The winner of the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest New Talent Award proves her chops with a capsule collection filled with colour and drama under the mentorship of JOYCE's Michael Mok
It’s not exactly easy to break into the fashion industry these days if you’re not an influencer or some type of celebrity progeny—something Arto Wong, the winner of last year’s New Talent Award at the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest (YDC), knows full well.
“How can you be outstanding in this market? You need to think a lot more about how to be different. And as a novice designer, you can’t expect a large volume of orders, so the cost of production is higher, and thus your retail price will reflect this and affect the economics of the whole equation.”
Wong’s collection, ARTO., a knitwear capsule that combines colour, volume and exuberance to great effect, was the clear champion to Michael Mok, head of merchandising at JOYCE, who was a judge of YDC’s New Talent Award last year as well as a couple of times over the years starting in 2011.
Ahead of this run as one of the committee’s arbiters, he sought to increase the significance of the award by offering a sweetener on top of simple bragging rights: under his mentorship, the winner would earn the opportunity to develop and sell a collection at JOYCE.
“Arto Wong is a knitwear designer with a very impactful presentation. The workmanship was excellent and I saw potential. In 2011, I’d have been more concerned with showmanship and beauty or how it represents the talent of the designer. Now when I interview the candidates I also look at the concept of the brand, whether it has potential longevity, marketability, etc.”
While the retail opportunity is undoubtedly once-in-a-lifetime, the real boon is in the wisdom gleaned from an industry insider whose connections and practical expertise are a resource for which many would kill.
“Michael gave a lot of opinions on modifications for production, and he was even more involved in the production process than I was, in particular liaising on the orders, marketing, shipping with the various departments at JOYCE. There’s no way a new designer knows how to deal with all these different parties,” says Wong.
The commercial knowledge alone is invaluable: “We also looked at practicality of materials, delivery dates and retail pricing, and looked at what opportunities she might have to work with retailers overseas as well,” adds Mok.
