Fashion System: A New Identity, Made-in-Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong is experiencing a cultural identity crisis that is affecting its social and cultural landscape. The crisis is due to the differing thoughts and ideas brought in by a continuous influx of immigrants from multiple cultures and ethnicities. Hong Kong has physical, economical, and socio-cultural seams which segregate the population. As a result, there are lost opportunities to embrace these identities. Using fashion as a cultural identifier, this thesis seeks to establish a new and unique fashion identity that encompasses diverse cultures. The design of a fashion system would promote the dynamic movement of fabrics, garments, and people along the streets of Hong Kong, to regenerate a declining area, and provide opportunities for negotiation and exchange. The goals of the fashion system are to train individuals to become self-made designers while also providing jobs for people from diverse backgrounds. A key component to the fashion system are transformable identity carts that would be used as a platform to assist designers as they grow into more established designers. Successful implementation of the fashion system would establish a truly unique multi-cultural fashion identity Made-In-Hong Kong. Both fashion and architecture create interesting relationships between the dress and body, surface and building. The proposition to converge two disciplines will identify new ways of experiencing movement and space, and ephemeral and transformative possibilities in architecture and the urban environment.