The DRF Hong Kong London Fashion Week show gave Londoners a chance to witness the dazzling creations of four of Hong Kong's top designers. Peter Gray reports.
With the current pro democracy protests in Hong Kong, this London Fashion Week show was always going to take on added significance. As much a chance to show solidarity with the people of the island as an opportunity to marvel at the gorgeous clothes, this event was an early LFW must see.
Although fashion can at times seem frivolous and irrelevant, the industry prizes freedom of expression above all, and it is exactly this freedom which is most under attack in the current conflict.
After February’s rather more expansive gathering however, this DRF event felt a little more shallow with a smaller space, fewer design areas and less room to explore the potential of the pieces.That is in no way to take anything away from the designers however, as Hong Kong’s finest certainly didn’t disappoint.
In the coming days, the Mercer Street showroom will play host to 20 of Hong Kong’s best upcoming designers, but this opening night event was restricted to just four brands: Loom Loop, 112 Mountainyam, Yeung Chin and From Another Planets.
Loom Loop
The star of the night was undoubtedly Loom Loop, however. The brainchild of the designer Polly Ho, the brand combines a clever mixture of traditional craftsmanship with a modern approach to contemporary individualism. Centring around the traditional Guangzhou fabric, the company utilises leftover denim fabric and the material from non-shipped sweaters in the construction of its garments. For their Spring Summer 2020 collection, the brand fashioned a series of fantastically colourful outfits with dazzlingly bold combinations of pink, purple and red and some stunningly eye catching patterns.The look was completed with some eyecatching footwear made from customised trainers.