Hong Kong’s young designers travel to Seoul for creative pop-up shop
Left: Victor Tsang, the executive director of PMQ, explains the history and goals of PMQ in an Aug. 3 presentation of the pop-up store, which will run through Aug. 17, at Galleria Department Store in southern Seoul. Right: PMQ is located in the central area of Hong Kong, making it the “Creative Heart of Hong Kong” both literally and geographically. [ACCESS COMMUNICATIONS]
PMQ is an abbreviation of Police Married Quarters, a building that was once a governmental dormitory for police officers since 1951. It was transformed into a design hub in 2014 as part of the Hong Kong government’s city remodeling plan that began in 2009.
Since then, the cultural multiplex has housed some 100 design start-ups to grow into designer brands of their own, strictly chosen by the managerial board of PMQ, designers and the government alike, without charging them any fees for renting space once they have been chosen. Since PMQ officially opened its doors to visitors, it has seen over 10 million visitors from all over the world, who come to enjoy the newly created space with their own eyes. It has also been recognized as a popular photo spot for Instagram users.
The works of four Hong Kong designers who have grown their businesses inside the PMQ grounds will be available at the pop-up store, introducing the newest design trends of Hong Kong to Korea.
“At PMQ, we feel it is important to pass design knowledge and fun [to everyone],” said Victor Tsang, executive director of PMQ, at the press meeting on Aug. 3. “PMQ is a creative hub, and we do not require the designers to give us any money. We want to support them so that they can grow their own businesses.”
The 40,000 square meters (9.88 acres) of creative space offer not only the location for young designers to develop, but also a unique shopping center for customers and a multicultural experience for tourists. In addition to nurturing designers and their businesses, PMQ holds regular events such as talks with renowned designers, exhibitions and fashion shows, such as the famous “1600 Pandas” collection it held in 2014. With funding from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, PMQ is actively expanding its work outside of its borders.
The Galleria pop-up store features products designed by four designers who saw their ideas grow at PMQ: eyewear designer Absolute Vintage, with its glasses and accessories that seek to marry modern minimalism with vintage style; French style accessory designer Cecilia Ma, who was given the accessories designer of the year award at Vogue Talents 2015; hand-made jewelry designer Coney & Co., who uses colorful gemstones and brass; and women’s wear designer Loom Loop, whose clothes are made of Canton Silk and dyed with environmentally friendly chemicals.
By setting up a pop-up store made up of Hong Kong designers, PMQ hopes to make Hong Kong design known in Seoul and to learn from the city while they are here. “Seoul is one of the best fashion capitals in Asia,” said Cecilia Ma.
“As a designer, I’m here to see how good Korean designers are, and see my competitors. I’m very impressed. It’s a good way for us to learn what other markets are doing this season.”
The ongoing pop-up store is the second to open in Korea, with the first located at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul. Having held their very own hanbok (Korean traditional dress) fashion show in Hong Kong, Tsang and the designers hope to solidify relations with Korea in the upcoming days.
In April 2016, designer Ko Tae-yong and his brand Beyond Closet became the first Korean designer to open a pop-up store at PMQ.
Then on Dec. 9, 2016, PMQ held a pop-up store of six Korean designers for a month in celebration of the “Fashion Asia 2016 Hong Kong.” The six designers invited were listed as “10 Asian Designers To Watch.”
The group included Um Jina and Seo Byung-mun of BMUET(TE), Kim Yohan of Yonhanix, designer Park Youn-hee of Greedilous, Kim Hee-jin of Kimmy J, Jang Hyeong-cheol of Ordinary People and Lee Kwang-ho of A.AV.
“The design market is dominated by the Western designers. We have to be more solid with our friendship and do more united work to promote Asian designs to the Western world. Asian creativity will emerge again the global design market. It will be a long road, but we will try our best,” said Tsang.
BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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