Hong Kong Fashion Fest Aims to Reclaim the City’s Global Fashion Hub Status

Determined to restore Hong Kong’s status on the global fashion map, the city recently launched a fashion week-style event called “Hong Kong Fashion Fest.” 

The event, which included a lineup of happenings on both sides of the Victoria Harbour, including runway shows, soirees, exhibitions and industry summits, overlapped with the popular Clockenflap music festival, and ran from Nov. 20 to Dec. 4.

The initiative, which took place right after Chanel’s replica cruise show and amid the city’s busy holiday social calendar, brought together a diverse array of Hong Kong and Asian industry stakeholders, influencers and celebrities, fostering collaboration and cultural exchange.

The jist of the initiative is to help revitalize the local economy, which has been losing growth momentum as it faces emerging competition from neighboring retail hubs such as Shenzhen, Bangkok and Tokyo. Other challenges include a shortage of labor supply and innovative retail experiences.

According to official data, retail sales in October fell for the eighth consecutive month, dropping 2.9 percent year-over-year to 32.9 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $4.2 billion.

The inaugural fashion fest was organized by the newly formed Hong Kong Fashion Council, which is led by Sunny Tan, heir to a family textile business. For the past 20 years Tan worked at Luen Thai Group, a leading textile supply chain company founded by Tan’s father. For the last three years the industrialist has been serving as a member of the legislative council, overseeing the textiles and garment industry.

Tan’s strategy is to reestablish Hong Kong’s position as the Asian fashion ringleader. “We are only a city of 7.5 million; for our industry to grow, we have to become a gateway to the world for 600 million people all over Southeast Asia, and for the world, a vital bridge between East and West,” said Tan.

“What we notice is we lack a little bit of coordination between different sectors; that’s why we have Hong Kong Fashion Council, and I try to work with many of you, with our government, to see how we can really formulate something together and make a bigger impact,” said Tan candidly.

At a fireside chat hosted by the Hong Kong Fashion Council, Victor Tsang, commissioner of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency, said the fashion week-like event was expected to fully showcase Hong Kong’s cultural and artistic development in China and abroad.

Tsang added that tying up with Shanghai Fashion Week was the first thing they did when devising the master plan for Hong Kong Fashion Fest. “I’m so amazed that we immediately became very close partners with Shanghai,” said Tang. “It is our idea that China should have two engines to put forward our international ideas.”

“Our goal is to link up Hong Kong and with our mainland and to the world,” said Tsang, adding that annual governmental funding for the showcase exceeds 80 million Hong Kong dollars, or $10.2 million.

Kicking off the glamorous affair on a high note was a couture group runway show called “Virtuose: The Artistry of Couture.” Headlined by Charles de Vilmorin, Cheney Chan, Kay Kwok, and Benchellal, the runway show was set against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s 270-degree skyline, courtesy of The Henderson, the city’s latest landmark designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Its celebrity lineup included the likes of Karen Mok and Angelababy. For the next two days, a private trunk show was hosted at the nearby Four Seasons Hotel, where designers mingled with local clients and collectors.

The event was led by Bonita Cheung, a former couture designer who had dressed the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li.

“We want to redefine the couture market in Hong Kong and it’s about showing this part of the market to the world — I had to dig for Benchellal,” said Cheung of the Dutch designer Mohamed Benchellal, whom she discovered while visiting the National Museum of Qatar.

For Hong Kong designer Kay Kwok, who launched his eponymous brand more than two years ago, the intimate showcase helped him discover “interesting local collectors,” but ultimately, he thinks there’s still a long way to go for designers to become a well-respected profession in its home turf.

“If we want fashion culture to come alive again, we have to present the whole package, with music, culture, film and the arts. Just look at K-pop,” said Kwok.

On No. 29, Hong Kong’s glamourous pack descended upon the West Kowloon Art Park, where they gathered for “Vogue Loves Hong Kong Celebration,” an event featuring the K-pop star CL, “Squid Games” actor Wi Ha-jun, British model Jourdan Dunn, Chinese athlete Eileen Gu, Thai actors Davika Hoorne and Mew Suppasit, and more. The gathering was also a celebration of Vogue Hong Kong’s fifth anniversary.

Fashion shows and events can be fleeting and reserved for the city’s elites, thus the fashion council also organized three exhibitions that shed light on local fashion culture and craft.

“The Beauty of Workwear” exhibition, which was organized by Hong Kong Design Institute, celebrated fashion’s inclusivity while “A Journey of Rediscovery,” a retrospective on Shanghai Tang, a local legacy brand, attests to the city’s storied fashion past.

In the atrium of the luxury shopping mall K11 Musea, the exhibition “Motifx” invited a new generation of designers, including Wu Haiyan, a professor from China Academy of Art, Ma Daixia of Hangzhou’s Textile Library, to reinterpret traditional Chinese patterns.

“We want everyone, every district to participate,” said Tan. Thinking outside the box, Tan said next November’s event could work within the Singles’ Day framework “to create economic value.”

This year, fashion fest-related retail components included the first “Fashion Summit Lifestyle Pop-up Shop” at Airside, a Kai Tak shopping mall in the up-and-coming neighborhood. The November pop-up included a consortium of designer brands from Hong Kong and Italy, a key partner of Fashion Summit this year. From Dec. 16 to Jan. 5, Airside will also host a workwear-themed pop-up featuring eight local designers.

Tan also believes that Hong Kong can leverage its unique role in the Greater Bay Area.

“Hong Kong is also a logistics hub, and our new logistics hub in Dongguan also deserves attention. It’s not only an infrastructure project, it’s a place where goods can clear customs, go through security screening, get on a plane in Hong Kong within four hours, that’s how Hong Kong can stand out within the 11-city Great Bay Area,” said Tan of a newly completed logistics center in Dongguan, where cargos are forwarded to the Hong Kong International Airport by water.

Bringing the week-long event to a close with valuable industry insights, Fashion Asia hosted a day-long forum with industry insiders, including fashion designers such as Philip Lim, Feng Chen Wang, and Sensen Li; retail executives including Galeries Lafayette China’s Nicolas Morineaux, Selfridges’ Laura Weir and Judd Crane, Ba&sh’s Zephyr Liu, and more. “I realized yesterday that it only takes one hour to get from Galeries Lafayette Shenzhen to Central Hong Kong, so we have to speak to the Greater Bay Area clients; with the Greater Bay Area, we shall be able to bring new concepts to our retail space,” Morineaux shared during a panel.

The forum also provided ample networking opportunities for local and regional design talents, who were selected as this year’s “Asian Designers To Watch.” Winners include Grace Ling, Juntae Kim, Kay Kwok, Mark Gong, Oude Waag, Raxxy, Ruohan, Setchu, Tanakadaisuke, and Ya Yi.