2018 Brand Story—Macao Original Fashion ExhibitionI
Introduction
Every touching story has unusual storylines and elements. How much you know about the story depends on your attitude to, curiosity about and exploration of it. We can easily figure out the brand logos on the clothing of people walking through streets and alleys, but how much do we understand the stories behind the brands?
A number of independent original fashion brands have sprung up in Macao, as the SAR government vigorously promotes the local cultural and creative industries in recent years. In view of this, the Macao Fashion Gallery continues to organize the “2018 Brand Story—Macao Original Fashion Exhibition” this year, providing a platform for local original fashion brands to tell their own stories, through open call for brand stories, followed by evaluation and selection.
Six fashion labels including I.N.K, JADE.L, alexis jordan, Nega C., Denimworks and ella épeler will be showcased and available to purchase in the exhibition. The exhibition is divided into three phases, with two brands to be shown in each phase. The event will start with the street fashion of I.N.K and gender-neutral designs of JADE.L, followed by alexis jordan’s male clothing of metropolitan improvisation as well as Nega C.’s sweet and romantic style in the second phase. It will be concluded by Denimworks’ jeans featuring unique craftsmanship and ella épeler’s totem illustrations.
Brand introduction： I.N.K
I.N.K was co-founded in 2016 by fashionista Inky Leong and designer Kris Chan from Macao. The brand name created with their initials denotes “ink” and connotes “idea overflow in ink”, that is, translation of inspirations into memorable ink creations. With an emphasis on innovation and cultural diversity, I.N.K develops original, market-oriented series using local cultural elements, including those of art and music to spread the spirit of Macao’s fashion brands.
Brand Operations Director：Inky Leong
Inky Leong was born in Macao and is now a fashion stylist, lecturer and fashion columnist for local culture publication SD Magazine. He founded fashion boutique Inky Store in 2014 in Macao to promote fashion cultures. He has worked in branding, management and retail for some international fashion brands, such as Vivienne Westwood, Burberry and Hermès, and as a host and guest speaker in various activities of Burberry, Dior and local fashion brands. Moreover, he has been an image consultant for artists, TV programs and award ceremonies of Macao and Mainland China; invited to the Fashion Week in London, Paris and Seoul. Leong is also a model in Macao, who engages in local multi-media productions.
Brand Design Director：Kris Chan
A Macao native, Kris Chan graduated from the Department of Fashion Design at College of Design under the Shih Chien University in Taiwan, and has had ten years of work experience in the clothing industry. He has been an artist stylist, designer of women’s and men’s clothing respectively for Taiwan fashion brand Mademoiselle SiSi and GOZO. He also worked as a fashion and product designer for Macau Creations, brand designer for Soda Panda and fashion designer for Gino & Dino of Venetian Macao. Chan first launched “Twinkle, Twinkle”, a junior wear fashion show at the Macao Fashion Festival during the Macao International Trade & Investment Fair in 2011 and establishedNEVERKNOWStudio as his personal design workspace in 2015. He has held 11 illustration activities in Hong Kong and Macao upon the invitation from fashion brand Burberry, and organized joint events in collaboration with a number of brands, including Taiwan’s Wind Salon, FFLives, 25:01, Bangkok’s Thorny Mouse as well as Macao’s E-Spark and Inky Store.
Exhibition theme ： “BATTLE: expedition”
In this exhibition, I.N.K presents its themed series by “chapters” instead of “seasons”, hoping to tell a story in a more complete way. The theme is inspired by the 50s’ military garments. The designer redefines the fashion marked by solemnity with designs featuring odd-length, disproportion and misplaced parts, as well as eye-catching accessories adapted from military belt buckles.
The theme not only carries the military spirit of toughness, but also elements of Hip-hop music, namely, of impromptu street rap battles, which intended to get audience’s cheers. The fashion series of this exhibition adds the elements of Hip-hop music, graffiti and sport cultures, to present the cutting and fashion style of the 90s.
The series uses jungle green, vermilion, grey, black among other colors used for military purpose. Military coats made of soft alpaca wool, coupled with skateboard pants of denim cloth and hooded sweater of cozy cotton build a new fashion in a leisure city. Classic MA-1 and M-65 flight jackets are transformed with elastic nylon, breaking away from the stereotypical image of military clothing.
Besides, this first series adopts the flower symbol of Macao as the theme, demonstrating the culture underlying the city’s fashion brands. The designer links Macao, fashion and taste of life together, announcing the start of the “expedition” of the brand.
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Brand introduction：JADE.L
Established in 2014, JADE.L conveys the aesthetic concept of gender-neutrality. The brand interprets uniqueness and individuality through different uses of fabric textures and design details, giving an air of high-class and youthfulness to every line of its products. JADE.L takes “Be Yourself” as the brand purpose, advocating the link of branded clothing to expression of distinctiveness and beauty rather than representing the trend, while striving to promote local fashion label of neutrality.
Brand Designer：Jade Leong
Jade Leong is a local fashion designer with a strong passion for fashion since her youth. She took courses related to fashion design at the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre and studied fashion design at the Shih Chien University in Taiwan, during which she won great honors in many international and Macao’s fashion design contests. Leong keeps working as a fashion designer after she completed her degree in Taiwan and returned to Macao, and has founded her own fashion brand JADE.L.
Exhibition theme：Gentlewomen
The theme is inspired by feminist ideas of the 19th century, when women’s dressing became increasingly gender-neutral with fewer constraints under the influence of men’s dressing style.
Referring to the dressing style of the British gentlemen in 19th century, the designer applies the ideas of frock and cape coats in the details of the women’s clothing in an attempt to blend feminine glamour with unpretentiousness and competence in the series. The double faced wool, as a main clothing fabric, carries the visual effect of haziness like the view on a smoggy day, while the overall yellowish grey color of the series gives a fuzzy and confusing impression.
The exhibition is set with smoggy atmosphere similar to the time of industrial development, accompanied by the color of assorted wheat and flaxen, creating a dim, yellow space of warmth under the sunlight. Visitors can feel like being back in the 19th century, an era of mystery and simplicity, and experience the fusion of modern and vintage fashions.
Macao Fashion Gallery
Exhibition Date：13/1-4/3/2018
Opening hours: 10am – 8pm (closed on Mondays, open on public holidays)
Venue: Rua de S. Roque, No. 47, Macao
Enquiries: (853) 2835 3341 (during office hours)
Website: www.macaofashiongallery.com
Free admission