Live Connected: NCHS in conversation with Karchun Leung

“This is such a specific point in time - that everything produced now is fascinating and is newsworthy because everyone is experiencing a unique circumstance. It's like when you look at things that were produced during the wars and then subsequently, it's going to be really interesting to look at what happened before and what happened after and how things have shifted.” “It’s either the end of everything or the party to end all others.” Editor, author, esteemed fashion critic and all-round consulate fashion enthusiast Alexander Fury has spent his career honing into the here and now of fashion and why collections shape up to be what they are at that point in time. What is the true essence of fashion?  How do we view it through the lens of a multi-paced media landscape from print to websites to Instagram?  Who is the audience and how do they come to a certain understanding of fashion? Together with fellow writer and journalist David Hellqvist, on this episode of JOYCE’s Live Curiously podcast, they discuss the ways we see and view fashion, tracking Fury’s career from cutting his fashion teeth at SHOWstudio, reviewing shows for newspapers like the Independent and Vogue Runway and editing biannuals like Love and AnOther magazine, and dissecting the migration from print to digital.  As the fashion industry goes another seismic shift in the shape of the pandemic, Fury gives his take on what he likens to the changes in fashion post-war, as we stand on the precipice of what feels like a do-or-die moment.

What keeps cultural creators constantly curious? How to parlay ideas into concrete creativity? And how to harness talent into the making of a “star”? Kam Kwok Leung has been one of the pioneer creators of Hong Kong entertainment since the 70s, donning multiple hats as script writer, director, actor and managing multiple HK TV channels. Together Magazine P’s Creative Director Peter Wong and publisher Ching Siu-Wai, this trio of HK media culture vultures discuss the entertainment world in Hong Kong from the 60s to the present day. Kam talks about borrowing aspects from Western television culture such as live band performance shows or guest stars on sitcoms to boost local productions. He also stresses the importance of nurturing young actors and actresses in order to grow the entertainment industry, whilst avoiding the modern trappings of simply wanting to be famous. Or to borrow a Cantonese phrase - to become 红 (“red”).   Together they talk about embracing change whether it’s subscription-based content platforms or online to fuel their work and minds and also to encourage a younger generation to be strong in their convictions and to hopefully embark on new paths in their creative trajectories.

"Are you driving the bus? Are you the passenger?" How do you drive creativity forward ? Join the journey across three time zones with DJ and cultural commentator Arthur Bray as he speaks to artist and Saint Mxxxxxx designer Cali Thornhill DeWitt and Nike's “gatekeeper of hype” Fraser Cooke about languishing in a post pandemic state. DeWitt talks about his symbiotic relationship with Tokyo-based design partner Yuta Hokusawa of Readymade. His metaphor of “filling up the tank” via real life experiences is intuitive to his creative workflow, a practice which he's had to maintain given that he and Yuta work remotely from one another. Likewise, Cooke muses about the challenges of being a creator in a static setting. “Things that were 3-dimensional have gone to 2-dimensions," says Cooke whose creative compass is reliant on discovery from the fringes of subculture. These multi-hyphenate creatives explore the current state of the arts, discuss topics of social validation and share their own inspirations  at a time when the world is seemingly on pause.  Whether it’s connecting the dots in the Nike universe for Cooke or DeWitt creating artwork based on a do-as-you-please manner, intuition and business acumen have both played crucial parts in the success of both their careers.  While the trio may kick off the roundtable conversation in a restless and suspended state, in the end, their unbounded creativity drives them forward in their endeavours. As our own lives become more curated, this conversation reminds us to exercise "disruption" as a way to question the status quo.

“The contact between the audience and an orchestra is hard to describe. It’s a giving and taking of energy.” Give it up for Maestro Jaap van Zweden. Holding two roles as Music Director of both the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, he has become a venerable classical music presence across three continents. In particular in Hong Kong, van Zweden is responsible for shaping what is a young orchestra culture. On the latest JOYCE  Live Curiously podcast episode, van Zweden speaks to the Asian performing arts critic for the Financial Times of London Ken Smith, amidst another lockdown from his hometown of Amsterdam. From drawing similarities of his two home away from homes - New York and Hong Kong to pondering post pandemic performances, van Zweden and Smith are both in agreement. “There is nothing better than a live performance.” Amen to that.

Always read the label. Or never read the label? An icon of our times, Hong Kong singer-songwriter Ivana Wong speaks to Gavin So the JOYCE Head of Creative about music, art and her refusal to conform to mainstream popular culture. The firm friends and fellow creative mavericks share thoughts and insights into just how damaging a stereotype can be. Labels may be for clothing, but they're not for people. Nor art. Ivana, the week before she opens doors to ‘Pink Room’ - the first chapter in an ongoing multimedia art project ‘The Missing Something’ - openly shares her personal point of view, inviting visitors to question the dominance of labels in the world, influencing and restricting our perceptions, beliefs and behaviour. In a fast paced world of first impressions, we need to take time to explore and appreciate the story behind the image. “When you find yourself without true ‘art’, you will realise its importance. So preempting this - valuing it before you find yourself missing it - has become the central thought of ‘The Missing Something.”

Genuine article. Designer TinTin Zhang set up shop in a city famous for fashion fakes and bootlegs – and found real inspiration. The NCHS founder tells Karchun Leung about community, local values and design innovation that’s proudly Made In Putian. TinTin’s avant-garde creativity had classical roots. Her work at Central St Martins and the RCA earned her a prestigious stint in product development at Adidas and an International Talent Support (ITS 2018) OTB Award. With a string of fashion capitals – London, Berlin, Shanghai – and an innovator’s skillset under her belt, the time was right to launch her creative empire on home soil. Neon Cloud Hat System (NCHS) is bringing bold, directional millinery and accessories to China – but as TinTin explains, the local people and culture are her muse as well as her market. Her breakout “Putianciaga” hats repurpose the knock-off sneakers consumers can’t get enough of. Designer fakes are reborn as original co-created street-style. Thanks to online platforms, a brand like NCHS can stay local and embedded in a community – while reaching a bigger audience and boosting an emerging creative hub like Putian on the world stage. As TinTin sees it, ethical, game-changing fashion can happen far from bright lights and runways. NCHS just asks that we watch this space.

When Christopher John Rogers was in fifth grade, he knew he wanted to be a fashion designer.  He later stumbled on an Alexander McQueen show on YouTube and has since been hooked. Roger’s love of unadulterated and saturated Fashion with a capital F, has seen him rise quickly with his eponymous label, garnering a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2019 and an incredible cohort of CJR wearers such as Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Beyonce. Iridescent fabrics, saturated jewel tones and dramatic volumes that physically take up the space of a room have marked Rogers out in the New York fashion scene.   Jillian Choi, director of global exhibitions at Design Miami and hardcore fashion enthusiast, speaks to Rogers on this episode of the Live Curiously podcast, delving into his journey - from his upbringing in Baton Rouge, where prim church goers and an anything-goes eclecticism have become part of his ongoing reference points, to his time in New York designing for DVF, whilst side hustling with his own brand.  Choi and Rogers also unpack an unprecedented year, in which the young designer has had the luxury of time to be with his thoughts and really think about what his brand really stands for, realising that it’s ok not to be “everything to everyone.”  Rogers’ hopes for fashion’s future?  No grand plans for now, but just pure gratitude for doing him.    “To be able to make clothing that is specific and charged with emotion be able to have a business out of that.  I feel lucky that we’ve found a community that understands that and relate to that and allow us to continue what we’re doing.”

Long live the Quinn!  Richard Quinn was already a breakout graduate from his Central Saint Martins MA class with his extreme subversions of floral prints but when Her Majesty the Queen made a surprise appearance at his London Fashion Week show in 2018 to present him with the inaugural QEII Award for British Design, that’s when all eyes fell on this young, grounded designer. Quinn has since risen and risen, with surreal moments like the likes of Celine Dion and Cardi B donning a head-to-toe RQ look, as well as putting on spectacular shows that involve both his family and community, like the SS20 show that had a troupe of girls from the local primary school emerging in marabou ensembles standing next to a Cecil Beaton-esque mise-en-scene, with the help of his brother who works in construction. From Quinn’s South Peckham studio and open-access print studio, he spoke to fashion journalist and content creator Susie Lau, just as a second lockdown had begun in London, about navigating an albeit quieter year for everyone and how we will emerge and react to these strange times.  Dress up, up and up is the takeaway! “Those key turning point, red carpet moments aren’t happening right now.  But once this is all gone, it will be more saturated than ever.  Everyone will be just like ‘Let’s go for it!’.  It will be like the 1920s again.  Any occasion will be special.” Keeping things special is precisely why Quinn opted not to show his SS21 collection in September and instead postponed it until February. Being brave enough to pause and wait for a better moment is why Quinn’s shows are such hot tickets. Welcome to the House of Quinn!

All-night Canto disco. Reunited for part two of their deep-dive in to homegrown creative talent, Arthur Bray and Tedman Lee dissect Hong Kong’s club music scene with resident DJs of MIHN club, the city’s forward-thinking electronic dance club. Mr. Ho (Michael Ho), JayMe (Jimmy Mak), Nanogram (Jason Ng) reminisce and discuss all influences from Italo disco, house, techno, hiphop, dubstep and Leslie Cheung to iconic 80s nightclub Canton, Manchester’s Sankeys, cult Club XXX and the fabled Chungking Mansions. Feel free to be free. The DJs discuss what it means to be creatively free behind the turntable. How does performing to a Hong Kong crowd influence their style? What does it even mean to be a DJ? “A DJ is a curator, a collector and also an entertainer.” Find out how this eclectic group of sound shapers overcome their ‘cool’ demons and put on a “colourful, emotional rollercoaster” of a night at MIHN. Music to your ears? Continue the audio journey and stay connected by listening in to the MIHN playlist for JOYCE SOUNDS.

Qiu launched her label in 2017 and was on the official schedule at New York and then Milan in 2018 and 2019 – all before the ink on her MA diploma was dry. The fast-rising star talks to veteran editor Karchun Leung about influences, inspirations and sheer hard work. For Hangzhou native Qiu, only one fashion education programme in the world would do. Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts rose to prominence in the 80s when it produced a breakout class of designers who took the industry by storm. Among the legendary Antwerp Six, a young Qiu was especially dazzled by Dries Van Noten and Walter Van Beirendonck: when she arrived in Belgium, Van Beirendonck was on the faculty and waiting to teach her. The Academy’s famously intensive approach made it a sink-or-swim experience, she admits. But the aim is to mould disciplined creative mavericks – and Qiu’s output before and after graduation suggest it paid off. It’s early days, and Qiu is still finding her feet in business and experimenting with production models to make her vibrant modern romantic designs as sustainable as possible. But as she reveals to Leung, exploration is now her comfort zone. Following in the footsteps of her idols taught her to go her own way.