I'm leaving Hong Kong today and I don't know when I'll be back home next, so I thought I'd do a little thing on fashion in my home town before I go move to London.
Whenever the time comes for me to go back to Hong Kong, the first thing I think I of (besides seeing my family of course) is how much fun the shopping will be. I've shopped in all fashion capitals of the world, bar New York, and I have to say from a completely unbiased point of view, Hong Kong wins by miles. Hong Kong is literally built on markets (indoors and outdoors) and mega shopping complexes. There's something for everyone- which is why if you venture out on a weekend, the whole city seems to have crammed into the one shopping mall..admittedly it can get very hectic and a lot of the time you resemble a chain-gang shuffling along together. But Hong Kongers love to shop, and I do to! With the cheap prices and extensive on-trend pieces to choose from whats not to love? I've even brought boys shopping with me and they've enjoyed the thrill of a good haggle with the stall keepers. The indoor markets are my favourite places to shop. There's super loud RnB, or Trance music blaring from each tiny shop, and each one is filled to the brim with amazing clothes and sold at the cheapest prices- it's defiantly a distinctive experience. You haggle you're way through the day and come back home £40 pounds lighter but carrying about 15kg worth of booty- for real! Where else could you do that? I could easily spend that much in Topshop on a single item and find the exact same one here for £3.
Over the years of shopping in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong (the most densely populated area on the entire planet by the way), I've noticed how idiosyncratic and fun young locals dress. I've been well aware of all these 'street-style' blogs and the growing international craze with Lookbook, but it occurred to me that perhaps Hong Kong has never been considered a serious country of street style influence, nor has it ever been documented like it has done in Stockholm, Berlin, London and Milan to name a few. Today, in between darting in an out of stalls and shops I stopped passers by with the unique 'Hong Kong' sense of style that I've grown up with and admired. A lot of the clothing that features in my pictures are from the local market stalls that I frequent, they have no labels, you're not allowed to try them on and see if you look good in them, you really have to have a good idea about your look...and size, and are truly what I believe to be the definition of 'street style' in Hong Kong.
Photography: Giulia Aliverti
Location: Mongkok, Hong Kong
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