Ruhi Meman

The MDIS fashion school consisting of fashion marketing and the fashion design team arrived in Hongkong for a week of realistic experiences that reflected on our studies as fashion students.

DAY 1 ( GA OPERATIONS)

After the long and tiring journey we arrived the cold, compelling winds of Hongkong and neither of us expected it to be such a drastic change in weather from our warmly singapore. But nothing could with held the excitement of visiting the Armani headquarters.

The field visit to the Armani headquarters put me in a maze of how hard work and team effort go hand in hand. also, I learnt the various fields to work in which are pretty much a necessity in the pyramid of a fashion brand, right from the designer’s work to detailing of their work by the research and development team which really caught my eye as their tedious work makes a huge difference to the designs and the smooth working of the various lines for the seasons that follow.

Over all, the experience was quite eye-opening to me as i discovered a lot of job opportunities and also it got me quite aware on the functioning of a fashion label and all its various departments that make the follow up of every season pretty smooth.

( Vonita, Hani and me pretty much in aware of the Hongkong winds)

(The entire Fashion school team at GA operations)

DAY 2 ( TRADE SHOW)

Day 2 and we were almost getting use to the cold as everyone gamed up on their coats and jackets (also learnt the lesson of not wearing high heeled boots for more than 3 hours. Ouch!)

We headed for the trade show which was Asia’s largest trade show held in Hongkong. To my surprise, i was not aware of such an exhibition where a lot of small business came to exhibit their work and traders would aptly go around and purchase samples or make bulk orders for their business. Such a trade show proves to be a win-win situation for both the makers and the buyers as there is am ample amount of display and choice to conduct forward business.

Honestly, i had no clue that such an exhibition is conducted on a yearly basis and i’m glad to be in knowledge of such an event as it proves that every business in the fashion industry goes through a continuous circle of process to get to its buyer and so pretty much opened my eyes to the very backstage of fashion brands and the industry itself.  

(Hanim seemed to be excited upon seeing Taylor Swift)

(Beautiful bridal exhibit at the trade show)  

After which we headed for the talk on the “Future trends & forecasting” by the WGSN group which was according to me, “the cherry on the icing” as i found the talk to be truly inspiring in all aspects when it came to the discussion on the various trends that are likely to surpass this 2016. Some of them seemed to have really put a keen mark on me on, such as, Analogue nostalgia, Armani classic, Colonial Cuba (one of my favourites), pattern interference, ship shape (which had an nautical concept to it) etc. Each of them has their own pool of conceptual ideas which made you wonder the very theme/idea of it (also made me wonder why didn’t take designing)

The other half of the talk focused on the visions of the forecasts. some of them that intrigued me were:

1. Re-luxe : which involved in the concept of valuing time like an old gold cassette tape

2. Soft Bionic : The perfect blend where man meets machine

3. Luxury x Craftsmanship : the ultimate satisfaction of hand made luxury which is precious and adorns the craftsmanship value.

4. Calming Tactility : the comfort feeling of beautiful which follows adjacent the skin. The feeling of beauty in your skin.

5. Artifical escapes : Man-made escapes built to escape the daily soul from its routines

These were some of the visions I loved the most from the lot. This talk inspired me to push myself constantly to achieve and create something and thats what i needed the most.

And of course, we ended the day with some sight seeing around Hongkong Times square and ending the day with some warm grub at Ichiran Hk.

DAY 3 (D&G HEADQUATERS + JAEGER-LeCOULTRE + FASHION WEEK)

Day 3 was one of the most hectic and jammed pack (yet extremely exciting) day  on our journey.

It started with the morning being extremely cold and chilly with the weather touching down to 4-5 degrees and some windy rain. We took a ferry to the other side for our much awaited visit to the Dolce and Gabbana.

The HQ was quite impressive as i adored their deco and their choice of colours. we were told a lot of interesting facts starting from the drinks we were served, to the origins of the designs and even the music that played in the office, everything had a story to it and thats why i really love the brand for having its own interesting stories going on.

We were welcomed with a very warm gesture followed with the office visit and roles & responsibilities of the various employees. We were also taken to their main press room where they exhibited the new season collection and also where the models would try on the outfits and get finalised fas a model who suits the brand image. It was definitely how i imagined it to be, glamorous and simply gorgeous. it definitely gave me some office goals.

Followed by our prompt bus ride to the mall where we visited the store and i absolutely loved every detail about it. The most interesting thing that caught my eye was the collection of crosses by D&G and the story behind it where they specifically got them down from an old monk. The crosses are one of a kind and exclusively for D&G (and they don’t exist anywhere but in Spain) and also I can't leave out the exclusive evening gown section that added ample amount of class to the brand image and even the detailing of their packages, it was all a dream come true! and so by this visit i learnt that the brand puts in a lot of effort for it’s status and personality in the fashion industry and also keep their touch of traditions.

Followed by our visit to Jaeger-LeCoultre which also had an impressive HQ with its little details like the top of the shelves had the same resemblance of the mountains in Swiss, where the workers manufacture the watches.

I loved the heritage factor of this watch brand as it was so clean, cut and made to perfection which adds to its persona of an exclusively earned luxury. The store was small, elegant and appropriate for its customers and over all it had its dignified appeal of a luxury watch brand.

After fretting up, we head towards the trade centre again to attend the Eco-Sustaining fashion show which was organised to pick out a designer from the lot who spent months designing a environmental friendly collection which would bring an impact to the fashion industry. I personally valued the efforts of the designers who took this challenged and marked an extraordinary change towards the use and abuse of our environmental surroundings. The designs were elegant, pure and reflected the love of nature and the passion towards it.

DAY 4 ( ELECTRIC SEKKI + END OF TRIP )

The last day of our journey and i had some major mixed feeling of leaving Hongkong as i had an amazing time with my friends and gained some surreal expereinces throughout my trip.

Before we left, we ended our journey with a visit to electric Sekki. As an aspiring entrepreneur myself, i loved the vibes of electric Sekki as it was the perfect blend of handwork and couture as their work focuses on integrating lifestyle and art with the development of international fashion brands, Electric Sekki has created a beautiful space that cultivates innovation and the desire to inspire and seek inspiration from Hong Kong culture. I admired their petite, cultured office that harvested the various brands, it was truly an exceptional experience. 

“WHAT IF”

The concept of ethical luxury fascinates me to my core, as it elaborates the two most trending worldwide topics of power house luxury and guilt free consumption. 

the psychological aspect of luxury fashion is a common well known fact that it appeal is largely towards the market that believes in luxury brands as a power status. 

What conundrums would it fall through to bring this kind of psychological factor mix and push its way through the other strong rising factor of  guilt free consumption mind an behaviour, where retail therapy has its own twist of a comfort factor, which is knowing that that their pleasure does not harm the environment as well as other human beings. 

This trend arises from the numerous amounts of hazardous situations of child labour, irresponsible safety situations in factories and harmful chemicals that are emerged into the environment and so it might be time for powerhouses in luxury brands try and develop a niche for guilt-free consumption. 

Hence, I bought in the imagination of powerhouse, Dior adapting to the culture change of guilt-free consumption where they develop a greener, eco-friendlier Dior.