Comme des Garcons coming to Hongkong

[markie]

I think the store is gorgeous... and Rei looks very pretty.

 

[ilaughead]

Q: Or cosmetics?
A: No. (Thinking for a while) But I go to market.

Q: You buy food?
A: Yes, food.

Too funny.

About the store itself: it isn't too creative, but it's not like it's boring. Not every building has a white lacquer finish!

 

[JJohnson]

Too funny.

About the store itself: it isn't too creative, but it's not like it's boring. Not every building has a white lacquer finish!

Yea it kind of reminds me of the LV store on 5th Ave somewhat

 

[Baizilla]

Oh, can't wait to visit the store.

Does anyone know the name of the street?

 

[nqth]

Thanks for the interview, haoshcn.

The store is not that spectacular, like the most famous Comme stores. It looked like they just painted all walls white and put a shiny facade on. It's simply but nice. I'm wondering how the rest of the store looks like.

 

[ilaughead]

Yea it kind of reminds me of the LV store on 5th Ave somewhat

You're right! I didn't even think of that store! But this one has a much more modern exterior while LV looks more sophisticated.

 

[new_dawn_fades]

comme is the new LV...
im sorry but although i really respect rei and all i dont get how this whole anti-fashion..anti commercial marketing gimmick makes them any less commercial than labels like LV or Chanel for that matter..They are as big as LV or Chanel in hong kong and japan..
and i must say as avant guard as rei is...a lot of her stuff these days is over conceptual garbage... im sorry rei fans.. i cant really take it any longer.... the womens mainline/junya line...are probably the only ones i would bet my money on...and even someo of those pieces are bad.
I have had to sell comme items..and i know several pieces that just stagnated on the racks... because they are pricey for very ordinary garments... id like to see better stuff come from comme..
but now anything comme just puts me off...
just another rant!

 

[new_dawn_fades]

im sure the store will be very popluar. after all its hongkong..
theres more money there than vegas or monaco these days

 

[Honey~Blade]

I'm definitely excited about this space. Might pop by HK end of this year
I agree on the commercialism of the brand though. Especially the menswear. It's pretty much trash these days and the prices are ridiculous.

Anyone know how the prices in HK are compared to US or JP?

I'm never a fan of Wyman's fashion sense and once again he's proven me right.

 

[bearbrick]

I'm definitely excited about this space. Might pop by HK end of this year
I agree on the commercialism of the brand though. Especially the menswear. It's pretty much trash these days and the prices are ridiculous.

Anyone know how the prices in HK are compared to US or JP?

I'm never a fan of Wyman's fashion sense and once again he's proven me right.

PLEASE CANCEL THIS MISTAKEN POSTING ...THANK YOU

 

[neoxam]

Some interesting "gossips" from Wyman Wong (a very famous writer/fashion editor/shopaholic in Hongkong, the guy wearing metallic jacket in post #4), he had a dinner with Rei after the store opening party. These are from the article he wrote for a newspaper afterwards.

Q (Wyman Do you like shopping yourself?
A (Rei No. Only at the airport.

Q: Never buy clothes?
A: No.

Q: Or cosmetics?
A: No. (Thinking for a while) But I go to market.

Q: You buy food?
A: Yes, food.

Some quotes from Wyman's article; " Sister Rei (that's the way lots of fashion lovers address her in Hongkong )she did eat food, between beef and fish, she chose fish; most of time she spoke Japanese; it seems that she was in a strong need to keep herself warm; she did smile , I FINALLY SAW HER SMILE!. That's all I want to say, just want to share them with people who also want to appreciate her from a "beatiful distance".

Another anecdote, in the middle of the dinner, Adrian Joffe asked Wyman, "what are you going to do during the holiday of Easter Day?" "I am going to Tokyo." "For what?" Before Wyman opened his mouth, Sister Rei suddenly cut in, "shopping!" Her voice sounds so confident and positive, her facial expression was obviously saying "do you even have to ask?"



I really love that article, and I have always enjoyed his fashion column. Wyman is a very intelligent and interesting guy. Not intellectual, but very sensitive and smart, exactly the kind of guy who genuinely knows how to appreciate and love good fashion. When you face a master like Rei Kawakubo, do you even have to make judgement or any kind of dry and boring generalization? I was thinking what I would write down if I met my Masters like Italo Calvino or Michel Foucault, I wish I could write down the same interesting words and present the similiar trivial details of which the world is ultimately composed, to which the thinking and enlightened minds are perpetually sensitive.

Wyman looked so halirious in that metallic Dior Homme jacket. Anyway, everyone in HK knows he's a shopaholic and he puts on expensive designers' clothes which don't suit him at all.

I dropped by the shop the other day. The white cube looks cool. And you have to look for the front door because it is also in white colour. damn my eye-sight, there's a little black automatic door detector right at the top of the door.

Inside the store it is all minimal interior design. White walls, staircases with salesperson all in black. The staircases are so narrow. Believe me anyone who's bigger than 6 feet and weight over 200 pounds wouldn't want to squeeze their body up on the staircases.
So there are basically 4 stories. Tees and sneakers on the G/F, Ladieswear on the 1/F, Menswear on the 2/F and on the 3/F it's exhibiting Rei's construction of her silhouette on mannequins (forgive me i don't know what the exact words are).

As compared to the store in Dover Street, London, the HK one seems quite small and honestly surprisingly not surprising (the interiors I mean).

 

[JJohnson]

LOL@bearbrick *dies laughing*

 

[Avantster]

Thanks for posting haoshcn, the interview excerpts are great.

Oh, can't wait to visit the store.
Does anyone know the name of the street?

Bai, it's on On Lan Street in Central. I'll definitely visit next I go HK - with Margiela and Ann Dem on the same street how couldn't you?

 

[Pastry]

I don't think i'll get to see the interior of the store anytime soon, but I have to mention now beautiful the "white box" facade is! It fits perfectly, and it doesn't..i don't know how to describe it, but it's brilliant!

 

[bearbrick]

comme is the new LV...
im sorry but although i really respect rei and all i dont get how this whole anti-fashion..anti commercial marketing gimmick makes them any less commercial than labels like LV or Chanel for that matter..They are as big as LV or Chanel in hong kong and japan..
and i must say as avant guard as rei is...a lot of her stuff these days is over conceptual garbage... im sorry rei fans.. i cant really take it any longer.... the womens mainline/junya line...are probably the only ones i would bet my money on...and even someo of those pieces are bad.
I have had to sell comme items..and i know several pieces that just stagnated on the racks... because they are pricey for very ordinary garments... id like to see better stuff come from comme..
but now anything comme just puts me off...
just another rant!

cant agree with you more
.new dawn fades.....what you have said is spot on and many people do share the same views ....CDG has and is still mainly about clever marketing ...... but i guess thats what fashion is about.

AS LONG AS THE PRICES DONT BECOME TOOO RIDICULOUS ......

 

[Baizilla]

Thanks for posting haoshcn, the interview excerpts are great.


Bai, it's on On Lan Street in Central. I'll definitely visit next I go HK - with Margiela and Ann Dem on the same street how couldn't you?

Thanks for the address

hehe.. I will be in HK in August. I'm already excited

 

[nqth]

Do you see Giselle or any other near naked supermodels in Comme's ads? Do you think they sell mostly bags?

Of course some ppl will buy Comme, Yohji, CCP, CDiem or RO for the same reasons others buy LV or Chanel.

Comme has more and more commercial projects lately. They has grown a bit bigger and they seems to have a different bussiness model now. Is it that bad?

I think they are trying to get clients who are not traditional Comme's base clients (ppl who swim or ppl who wear polos:-). I think as long as the main lines are good, it is good.

I think Comme is now like DSM, a bit chaotic mixture of everything what is exciting.

 

[haoshcn]

Do you see Giselle or any other near naked supermodels in Comme's ads? Do you think they sell mostly bags?

Of course some ppl will buy Comme, Yohji, CCP, CDiem or RO for the same reasons others buy LV or Chanel.

Comme has more and more commercial projects lately. They has grown a bit bigger and they seems to have a different bussiness model now. Is it that bad?

I think they are trying to get clients who are not traditional Comme's base clients (ppl who swim or ppl who wear polos:-). I think as long as the main lines are good, it is good.

I think Comme is now like DSM, a bit chaotic mixture of everything what is exciting.

It's a bit different in Hongkong from in New York or some other big cities in North America or even Europe. Here in the US, Comme des Garcons is genuinely an avant garde name. Lots of people here who tell you they love fashion might have never heard of its name. Most people who appear to be "fashionably-dressed" probably don't have a single CdG item in their closets. If you go to Chicago, you won't find anything from any line of CdG for men in any store, nothing! But in Hongkong, from what I read in their newspapers, almost every "hip" young boy or young girl has a CdG Play T-shirt. Comme des Garcons is almost like a household name, at least for people who have some interest in fashion it is. It doesn't mean fashion customers are really more sophisticated or artistic in Hongkong than in New York or even Chicago, it's just that they have a very different pop/commercial culture which follow the taste of the so-called "elites" with authority lots of time, even just blindly. You see big Pop stars in Hongkong wearing seriously avant-garde and cutting-edge European or Japanese designers clothes all the time, on their concerts or attending PR function or award ceremony, that is simply inconceivable in the US.

I think that partially explains why some people over there somewhat "despise" CdG, because of the high level of exposure CdG gets on their media, wearing its clothes doesn't give them the strong feeling of exclusivity anymore. On the other hand, in terms of design and creativity, CdG, particularly its mainline for women, I do think it's getting a bit old and repetitive these days.

Talking about Wyman, I also agree the way he wears clothes can hardly be described as stylish or inspiring. But I still think he's an interesting figure. He never pretends to be professionally knowledgable or attempts to be theoretical or analytical (which are the qualities you probably will never find in any fashion editor in Hongkong) in his fashion writings, it's his idiosyncrasy and his constant confession of shopoholicism that really amuse me. And you got to agree, even though he is not a man of letters, he does have some special flair with language and words, which adds extra flavor to his writing.

 

[JJohnson]

Yea there is no CDG men's anywhere here in Chicago, but only a few stores do carry the women's line. Barney's buys a few things, but they're so conversative, I think if you really want to find some nice comme pieces, go to Ikram.

 

[haoshcn]

Actually I think I was wrong. Doesn't Hejfina, that shop on N Milwaukee Ave, carry CdG Shirt? I've been to that store for only once. I think I saw a small selection of CdG Shirt stuff over there.