The View From Hong Kong
The opening day of Hong Kong Fashion Week brought a slate of runway shows that demonstrated the breadth of offerings at the semiannual event, held July 10 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Designer Cecilia Yau filled the runway with airy evening gowns so delicate that the models looked like goddesses floating down the catwalk. Yau chose chiffon as her main fabric, shimmering with rhinestone and beaded embroidery embellishments. The tops were fitted, and many of the skirts were gathered in knife pleats. Her colors ranged from light pastels such as lavender, peach and blue to strong fuchsias and purples. “My inspiration is really from the palaces of India,” said the designer, who regularly shows at Hong Kong Fashion Week.
Yau shared the runway with Peter Lau in a joint show that has been a tradition for the Hong Kong pair for many years now. Lau’s collection was the polar opposite of Yau’s.
Lau gravitated toward silk mini-dresses, short bubble skirts and short jumpers with gathered bottoms. “You can call them diapers,” he said when asked how to explain this rather unusual silhouette. The tops on his dresses and jumpers were often corseted with mandarin collars. The shorter silhouettes were worn with bright knee socks that came in an assortment of eye-popping colors such as fuchsia, red, peach and green.
“I always like to do something new, not something I am used to, but I have to use a lot of traditional elements to blend with the new, like the Chinese collar and cheongsam dress,” the pony-tailed Lau said.
Ika and Bernard Foong also hosted a joint runway show. The two first shared the runway earlier this year at January’s Hong Kong Fashion Week.
Ika, whose company is based in Hong Kong, revisited the 1960s with flower power–inspired creations that took their cue from the days of Haight-Ashbury and the music of Chubby Checker, The Beatles and The Beach Boys. She titled her show “Let’s Twist Again.”
Her Spring/Summer 2008 collection was a vast departure from her more intricate and formal designs of the past. She filled the runway with sleeveless mini-dresses that had a simple silhouette, relying more on paisley and flowery fabrics to create the ’60s look. Her embroidered jeans brought back the extravagant bell-bottom silhouette. She also resurrected the hippie blue jeans skirt, complete with macrameacute; belt.
Ika is known for her unique way of double-splicing fabric and then sewing it to form an unusual piping look. She employed this method in her blouses and tops but with more of a bohemian flair this time.
“I’ve always enjoyed something that is more fun,” said the Indonesian-born designer who also organizes Bali Fashion Week every year. “I thought, it’s summer, and it’s time to really enjoy it.”
She blended Mongolian, Tibetan and Indian themes, which could be seen by the amount of yellow and red she employed, into her Spring/Summer collection.
Malaysian designer Bernard Foong, who lives in Hawaii, has always had a flair for the dramatic. Now that he is the head designer for Hong Kong lingerie company Cerie International Ltd. and a consulting designer for a Hong Kong bridalwear company, his designs gravitate toward that market.
His dresses were so elegantly constructed they looked like tiered wedding cakes. He employed hoops on all the skirts of his long and short creations, giving them a layered effect. The lingerie was intricate and delicate—fit for a bride.—Deborah Belgum
