who is the brand's face in Asia.

Ambitious plans to raise the Kent & Curwen profile have seen it sponsor July's charity polo event, which benefited Prince Harry and Prince William's respective charities, Sentebale and Tusk Trust, and Hugh Grant's "Flannels for Heroes" cricket match, which aims to help war veterans from Afghanistan.

Former banker Sabrina Fung, who is now managing brand director of Kent & Curwen, reviews her trip to London for the polo event and the 2012 Olympics when the label sponsored the Hong Kong team. "They looked very good and fared quite well compared to some of the other teams," jokes Fung as we perch on a girly sofa in her large corner office. Poor Spain, we agree.

The label's debut sponsorship of the Royal Polo Cup at Andrew Lloyd Webber's estate Watership Down, is in line with the family's aim of getting the brand back in touch with it's British sporting heritage, says Fung.

"The reception went well. In five months we've had three events [in Britain] and it has resonated well with the small polo community, with the position we're trying to find."

Fung says even Victoria and David Beckham allegedly wanted to chopper down to the estate to attend the event, but one of the organisers had to turn them down.

The Hong Kong company has managed to generate a lot of interest considering, Fung admits, "that Kent & Curwen is not well known globally. So I'm happy with the amount of noise we've created within three months."

Trinity chief marketing officer, David Au, who has previously led marketing and communications in Asia for the likes of LVMH and the Zegna Group, was also pleased with how this event has helped raised the label's international profile.

"With the brand's roots in English sporting culture, we wanted to reconnect with its origins," says Au. "We wanted to do something very British and connected to the royals," he adds. The polo cup was the first time a charity has been allowed to use the Lloyd Webbers' private grounds. The tie-in with the equestrian event was important for the brand's sporting heritage, says Au, as it has sponsored teams from as early as the 1930s.