Opinion | Out of My Closet: Edward Chiu

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Published: 12:00am, 28 Sep 2012Updated: 10:41am, 28 Sep 2012

Edward Chiu, editor of the men's lifestyle site hypebeast.com greets us in his apartment in Fo Tan, dressed head-to-toe in grey-toned creations by Croatian-born wunderkind Damir Doma. Six years ago, his daily uniform was more likely to be out of A Bathing Ape.

"A typical 'hypebeast' by definition," Chiu says. "I was all about Bape and that baggy street style when I was younger.

"I've changed my style and started wearing darker things. Now I don't go crazy with prints, but try to stick with a one-colour palette. It was probably because I got older. I started changing after breaking up with my girlfriend."

We are still not convinced he has fully grown out of the hypebeast phase, especially when he discloses the number of shoes he owns between his homes in Hong Kong and London. "I lost track after 600 pairs," says Chiu.

Cue the limited edition Dr Martens x Hypebeast.com brogues Chiu helped design, the lace-up boots bearing Nobita Nobi prints from the sought-after Commes des Garçons x Doraemon collection, the hip Rick Owens side pocket leather sneakers and the doll-head Jeremy Scott x Adidas Originals trainers.

He has also bought into classic styles from retro Tricker's, Creepers, Native and Prada. Chiu's Nike runners and high-top trainers (mostly in black) can't be kept in his shoe closet because of the limited space. They're in the living room.

Chiu's clothes closet is no less impressive. Neatly stacked in piles according to colour, from his vast T-shirt collection, you can tell he's a fan of Undercover, Stussy, Supreme and Number(N)ine.