FASHIONALLY Presentation – telling fashion stories
FASHIONALLY Presentations at CENTRESTAGE give designers the chance to tell their brand stories, with ex-YDC winners Charlotte Ng, Kurt Ho, Nelson Leung and Sonic Lam the featured designers for 2019.
Every year at CENTRESTAGE, designers are given the opportunity to stage a fashion presentation in a space where the audience can appreciate the designs up close, while they can create unique settings to tell their brand stories and showcase their latest collections.
FASHIONALLY Presentation
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CHARLOTTE NG STUDIO
Set in a familiar office setting, CHARLOTTE NG STUDIO’s presentation demonstrates how looking great is not an impediment to being strong. Women can work on a desk in front of the computer, but they are also capable of physical tasks, as evidenced by the huge boxes piled up in the office. The idea for the collection is that women are versatile and strong, even if they wear feminine clothes.
Charlotte Ng calls her SS 2020 collection a “fe-mannish” one because it combines feminine and masculine styles. She is inspired by professional Hong Kong women in senior positions who remain very elegant and feminine. They are also capable of being very physical and her designs will show this duality by combining contradicting styles in each outfit – asymmetric cuts, bows on shirting fabrics, juxtaposing sheer on opaque, partially pleated skirts – and so on.
The season’s colours are rusty orange, military green, cobalt blue and black, all conveying a sense of strength while the looks are office attire dotted with playful details that again, reflect a thoroughly modern feminine character that embodies toughness and flamboyance.
A graduate of the Institute of Fashion and Textiles at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Ng was the second runner-up and won the Best Footwear Design Award at YDC 2018. Boosted by her win, she launched her namesake womenswear label, CHARLOTTE NG STUDIO, in May this year. Her designs target women who love to mix and match and play around with accessories and layering. She pays attention to workmanship and the choice of fabrics to offer an alternative to fast fashion through which women can fully express themselves.
CHARLOTTE NG STUDIO
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FAKE FAN
FAKE FAN’s debut collection is inspired by Hong Kong cinema in the 70s and 80s, including Kung Fu movies, police dramas and Stephen Chow comedies. The presentation, titled “Full House”, is set in an old cinema, with models watching a “movie” filled with messages that reflect the designers’ thoughts on the world today, be that comedic, sarcastic or serious.
This streetwear collection is colourful and quirky, including a dress that is an inverted tank top. The oversized canvas jacket in bright colours can go with any outfit. “Anything goes” seems to be the mantra when it comes to colours. Graphics play a big role in this collection, whether printed, sewn or embroidered. The items are largely unisex and allow for countless mix and match possibilities.
Nelson Leung and Kurt Ho became good friends after competing at YDC 2014 together. They have since been working on their own labels but decided to launch a new label together that can be an outlet for a completely different aesthetic from their own. Their vision for FAKE FAN is streetwear that can react faster to what is happening in the world today. Compared to their eponymous labels, FAKE FAN uses plenty of printed graphics on wearable designs to appeal to the younger generation.
FAKE FAN
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SFZ & SON
SFZ & SON is a workwear label designed by Sonic Lam for his Start From Zero teammates. These carpenters and builders need functional, durable clothing with plenty of pockets and specially designed bags to carry tools.
The style is relaxed and American, but Lam has added traditional Chinese elements to reflect Hong Kong culture. As it turned out, matching traditional Chinese prints with workers’ overalls has become a new aesthetic in SFZ & SON’s latest collection.
Being a workwear collection, khaki, indigo and denim are indispensable but Lam has managed to enrich the visuals with a variety of patterns – stripes, checks, Hawaiian prints – as well as pops of coral. Patchwork jackets in denim, with his and her versions, are a cool attempt to create a more formal look for added versatility.
Wearing their smart workwear, the SFZ & SON team showed off their skills during the presentation by building a house in a matter of minutes, establishing them as a talented team able to take on different creative tasks.
Lam graduated from the Hong Kong Design Institute in 2012 and received a scholarship from the Hong Kong Design Centre to further his study at the Birmingham City University in the UK. At YDC 2017, he was crowned the first runner-up. He has worked as concert stylist for pop singer Eason Chan and the Duo Band and has been invited to collaborate with Nike. He is now part of Start From Zero, a team of happy workers engaging in woodwork and street art.
SFZ & SON
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With love,
FWO
