Blog

5/31/12

myoh

Don't forget to pop on down to LCX Harbour City from 1-3 June to personalise your own pair of Havaianas for summer!  In celebration of 50 years in the flip-flop business, Havaianas have brought their 'Make Your Own' initiative to Hong Kong.  We gave you a sneaky peek at what's in store last week (here), but the event is open to the public starting tomorrow and continuing through the weekend, so get on down there to create your own unique pair of Havaianas to get you through the summer.  See you there!


x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/30/12

meeting her majesty, the queen

You might have heard that the Queen of England recently invited a bunch of talented creatives from all over the United Kingdom to celebrate their accomplishments at the Royal Academy of Arts.  You might also have heard that big names in fashion such as Richard Nicoll and Henry Holland were in attendance; Richard took Vogue Creative Director Jaime Perlman as his date, dressed in one of his stunning hoop-dress creations from Richard Nicoll Spring 2012, while Henry brought long-time muse and top model Agyness Deyn, whom he decked out in a sparkly houndstooth-with-a-twist creation from House of Holland Fall 2012.  "It was incredible - one of the most surreal and exciting experiences ever," Henry told Vogue.co.uk. "Aggy and I met Her Majesty and had a brief chat about being a designer. She was lovely and personable and funny! Definitely one for the grandkids!"  Super proud of our boys finally getting to meet Her Royal Highness!

Vogue's Jamie Perlman (left) with Richard Nicoll (right), in a hoop-dress from Richard Nicoll Spring 2012.

Henry Holland (far left) with Agyness Deyn (centre), dressed in House of Holland Fall 2012, meeting Her Royal Highness, the Queen of England (far right).

Richard Nicoll is currently available in Hong Kong at I.T and Liger.
House of Holland is currently available in Hong Kong at Liger, AB Boutique and Bauhaus.

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/29/12

best bet: inside in, inside out

Inside In, Inside Out is one of our newest must-visit blogs. We discovered them about six months ago, but were reminded of their amazingness by a recent post we stumbled across on Studded Hearts.  Run by Fabliha, a gorgeous and mysterious genetics-student from Australia, the blog is an addictive chronicle of her life and the stunning outfits she wears.  Our favourite posts are the ones where her identical twin sister, Tasfia, makes an appearance; equally stunning, Tasfia favours a slightly darker, more streamlined look, whereas twin Fabliha is a bit more colourful and quirky.  Seeing the two of them side-by-side in their own distinct style of dressing is mesmerizing.  Check out their blog, Inside In, Inside Out, but be warned: you're sure to get sucked in and spend hours searching through all of the amazingness on there.  Enjoy!

Fabliha (left) in a sass & bide skirt, Tasfia (right) in a Stylestalker blazer.

Fabliha in a House of Holland shirt.

Fabliha in a sass & bide top and sass & bide pants.

Tasfia in a ksubi dress.

Tasfia's style is slightly sleeker and more monotone than her twin, Fabliha.

Tasfia in a ksubi jacket.


x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/25/12

too hot to handle

It's the end of May and the endless rain we've been getting seems be slowly easing off -- and you know what that means, people: it's beach time!  Don't know about you, but when we hit the beach, we don't envisage ourselves lounging around all covered up in the shade with a big hat and long-sleeved shirt like the below (albeit thoroughly chic) lady ...

Photo by Tommy Ton.

Nope.  What we really have in mind is more along the lines of this ...
Photo by Mario Testino.

And so it's crucial that you not only have a great sunscreen for protection against those pesky UV rays, but that you also have a stellar after-care product.  We recently tried out Aesop's Petitgrain Hydrating Body Gel range and we've immediately declared it a must-have for the summer; it's soothing on sunburns, ridiculously moisturizing and smells delightful, too.  Sometimes moisturizers leave your skin greasy, which feels absolutely horrible in the hot humidity, but Aesop's Petitgrain gel is refreshing and lightweight.  And it gets bonus points for it smelling like a summer citrus garden.



Aesop is available in Hong Kong at:
Fashion Walk Shop 15A, G/F 27-47 Paterson Street, Causeway Bay.
Lydnhurst Terrace G/F 52-60 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central.
Sheung Wan G/F 16 Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan.

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/24/12

best bet: make your own havaianas

Just in time for summer, Havaianas is bringing their "Make Your Own" project to Hong Kong.  From 1-3 June, head on down to the Havaianas store at LCX Harbour City to decorate your pair of Havaianas with a range of different embellishments and pins.  We celebrated the initiative on Wednesday afternoon with a fun crowd of media and some of our favourite blogger friends, Vnikali, Ztylistas, The Wanderlister+, Hypebeast, Popbee and so many more!  Havaianas is bringing their hugely popular "Make Your Own" initiative to Hong Kong in honour of their 50th anniversary; come down and celebrate this big birthday with us and kick off the start of a perfect Summer 2012.  See you there!

The DIY station at Havaianas LCX Harbour City.

First step: pick your favourite Havaianas colour. Photo via The Wanderlister+ instagram @thewanderlister.

Second step: find your favourite pins for embellishment. Photo via The Wanderlister+ instagram @thewanderlister.

Veronica Li of Vnikali with Derek Ho & Melinda Wang of Ztylistas picking out their favourite pins.  Photo via The Wanderlister+ instagram @thewanderlister.

JJ of The Wanderlister+'s DIY-ed Havaianas; blue with subtle unique details. Photo via The Wanderlister+ instagram @thewanderlister.

Melinda Wang of Ztylistas' DIY-ed Havaianas; superhero overload!  Photo via Melinda's Instagram @melindawang_.

Fourth step: enjoy your personalised Havaianas this summer!  Happy customers: Hypebeast and Popbee's Anna Temby (far left) and Julia Chan (far right) with their personalised pairs.  Photo via Julia's Instagram @juliasc.

All of our happy media friends and bloggers with their personalised Havaianas; the perfect start to a long and perfect summer!

Havaianas cupcakes to keep the customers happy!

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/23/12

industry profile: josé neves of farfetch

It's rare, in the fashion industry, to come across a veteran who is as intellectually eloquent as they are obsessed with fashion; it is also rare to come across someone who has not been jaded by years in the business, but is, rather, inspired and excited about what is to come next.  José Neves, the CEO and Founder of FarFetch.com, however, is one of these rare people.  Born in an area of Portugal that is full of shoe and clothing factories, designers and fashion agents, fashion is, quite literally, in his blood.  In 1996, he decided to launch his first footwear company, SWEAR; with no formal training other than the guidance and reassurance of his grandfather (José studied economics and was a self-confessed 'computer nerd' while at university), who was a shoe designer, José began designing shoes himself and was immediately successful.  He still runs SWEAR today, along with FarFetch and B Store, which is both a clothing label in itself and a fashion boutique too.  José visited Hong Kong in late April to host an event for FarFetch, his most ambitious project - you may have heard of it; FarFetch is a genius e-Commerce site which allows you to shop from 120 unique fashion boutiques from all over the world, all in one place.  We had an exclusive opportunity to chat with him while he was here, and we found him to be both a charming and thoroughly engaging companion with whom to spend our Saturday afternoon.

José Neves (dressed in his label, B Store), speaking to the press about FarFetch.

What was your major goal in coming to HK this time?  What did you hope to achieve?
Well, first of all, we noticed we were growing organically in Hong Kong; we had more and more customers that were finding us and shopping from us, and the customers were very loyal, they’re repeat buyers, so they are our most valuable customers in terms of average dollar value.  And we thought, “What can we do to, firstly, say, 'Thank you, we care about the market, we care about developing the website further,'" and also, "How can we raise awareness and increase our business here?”  So instead of doing more online advertising, we thought the best thing would be to do a kind of a trunk show, but in the FarFetch way.  Bring seven boutiques from all around the world and bring the customer on a tour of the world of fashion, the FarFetch way.

You might have heard that the London Show Rooms came to Hong Kong recently.  Shopbop was also just here; they did a party a few days ago.  Net-a-Porter is opening up an office here too.  What is it about Hong Kong right now that is interesting to you?
I think that in terms of luxury markets, China is clearly a major player and will be a major player with the growth of their economy; and I think that Hong Kong is the easy entry point for China.  You can test the waters.  It’s very easy to start the logistics; they deliver from Europe to here and it only takes three days.  The Hong Kong customers also don’t mind browsing the website in English and they’re very used to web-shopping, so it’s a very sophisticated market where you can test the waters before you dig in to China.  China’s another – I always treat it as two different markets.  What’s great about Hong Kong is that you get the best of both worlds; you get the Chinese culture and influence and you get to taste a bit of the Chinese way of life, but in a very easy to digest Western environment.

A rack of unique printed and embellished pieces at the FarFetch trunk show.

Do you find that your Asian customers have different tastes from your other customers from around the world?  Have you done much research in that respect?
Yes, they are very sophisticated.  They buy a mix of big labels, but also new up-and-coming labels; they’re extremely aware of fashion trends and what’s going on.  They’re really our best customers.  When you have a website like FarFetch, we want to sell the cool stuff, you know?  But sometimes it’s not always the cool stuff that sells, sometimes it’s the more commercial pieces, so that’s what’s so great about the Hong Kong customers; it's that you really see that you’re selling the right stuff to the right people.  It’s a very different pattern from other markets; for example, Italy is much more about big names, it’s safer.  Asia is more into what you can’t find.  Today, browsing the shops, I was surprised that we even have such good business in Hong Kong, because you can find everything here!  You don’t need us!

You've travelled the world and must know all the best places to shop by now.  Is there anywhere in particular in Hong Kong that you’ve liked in terms of retail so far?
I liked the I.T store in Causeway Bay and Shine.  Those were the two most interesting ones so far, but I haven't seen everything yet.  What’s really amazing is that it’s a very international selection.  You only find stores like this in, probably, Paris, London and Tokyo.  Even in New York, you don’t have many things like this; take my own collection, they had a full rack of B Store, and they had 10 styles of shoes.  I don’t think there’s such a great selection of my collection anywhere in New York!  The Hong Kong buyers, they make sure there’s a good representation of each brand, where sometimes the American buyers are very opportunistic and they will buy only two or three pieces of a brand.  It doesn’t tell the story of a brand.  So that’s what I really love here; they take risky bets, they support young, small and up-and-coming designers.

A video Vogue Nippon Fashion Director, Anna Dello Russo, did for FarFetch, on display at the event.

You know a lot about what’s going on online.  Is there anything missing right now that you’d like to see happen in the online space?  Maybe not just in fashion, but in other industries, as well?
It’s a good question.  It’s interesting to see how social media and all this movement will merge with e-Commerce.  It’s one thing that intrigues me, the successes of sites like Instagram and Pinterest – but they’re not e-Commerce enabled yet.  So it’s interesting to see how that will evolve.  I don’t know how people will shop in three years’ time.  Maybe it stays the traditional way or they start being more influenced by their friends through social networks.  It’s going to be an exciting era.

Was there a particular store that you would always go visit that was the source of inspiration for you to start FarFetch.com?
Probably L’Eclaireur is one of them.  Collette is an amazing store but, to me, they are a PR machine, they are a marketing platform.  It’s full of tourists; it’s not a hardcore fashion store.  The selection upstairs is actually very limited and difficult to browse, to buy from.  It’s by trend; it’s a funny way of putting it.  I’ve never bought anything there.  I think they do very well, because there’s this thing about visiting Paris and going out with a Collette bag.  They are a very strong destination store.  They do an amazing job.  They do a stellar job, but it’s not a fashion retailer.  I go to L’Eclaireur and atually spend there; they service you, they bring you a glass of champagne, they give you advice, and it’s the way you service your customer in a proper fashion boutique, and I think Paris is the only place doing that now.

How does FarFetch compensate, then, for the lack of this stellar in-store service and experience?  One thing I've always loved the most about FarFetch is the unique packaging you get when you buy something.
I’m so happy that you’re saying that. You made my day!  We think about that a lot; how can we provide a boutique experience on something that is online and it’s a lot to do with the unique packaging.  One thing we’ve always said about the difference between the customer service with us and with Net-a-Porter is that Net-a-Porter is coming from a warehouse somewhere, but with FarFetch it’s coming from a boutique, so make sure that that is inside the box.  If you’re from Sienna, make sure you have a postcard from Sienna written in Italian; if you’re from Belgium put some Belgian chocolate inside – do whatever you want, but make sure there’s a personal feeling to it.  Also our follow-up service; we want to improve that and become better and better in terms of service and giving fashion advice.  I feel it’s important for people to know about the store they are buying from, because, mentally, you may be looking for a certain product - say you want the YSL Tribute sandal in electric blue - and then that’s it, that’s fine, but what really makes us different is the fact that there’s a history behind it.  The boutique is unique.  We need to focus on getting that message across.

Just a small example of the incredibly unique finds you can come across on FarFetch!

At the beginning of the year, you got a big capital injection into your company.  What do you plan on doing with that?
It’s supporting the current path; it’s growing very fast, so we need to hire more and more people and strengthen the team in key areas.  There’s a lot to do in terms of brand awareness, because a lot of people – probably like yourself – found FarFetch.com, didn’t know what it was, but you found that product that you couldn’t find in Hong Kong so you decided to give it a try; but you didn’t buy from us as a 'fashion destination'.  You just kind of found us – the first time.  So that’s what we need to do; we need to build an online fashion brand that becomes a destination.  We don’t want to be just a place to go when you can’t find something in the stores, we don’t just want to be another fashion resource.  So there’s a lot to do on that.

How do you think you can achieve that?
Doing events like what we’ve done here; guerrilla marketing stuff.  Right now, we have a music project going on where, what we do with fashion, we’ve done with music; it’s called The Playlist.  We also had two secret gigs, one in a London store, one in a Paris store.  Stuff like that.  We did a travel project with a bespoke travel agent; you say, “I want a Moroccan experience,” and they design the experience for you.  We’ve done a Superstar Award, where we had a big panel of fashion influencers and we tried to find the best new retailer worldwide; it was a shop in Berlin that won, Voo.  We had a 6 x 6 Bloggers project, where we got Susie Bubble, Facehunter, Man Repeller, Style Salvage, Cherry Blossom Girl and Caroline’s Mode to each design a shoe.  These activities and events, hopefully done in the right way, it will become viral and people will start talking about us.

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/22/12

spotted on: lynn xiong in peter som

They say that every girl needs a Little Black Dress in their fashion repertoire; well, nothing beats a plain LBD like a gorgeous lace LBD, courtesy of the king of class, Peter Som.  Popular Chinese model-slash-actress, Lynn Xiong <熊黛林> earns major fashion kudos in this Resort 2012 collection from Mr Som, which she chose for Harper's Bazzar's recent 'Art Night' event in Hong Kong.  The asymmetric shoulder detailing and nude lining of the dress are perfectly highlighted by her sleek chignon up-do and her understated flesh-toned pumps.  A true style star, if we ever saw one!

Lynn Xiong <熊黛林> in Peter Som at Bazaar Art Night.

Peter Som Resort 2012 Look 26.

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/21/12

peru preview

sass & bide's gatekeepers of cool, Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton, manage to seek out the most amazing inspiration on their travels.  Their designs are primarily influenced by their international adventures, so when we came across this photo diary from their recent trip to Peru, we started to get really excited about what's to come for their next collection.  With knitted hats and jackets in bright, vivid colours and pompoms dangling off of pretty much ever accessory in sight, their forthcoming season is bound to be killer.  Check out some of their snaps below and get guessing what these ladies might come up with next.







sass & bide is currently available in Hong Kong at I.T, Liger and Little Black Dress.

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/18/12

may showers

So, it's been raining bucket loads recently, in quintessential May showers style.  When it rains this much and this often, it's hard to feel inspired when you get out of bed in the morning.  Quite frankly, we're getting tired of all the boring outfits we've been seeing on the streets as a result of all this rain, so here's a list of ways to spice up your rainy-day outfits.  C'mon people, put down those leggings and that ugly T-shirt.  Let's get inspired.

1. Add a touch of colour to a monotone look.
Try a bright umbrella if you're not one for bright clothes.

Pair a bright skirt with your rainboots for an instant touch of chic.

2. Juxtapositions are always interesting: instead of throwing on some grunge-y clothing you don't mind getting wet, put on something unexpected and ultra feminine instead.
Tweed, metallics, ruffles and hairpieces are all thoroughly unexpected items to wear in the rain and will earn you major style kudos if we see you dressed in any of them in the downpour.

3. Go transparent.
Add a see-through rain cape on top of a killer dress and you've elevated your whole outfit to a new level of avant-garde chic.

Transparent umbrellas are also very cool.

4. Smile.
Sometimes it's just that simple.  Go on, put on your ugly clothes, but for god's sake, smile!

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/17/12

twenty8twelve on awwwards.com

Congratulations to the team at Twenty8Twelve on their Website of the Day award from awwwards.com.  Their new website was designed by Cartell and places a heavy emphasis on campaign imagery and easy-to-use navigating facilities.  Sitting alongside past winners such as SONY, Range Rover and Beyonce, it's safe to say that the team at Twenty8Twelve has produced an incredibly chic, sleek new web presence.  Check out some of our screen grabs below, and don't forget to visit their full site here as well.





Twenty8Twelve is available in Hong Kong exclusively at I.T

x.

twitter . 
weibo .

5/16/12

best bet: arthk '12

ArtHK opens to the public this Thursday, with an exclusive VIP preview tonight; currently in its fifth year, ArtHK was an initiative that was started with the intention of bringing the world's leaders in contemporary art creation, curation and collection all to Hong Kong at once.  This year, 266 galleries representing 39 international countries will be exhibiting side-by-side at the Convention & Exhibition Centre, and they've also brought on board one of our close blogging friends, The Wanderlister+, as their social media partner.  With the weather forecast looking lousy for the rest of the week (yes, more rain) ArtHK is definitely our best bet for the weekend. Hope to see you all there!

ArtHK is taking place from 17-20 May at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

5/15/12

our girls

Our girls have been getting a lot of love recently from international press, including our General Manager Vivienne who was featured in V(ison in Life) Magazine and our Marketing Manager Sam who was featured on both The Telegraph's and Madison's online editions.  Vivienne is our champion of contemporary designers, such as Richard Nicoll, House of Holland, Chalayan, ksubi and HORACE; and, due to her rockin' fashion sense, she was chosen by V(ision in Life) Magazine to take place in a personal style feature.  Sam is our marketing maven; she was snapped by many a street style photographer while she was in Sydney for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia.  Check out two of Electric sekki's very own gorgeous girls below; we couldn't be more proud!

Vivienne's feature in V(ision in Life) Magazine.
1. Richard Nicoll tee, 5. ksubi x Jeremy Scott bag, 6. ksubi denim jacket.

Sam in a Peter Som shirt, featured with Bryanboy at the ksubi show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia.

Sam in a House of Holland shirt at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia.

x.

twitter . 
weibo .