Fashion in Hong Kong (Part 1): Introduction
-Japanese style in Hong Kong???-
I heard from my Japanese friend who went to Hong Kong that Hong
Kong has lots of cheap but very kawaii clothes,
shoes and accessories. This is why I am interested in Hong Kong fashion. At
that time I didn’t have any friends in Hong Kong or chance to go to Hong Kong
and see what it is like in there. However, now I have a Hongkonese friend and a
Japanese friend who lived in Hong Kong for years. So I thought it is good time
to explore my interests little bit, about Fashion in Hong Kong.
As well as Tokyo, Hong Kong is said to be centre of fashion in Asia.
Also, Hong Kong has produced famous brands or select shop such as Shanghai
Tang and GIORDANO or
famous designer and creator such as Alan Chan (陳幼堅) and Johanna Ho[1].
There are also many local designers and brands, and it has huge market to trade
with main land China and other countries in Asia. Because of that Hong Kong
holds fairs and trade shows related to fashion such as Hong Kong Fashion Week and Hong Kong Fur Fashion Fair (香港国際毛皮時装展覧会). Since there are international trends, huge shopping malls and many
fashion related fairs, Hong Kong is said as “Shopping Paradise.”[2] Also,
because Hong Kong is known as global centre of trade, easy to trade with other
countries, and Hong Kong is a mixed or multicultural place, there are many
types of fashion in Hong Kong.
I had small discussion with my Cantonese friend, Candy, and my
Japanese friend who lived in Hong Kong, Yukako. By hearing from them, Japanese
style is popular in Hong Kong, and some 90’s Cantonese try to follow Japanese
style of fashion[3].
So…why it is famous, and why do they follow Japanese style? Recently, Japanese
Pop culture has been widespread in Hong Kong. Many Japanese stores such as JUSCO, SOGO and MUJI (無印良品) and many
shops of Japanese brands such as Moussy,
MURUA, BEAMS and UNIQLO opened[4].
Moreover, there are select shops that sell Japanese brand clothes such as i.t and The One. In addition, there are many Japanese magazines such as
girls’ magazine, NON-NO, Cancam, ViVi
and Spring, and boys’ magazine such
as MEN’S NON-NO have been sold in
Hong Kong, and prices are HK$75~95, in Japanese yen, these are about 765~969
yen[5].
In addition, as well as Japanese magazine, Japanese TV drama and
movies are famous in Hong Kong. And, they are attracted by the style of clothes
that actors and actress in Japanese drama or movie wear. For example, because
of a drama in 2006, “Nodame Cantabile” (のだめカンタービレ), the actor
in the drama called Eita (瑛太) became centre of attention of Hong Kong people[6]. And
then, the Japanese jeans bland EDWIN decided
to use Eita as a model for EDWIN.
Since he became the model of EDWIN, the sales of EDWIN tremendously increased.
Also, this made the brand EDWIN to advance into China, and now EDWIN has 35
shops in China. Moreover, trusts for the goods, which were made in Japan, could
be another reason why some Hong Kong people like and follow Japanese style.
This is not only because of the quality of clothes but also, design and comforts
to wear. Hong Kong people tend to think that if you wear Japanese styled
clothes, they think that they are wearing trendy clothes[7].
As an introduction of fashion in Hong Kong, there are many styles
in Hong Kong because it is multicultural, and it is centere of trade. Also,
Japanese style of clothing are popular in Hong Kong because influence of
Japanese magazine, TV-dramas, movies, design and quality. Next blog I am
talking about the one style in Hong Kong, MK style.
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