Fashion designer Robert Wun, in his own words: from growing up in Hong Kong to dressing Adele
- The London-based couturier reflects on his legacy as the first Hong Kong-born designer to debut at Paris Couture Week
- ‘My hope for Hong Kong is that the young people know that your identity is important’, says the proudly Chinese talent, while saluting home-grown icons Wong Kar-wai, William Chang, A-Mei and Leslie Cheung
A lot of people who grew up in Hong Kong can relate to waking up at 5am, trying to get onto the school bus and going to a school where you’re not gifted at maths or history or anything. I went to La Salle College, in Kowloon Tong, and they only emphasise the academically or athletically gifted. I’m neither of those. So it was always a bit of a struggle for me to feel welcomed, like I could have a future.
Me picking fashion to discover my identity and what I’m passionate about has become some sort of escapism for me. Through that journey, I also found my own group of friends. Although I had already started to move to London when I was 16, 17, I still came back [to Hong Kong] every year when I was studying, so we are still friends. Now, we’re all professionals, but we were just a bunch of kids back then that found it very hard to fit into society. There’s a culture that doesn’t really believe being creative could actually be a successful career or generate money or stability.
London calling
We used to go to Wimbledon, [on the outskirts of] London, every Christmas when our grandparents were still there. I just thought that it was very cold, grey, dim and annoying, especially since there’s not much going on there. But when I finally moved to [central] London to pursue creative study, it was eye-opening in a sense of knowing how to be very good at what you do. You can sketch, be very good at drawing cute things. But then what does it mean? What are you trying to say through your work and your talent?
Dreams do come true
The ANDAM Fashion Awards at the end of June 2022, going to Chanel headquarters to do this presentation in front of all these CEOs, I never thought I would win anything. But that experience opened all the doors for us – with the special prize that we won and the mentorship with Bruno [Pavlovsky], the president of fashion at Chanel.
At our first meeting with Bruno, he goes, “Your work is couture, you should do couture.” That was the first time I’d ever heard that word. It was his idea. And then we had a meeting with the Fédération de la Haute Couture. I asked Bruno to sponsor us and he said yes. He’d never sponsored anyone in his whole career.
I had no idea how to pull it together [if the Fédération accepted his application to show at Paris Haute Couture Week]. Then one morning in mid-November 2022, we get a call from them. “You got all 22 votes – unanimous!” I was in the toilet, like “Oh, s***.” A friend from Hong Kong was the one who said, “Oh my God, you are the first one from Hong Kong [to show at Paris Couture Week].”
Nobody had got all the votes before. That moment felt surreal, knowing that I must have done something right, all these years. It doesn’t feel like it’s been 10 years [since Wun started his brand], because it’s been so busy.
