People on Oxford Street in London, January 2023. Even in the depths of winter, the British high street is a catwalk for a smorgasbord of looks. Photo: Getty Images
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https://scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3212193/hong-kong-why-does-everyone-dress-same-youve-lost-your-cool-cred Fashion
In Hong Kong, why does everyone dress the same? You’ve lost your cool cred
- These days, everyone – from teens to the middle-aged – in Hong Kong looks fashionable, but in pretty much the same ways, and it is boring
- The last flash of individuality came in the summer of 2019 – black shirts, yellow helmets and gas masks, anyone? – but like many trends, it did not last
People walking in Central, Hong Kong, in July 2020. While Hongkongers are well dressed, there is no individuality, says Kate Whitehead. Photo: SCMP
Perhaps it was the jet lag, but walking through IFC Mall, in Central on Hong Kong Island, on Saturday afternoon I looked around in horror – everyone looked the same.
I’m not talking zombie apocalypse clones, but as though they’d all been styled and dressed by the same hand. From the teens to the middle-aged and even the toddlers, their clothes were fashionable, well cut and conformed to the same muted palette.
After a month in Britain, where, even in the depths of winter, the high street is a catwalk for a smorgasbord of looks, returning to Hong Kong came as a shock. Where is the variety? Where is the individuality?
Growing up in Hong Kong, the city was certainly no fashion capital, but these days the millennials and Gen Z are stylish – it’s just that they seem to be fashionable in pretty much the same ways. It’s a conservative cool, operating within a narrow band of options as though afraid of rocking the boat.
Can it be that Hongkongers just try too hard? No, that honour goes to our friends across the border in China, who, in their earnestness to be on trend, buy a complete look from a high-end brand and make sure the labels are on show. OK, that might have shifted post-pandemic, but it’s still a mainland Chinese mindset.
In the middle of the pandemic, with the border closed, many high-end labels pulled out of Hong Kong, exiting prized retail space in exclusive shopping malls. Some of us wondered whether this would mean an opportunity for Hong Kong talent to shine, filling the gap with more affordable home-grown looks, but that doesn’t seem to have happened.
Pro-democracy protesters during a demonstration in August, 2019. Photo: Getty Images
There was a trend for black T-shirts and yellow construction helmets that took off in the summer of 2019. Accessorised with a gas mask, it was the hottest fashion trend I’ve seen sweep through this city in 40 years. But, of course, it didn’t last.
Hongkongers have a history of turning to our Asian neighbours for fashion trends. There’s a thirst for cool and quirky K-fashion brands and the effortlessly hip Japanese design aesthetic, but when is this city going to hit on its own look?