The whole point of my online shop Alice's Wardrobe is to bring a little bit of the fashion from Hong Kong to the UK. So I thought it might be a good idea to explain why. It all started a good few years ago ( I'm not going to say how many, it makes me feel old) when I went to study in Hong Kong for a year as part of my university course. It was my first time living away from home. It was my first time living in a new country. And it was my first time living in a new culture. And it completely changed my life. Hong Kong is a truly amazing place. Some people love it. Some people hate it. There is no other place like it in the world like it.
The most obvious thing to talk about would be the the clothes. And I will do. But not yet. First I want to talk about the people, after all it's the people that make the place and it's also the people that make the fashions. Now, I know I'm about to make a sweeping statement, and I know it's not right to generalise whether it's for good or bad, but I'm going to anyway. The people of Hong Kong are awesome, there is something about this Island (and that little bit of the mainland) which is very very special.
I hate to even try and put a label on it. I'm not generally a fan of crappy pop psychology. But here's my two penneth worth on the people of the Fragrant Harbour. I think Hong Kong is so unique because it's a culture of contradictions. It's a culture that fiercely guards it's heritage and history but is completely obsessed with new technology ( a friend of mine upgraded his phone 5 times in one year out there. I kid you not). It's a culture where teenagers approach their studies with such seriousness and maturity but at the same time can be incredibly naive (most of the girls in my lectures at university came with Hello Kitty back packs). Even the landscape of the country itself is full of contradictions, within half and hour you can go from high rise jungle, to actual jungle to beautiful beaches.
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| This is one of my favourite ever photos from HK. Wedding pictures on the beach. Of course. |
And this sense of contradiction follows through to the fashion. The clothes in Hong Kong are incredibly simple but incredibly detailed at the same time. Every single element of an item of clothing is considered. For example the Champagne coloured blouse on my store looks quite ordinary at first glance, but the buttons have this lovely sparkly effect and it has vents in the back to give it a gorgeous trapeze shape.
And it's this type of detail and thought that I became obsessed with. It's this attention to detail that made me fly half away around the world with an empty suitcase for shopping trips. Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing English fashion and English designers (Vivienne I bow to you, Mulberry I'd sell my soul for you) and I'm not dismissing the shopping experience in England at all (you just try and keep me from the shops on the first Saturday after pay day) but I genuinely feel that Hong Kong fashion has that little something that's a bit different to offer and I have made it my mission to bring that little something to you.
