bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Annie Cheung

Is Hong Kong’s fashion design industry having a moment?
Hot on the heels of this month’s Chanel Cruise 2024/25 show at the Hong Kong Design Institute – attended by the likes of French model Caroline de Maigret and Spanish actress Penélope Cruz – the city is to host the first “Hong Kong Fashion Fest” from November 20 to December 4.
Sponsored by the city’s Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency, part of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the new event, intended to be held annually, is focused on haute couture, or high-end fashion.
It sets out to consolidate existing fashion and textile design events to reaffirm “Hong Kong’s position as a prime destination for hosting major cultural and creative events”, says Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, the secretary for culture, sports and tourism and the chairman of the Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association.

Catwalk shows, exhibitions, seminars and masterclasses will be held across the city.
Some industry insiders, however, believe Hong Kong needs to be much more competitive in attracting international attention to establish itself as a fashion hub in the region.
Other Asian cities have hosted fashion weeks for years. Tokyo Fashion Week, for example, has long been a major player on the world stage alongside “the Big Four” – New York, London, Milan and Paris.
Recent years have also seen the emergence of Seoul Fashion Week in South Korea, while Shanghai Fashion Week has been showcasing home-grown brands for China’s domestic market.
Harrison Wong, a Hong Kong fashion designer, says the city’s market is tiny in comparison. His ready-to-wear menswear brand has a client base of 70 per cent Hongkongers, with the rest coming from overseas.

Wong adds he and his fellow designers have to attend bigger fashion weeks to connect with international buyers.
“I go to Paris every season,” he says. “They have more buyers. If I am there, I have a better chance for business.”
Hong Kong was once a manufacturing powerhouse, with a booming textile and garment industry in the 1960s and 70s, before it shifted to mainland China as a result of soaring rent and labour costs.
Still, thanks to its geographical advantages – the city sits on the border of mainland China and has connections to many other countries in the region – as well as low taxes and tariffs, and solid financial and legal systems, Hong Kong can still be a player on the international fashion scene.
The city has plenty of talent, too – such as fashion designer Robert Wun, the first Hong Kong designer to show on schedule at Paris Haute Couture Week, in January 2023.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s school of design ranked 19th in arts and design in the 2024 QS World University Rankings by Subject, compiled by higher education analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds.
The Hong Kong Design Institute has produced many fashion designers, including Angus Tsui, Calvin Chan, Kelvin Wan and Joyce Wong.
“For our current fashion design students, these initiatives provide invaluable benefits,” says Dr Ong Lay-lian, principal of the Hong Kong Design Institute and the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee).
Ong adds that students attending these fashion shows can “strengthen their design skills, learn about the commercialisation process and prepare for real-world challenges in the fashion industry”.
The Hong Kong Design Institute agrees that Hong Kong fashion design students can compete with designers around the world, as many have won competitions.
For example, Hong Kong gender-neutral fashion label Ponder.er was shortlisted as one of the semi-finalists for the 2024 LVMH Prize.
“I reckon all designers pretty much have the same vision,” says Wong. “Hong Kong designers would not be worse than any other designers.”

Yeung says Hong Kong’s fashion design sector has been short on sartorial techniques ever since production was moved out of the city, which is why masterclasses will be hosted during the coming event – to help improve the craftsmanship of Hong Kong designers.
Hong Kong financial secretary Paul Chan announced HK$2.9 billion (US$370 million) will be injected into the CreateSmart Initiative – set up in 2009 to develop the city’s creative industries – in the 2024/25 financial year, which will benefit the fashion design industry.
Fashion Farm Foundation, a government-funded initiative set up in 2012, takes emerging Hong Kong-based designers to Paris Fashion Week for exposure, experience and opportunities.
Wong says there should be more funding and support for fashion designers in the city to run and display their collections, instead of just focusing on one spectacle.
“Unfortunately, not every designer can afford a runway show,” says Wong. “This is why it is important to put in more resources here, allowing more designers to showcase their collection.
“A fashion week is necessary so that others can know about Hong Kong fashion designers. Hong Kong fashion exists.”


First Hong Kong Fashion Fest aims to put city on haute couture design map

New Richemont group CEO Nicolas Bos on his 25 years at Van Cleef & Arpels, and now stepping up to oversee Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin as well

The viral Instagram fan accounts supporting fashion’s most famous names, from Miuccia Prada to Tom Ford’s Gucci era and Vogue’s Anna Wintour

Style at the Regent Hong Kong with BMW: the city’s top tastemakers, from Vivienne Tam to Wil Fang, came together for an evening of connection, celebration and fashion

Fashion

A model walks the runway at the Chanel Cruise 2024/25 show in Hong Kong, held in November 2024, a month that will also see the launch of the first Hong Kong Fashion Fest. Photo: Reuters

Spanish actress Penélope Cruz at the Chanel Cruise 2024/25 show in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

Kevin Yeung, the secretary for culture, sports and tourism, at a press conference in Admiralty. He is also chairman of the Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association. Photo: Dickson Lee

Centrestage, an annual fashion showcase in Hong Kong, features home-grown brands. Photo: Elson Li

Korean singer-songwriter G-Dragon at the Chanel Cruise 2024/2025 collection show in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

How British-born Chinese singer Mui Zyu is taking back her heritage, one song at a time

Mui Zyu is singer-songwriter Eva Liu’s Cantonese childhood pet name. She is exploring her Cantonese heritage after years of feeling disconnected from her roots. Photo: Tia Liu

Growing up in suburban Britain, Liu did not explore her Hong Kong heritage in-depth in her youth. Photo: Tia Liu

Liu took five songs from her second album and re-recorded the lyrics in Cantonese. Photo: Jay Whitehead

Liu started learning to play the guitar at age 15. Photo: Jay Whitehead

Liu will perform in front of her family for the first time at Clockenflap 2024. Photo: Tia Liu

More mainland Chinese food and drink chains are coming to Hong Kong, but at what cost?

China tea lattes from To Teapresso. Photo: InvestHK

Chagee, a milk tea brand with roots in China’s Yunnan province, launched its first Hong Kong store at K11 Art Mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: InvestHK

To Teapresso, a tea brand from Shenzhen, opened its first Hong Kong store in the city’s Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood. Photo: InvestHK

The interior of Xing South Beauty’s Sheung Wan branch. The mainland Chinese restaurant brand recently expanded into Hong Kong. Photo: InvestHK

The interior of Tung Lan in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Photo: InvestHK

Marinated raw crab at Tung Lan, a Ningbo cuisine specialist from mainland China with a branch in Hong Kong. Photo: Tung Lan

Fashion made from discarded sofa and shower curtain earns Hong Kong designer an award

Hong Kong fashion designer Tiger Chung made a leather jacket with material sourced from a discarded couch as part of a collection that won the 2024 Redress Design Award, which champions sustainability. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong fashion designer Tiger Chung used leather from this discarded couch to make a jacket that was part of the winning collection at the 2024 Redress Design Award. Photo: Tiger Chung 

A model wears the leather jacket made Tiger Chung at the Redress Design Award show in Hong Kong. Photo: Redress 

For this look, Redress Design Award winner Tiger Chung repurposed a discarded shower curtain for the top, while sneaker soles were sewn into the trousers. Photo: Redress 

Fashion designer Silvia Acien won the People’s Choice award for her Spanish-inspired looks. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A look from fashion designer Silvia Acien Parrilla, representing the UK, who won the People’s Choice category of the Redress Design Award. Photo: Redress 

Why is everyone buying New Balance sneakers? The ‘dad shoe’ is right on trend, has had high-profile collaborations and was worn at the Fifa World Cup

Young sneakerheads have been drawn of late to New Balance sneakers, such as its 580 model (above), belying its image as a “dad shoe” brand. 

A New Balance 550 shoe. Sneaker resale site StockX reported that New Balance was among the top five bestselling brands on Black Friday last year.

New Balance 580 sneakers. The history of New Balance dates back to 1906.

New Balance 550 sneakers. The 550 was created for basketball players.

Apple founder Steve Jobs at an event in San Francisco in 2010. Jobs was often spotted wearing New Balance sneakers. Photo: Getty Images

A pair of New Balance 550s. Subcultures such as gorpcore and normcore have helped New Balance become trendy.

New Balance’s Aimé Leon Dore x 550 sneakers.

The New Balance 1906R shoe.

A collaboration with Italian menswear brand Stone Island has seen New Balance release a football boot worn at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

A pair of New Balance 808 sneakers.

New Balance 650 kicks. There has been a more than 800 per cent year-on-year increase in searches for the silhouette.

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty

The government-sponsored event is intended to help make Hong Kong a high-fashion hub, but industry insiders say much more needs to be done


The government-sponsored event is intended to help make Hong Kong a high-fashion hub, but industry insiders say much more needs to be done.


Hong Kong fashion

Fashion in Hong Kong and China