Hong Kong is a city of brands. A place with high amounts of wealth coupled with urban density leading to hundreds of malls, and not much area for more varied recreation, shopping is arguably the go-to recreational activity in Hong Kong. If you’re looking to get away from the ubiquitous logos that are seen on every shoulder and chest in the streets, and want to own high quality clothing or bags that will last you a long time, here are some local fashion brands to shop that will make you look and feel great while supporting homegrown businesses.
Sau Lee
Founded by cross-cultural kid Cheryl Leung, who has spent her life in equal parts New York, Hong Kong, and LA, Sau Lee aims to be a marriage of Eastern and Western fashion. They make modern cheongsams with innovative details like subtle puff shoulders and trendy Florentine necklines (the faux leather mini dress is serving Matrix’s Trinity), cocktail dresses, and gowns made for strutting into any room with completely justified confidence.
Sau Lee, Shop H314, Block B, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen St, Central | [email protected]
Beam Bold
The philosophy behind Beam Bold is that you’re not meant to blend into a crowd. They make lightweight maxi skirts, dresses, co-ords, in bright colours and patterns inspired by Caribbean culture for matching or colour-blocking. Also, they offer petite, short, regular, and tall lengths for all their products to reduce textile waste.
Online store | [email protected]
新裝如初 Classics Anew
This is an instance where the name tells you very obviously what the brand is about. Designer Janko Lam makes cheongsams, mandarin collar shirts, and jumpsuits for men, women, and kids with twists like asymmetrical silhouettes and hand-painted denim that make her pieces more than innovation, and into something new. This is directly stated luxury, and the pricepoints reflect that.
Online store | [email protected]
Annibody
Annibody is an LA-founded brand based in Hong Kong that primarily creates bodysuits for every body type. They believe that you feel the most free when you feel comfortable and supported, and on top of their bodysuits, their earth tone dresses, tops, and matching sets made for building the foundation of your closet are made with that goal in mind.
Online store | [email protected]
Fashion Corner Plus
Designer Makayla Ng makes trousers, dresses, skirts, coats – all geared towards filling the vacuum of plus-size fashion brands in Hong Kong. Plus-sized since she was young, she realized it could be alienating trying to find comfortable clothes that make you look great as a bigger woman. Their clothes also come at a very accessible pricepoint, which we appreciate.
Fashion Corner Plus, Room 216, 2/F, Yick Tai Building, 650-652 Castle Peak Rd, Lai Chi Kok | +852 9017 0309
Harrison Wong
Harrison Wong is a local brand that got its start in creating high fashion menswear with an element of surprise. Wong has a background as design director for multiple Asian fashion houses, with a decade of experience designing womenswear, before deciding to dive deep into menswear. Find his sleek, futuristic shoes, bags, and ready-to-wear in five stores in locations synonymous with luxury retail including Paterson Street Fashion Walk and The Mills.
Multiple locations including Harbour City and K11 Art Mall
Róu So
Róu stands for 柔, which means “soft” in Chinese and signifies this small fashion label’s attitude towards creating sustainable fashion that is gentle on the Earth. Their pieces centre around a collection of cuts (Louise Pants, Florence Smocked Top, Bianca Dress, etc.) that are fashioned out of salvaged fabrics and other materials recycled from factories’ and fabric mills’ overproduction. Everything is made to order to ensure minimal waste.
Online store | [email protected]
Parallel 51
Parallel 51 creates versatile pieces for actually building your capsule wardrobe (let’s be honest, we’ve all tried and failed). Skirts, blazers, bodysuits, trousers, and dresses that are meant to make you look your most elevated self in formal and informal settings. They have awesome capsule packages that come with three to five wardrobe essentials. Or, to take the pressure off of getting something that you won’t end up liking, they have a Try Before You Buy option that lets you try out up to eight pieces for 10 days before deciding if you want to keep it.
Tove & Libra
Tove & Libra was founded by Christine and Ivan, whose partnership goes back generations; their grandfathers worked together as clothing manufacturers. They’ve built on this heritage of fashion knowledge while making the process more earth-friendly, using sustainably produced or salvaged materials to make jumpsuits, trousers, tops, and more that are the definition of long-lasting closet basics.
Stores in PMQ, Taikoo, and Tsim Sha Tsui | +852 9662 9923
Good Days
Founded in 2020, Good Days revolves around creating long-lasting activewear for bodies of all sizes, at a friendly pricepoint, that is also making an impact on the plastic waste crisis. Their leggings and bra tops are made from recycled polyester and their vest tops are made from a recycled polyester-cotton blend, with prices starting at HK$300.
Online store | [email protected]
WEAT
This Hong Kong company makes statement mini purses that embody the playfulness of their name, an acronym standing for “We eat avocado toast.” Their signature toast bags come in a variety of bold colours and feature a thick buckle strap connected to the purse with a triangle fixture – something that screams like it belongs on an IG baddie’s shoulder. They also aim to be sustainable, using upcycled leather and most recently, vegan leather.
Online store | [email protected]
Femance
Femance is a dream purse company for playful, geometric, wearable bags in a variety of colours. Made in supple calf leather with hand-painted white edges, their signature Calla bag looks like a wonky puzzle piece but is surprisingly versatile. That just may be because its organic wave is inspired by the Calla lily.
Online store | [email protected]
ESEMBLĒ
ESEMBLĒ calls itself a modern handbag brand that takes inspiration from vintage purses you might find in a New York flea market. Their signature Bell Shoulder Bag, a bucket bag that seems to melt slightly like butter at the bottom and comes with an oyster-shaped charm to remind you that “the world is your oyster,” is a versatile daily carryall.
ESEMBLĒ, Unit 302, 3/F, Hing Yip Commercial Center, 272 Des Voeux Road, Central | +852 2543 4991
Frequent Flyer
Frequent Flyer’s travel bags and accessories maximize storage potential and intuitive use. With clean, timeless looks, their signature ‘zip around’ design allows most of their bags to open fully flat, so that no space is wasted. The Hong Kong-born brand is also branching out into apparel, with some basic tees and classic boat shoes.
Find them at multiple locations including LCX and HKTDC Design Gallery | [email protected]
Broken Fingers
Named for the labour of love (and actual injuries obtained by the two craftswomen founders) that goes into their leather goods, Broken Fingers makes completely handcrafted bags, wallets, and other accessories from French and Italian leather. The clean, almost architectural shapes of their pieces in a muted autumn palette are made to be solid daily essentials.
Broken Fingers, 1/F, 23 Lan Fong Road, Causeway Bay | +852 6085 6531
Niin
The ethos of niin is to create daily jewellery and clutches that use the earth’s materials responsibly, with a process that leaves a minimal environmental footprint. Core collections are created around key stones and materials, like the Ikigai collection which primarily features blue hawks eye and white jade accentuated with salvaged oyster shells and wood. Crafted in collaboration with small businesses in Southeast Asia, the pieces have a wild quality that makes them look as if they’ve been pulled out of the earth or ocean.
Online store or 10/F, Cheung Hing Industrial Building, 12P Smithfield, Kennedy Town | [email protected]
Header image credits: Róu So
Add comment