Meet the designers
Our city is a hotbed of design, as Angie Wong discovered by talking to three big players on the Hong Kong fashion scene
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In the frame: Wing Shya
Toronto-Los Angeles-Hong Kong designer Collin Thompson is a breath of fresh air in this cynical town. He won’t participate in the bitching about Hong Kong being a second rate cultural city with no soul. Instead, he left Los Angeles for Hong Kong’s brewing think tank. “There is so much energy here,” he says, “how can anyone say Hong Kong is dead when it produced Wong Kar-wai?”
And so, when Thompson moved to Hong Kong to produce videos for Wong Kar-wai’s Jet Tone Films, he brought over a bit of LA’s sneaker culture with him and created Cipher, a brand of street kicks for the modern urban dweller. His first line of sneakers was numbered like a series of sculptures which he sold out of his apartment. He then partnered up with designer Danielle Huthart of the creative collective White Space, and together they brought his shoe wear to the retail market.
In the office, nationalism runs high. “People say Hong Kong sucks, I disagree,” Thompson explains. His sneakers represent Hong Kong’s best, the colourful stripes of his subterranean line reminiscent of MTR maps. “I walk out on to the streets and see so many inspiring things,” Thompson continues. “I just channel its resources into something of value.”
“Cipherism” is also for people bored with luxury brands. “Shoppers are looking for brands that will define our generation,” says Thompson, “but we look around and all we see are the luxury brands our grandparents had. Louis Vuitton is not my status symbol.”
Cipher’s neon-coloured collection will launch at Lane Crawford this November.
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In the frame: Wing Shya
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