Diary by YDC 2017 Champion and New Talent Award winner Arto Wong, sharing her working and travel experience in London and Shanghai early this year
In the past season, I stayed away from dry, cool Hong Kong and went to an even drier and colder place, London to work for fashion label Mira Mikati. I spent a fulfilling and enjoyable fashion season in the UK capital.
The London mornings hold a familiar atmosphere to Hong Kong. Underground stations were crowded. Some people were not willing to move inside the train compartment. When I stepped out of the station, a picture of Victorian buildings and a large group of pigeons gathering in the open space was in front of me. Suddenly, a strong, cold wind blew across my face and I hurried to the studio to get warm.
The decoration and environment of the Mira Mikati studio matches the brand’s style. You can see vibrant fabrics and worktables full of childlike patterns and colourful clothing displayed on hangers. Colour can affect wearers’ mood and minds, a concept which I always believe can be even more proven with the Mira Mikati brand. Those in Hong Kong who are interested into this label can go to JOYCE and Lane Crawford to witness its colour power. Friends in London can also check out Liberty (At the time of this article’s publication, Mira Mikati's flagship retail store had also just opened in London).
There are new job challenges every day. A diverse range of work included knitting, printing, embroidery and even packaging design. One day, the design director asked me: “Arto, are you interested in going to Shanghai?” The company has a crossover project with Japanese artist Mr. The product will be sold at Shanghai’s street culture convention INNERSECT and the brand needed manpower to cooperate with the Shanghai organisation. This opportunity came unexpectedly and I joined the event in December.
Shanghai INNERSECT is an extremely hot event. “It makes trends more three-dimensional by adding international art, music, food and entertainment elements. The trend is presented to young Chinese people in an easy to absorb way,” say media reports.
Participating brands came from all over the world. They are not only fashion brands, but also culture and art-related brands. Visitors queued from early in the morning. When the doors opened, they rushed to the booths to grab limited edition products, such as the Mickey Mouse sculpture from Daniel Arsham.
While I was busy introducing products to customers, suddenly, there was a scream! Someone shouted, “I got it! I got it! Have you got it too?” while someone replied “Ah... I missed it.” There was a flash sale. This exhibition recognised the purchasing power of fashion-conscious customers, the effectiveness of online celebrity marketing and the input of international brands on the Mainland China market.
I was back to London. It is a city in which there is always something happening. You can find numerous world-class museums and independent galleries. News exhibitions in various themes keep launching in London in every week. Visiting an exhibition is a fabulous idea on a rainy day. (You know, it is London, so there will be rain).
On one of the rainy days, I went to Tate Modern to the Olafur Eliasson exhibition. His talent for using natural elements, such as light, water and fog, transform the complete environment and atmosphere of the entire area.
One of the exhibits “The Tunnel of Fog”, I would like to name it, is a variation of “Dialogue in the Dark”. Visitors have to walk under the tunnel in a dense yellow fog, in which the visibility is less than one metre. In this environment, we become more aware of our senses and able to rethink the surrounding environment.
The Antony Gormley exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts is amazing. In one of the exhibition halls, from ceiling to wall to floor, countless humanoid sculptures have been placed in this entire space, a space without gravity. In the other exhibition hall, only three steel bars were placed. The bar was passing from one side of the wall to the other. The thickness of the steel bar changed before it disappeared into the wall. This artwork provides an imaginative space for us.
What impressed the most was the exhibition at the Alexander McQueen flagship store. While the scale was not equal to the previous Savage Beauty exhibition at New York MoMA and London’s V&A, this intimate show enables visitors to admire pieces from SS07 to SS20 up close, as there are no glass boxes or balustrades.
Seeing fashion garments in person is totally different from just watching online videos or photos. You can appreciate and understand the designers’ thinking, the design details and the craftsmanship. Fashion must also have high-quality craftsmanship, supported by a complete and original design concept. None of these can be found in fast fashion or copies.
My happy time in London passed quickly and I have since returned to Hong Kong. I just want to say hello to my friends in London, and hope that all of you in Hong Kong will stay healthy.
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