Taiwan-born stylist Eugene Tong discusses how social media democratised fashion

Eugene Tong, far too often, is caught in a photo, presumably en route, as he traverses a world backdropped by urban cityscapes. With a certain stoicism and his classic attire, the stylist/consultant is as caught up in the fast pace of the fashion landscape as his peers, never fully having time to contextualise his surroundings. He’s all too familiar with the frenetic gait imposed on the business by its integration with the virtual world. In collaboration with Levi’s Made & Crafted, HYPEBEAST sat down with Eugene to converse about his observations and experience with the internet and social media’s influence on fashion.

Sitting in a botanical garden surrounded by a myriad of flora and throngs of school children running through the grounds, there’s a lively essence, one that could easily distract. Composed, Tong, unbothered by the environmental stimuli, was poised and ready to talk – and with over a decade of experience, there was a plethora to unpack from the acute ebbs and flow.

The scene he painted about the industry, before it became intertwined with the internet and social media, was far different from what it is now. High fashion labels and editors/writers were the gatekeepers that created and dictated the trends that would arrive at the masses through a trickle-down effect. And at the time, they were the style mavens who would use physical magazines to spread their ideology. For many, these bound periodicals became an introduction and the aesthetic bibles that would indoctrinate readers into the community. Tong, however, was galvanised elsewhere, as opposed to the popular American “lad-mags” he grew up around. “When I was young I was travelling to Asia, and I would see Japanese men shopping [for] magazines like Popeye or Men’s Non-no. Those were kind of my first entry into this world because it was just very different from what I was seeing here in the States in terms of magazines.”

Without the convenience of the web, these travels would lay the foundation that would eventually influence the fashion world of today. Armed with this precocious curiosity alongside an influence from his savvy older cousins, he describes the generational difference he sees now in cultural exploration. “You were able to find things with your own sense of discovery. Whereas now, it’s more just like a click or an image search away and you can kind of generally find stuff,” he explains.

Growing up, he serendipitously found himself working with fashion publications.

As a nascent asset working within the industry, he recalls how consumption patterns were situated within a space of patience.

There was anticipation built in, pre-internet that is. You waited for months to see the next collection and then from those you’d derive some trends. And as a magazine, you put those out either through fashion, written news, or POV stories. But then you had time to kind of digest and see the collections.