Trending products rollout by accessory designers

02 2019 | Issue 31
Text/Jasper Hou

The fashion industry is an economic indicator as well as a reflection of local culture and value. Fashion accessories are becoming increasingly important in this very industry and now boast a grand market as personalised fashion items can showcase personal taste and preference. In this issue of Feature, we have invited accessory brand entrepreneurs from PERCY LAU, Musa Diffuser Jewellery and Stardust Journey to share with us their brand story of how they crafted their popular fashion products and broke the boundary with a unique fashion touch.

 

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Eyewear brand PERCY LAU: revolutionary optical design that penetrates the international fashion community


Percy Lau is an emerging eyewear designer from Hong Kong. Graduating from Central Saint Martins of the University of Arts London in 2013, Percy’s graduation design project was awarded the YKK Award by International Talent Support. In the same year, Percy went back to Hong Kong and founded PERCY LAU, bringing eyewear items with revolutionary designs to consumers. Bold visual designs are rooted in Percy Lau’s brand genes.

 

Eyewear as an artistic experiment

 

From Percy’s perspective, all designs are a recreation of God’s creation. “I like to revolutionise existing perceptions. I love to deconstruct eyewear and construct new designs with nature and science,” Percy said. PERCY LAU has two popular series, Dada Child and Axis Y, which break traditional glasses design by adopting hand-like hinges and pearl nose pads, adding more fun to the overall visual. The series has been recommended by many celebrities and fashion icons from both home and abroad.

 

PERCY LAU treats every eyewear design as a product from an artistic experiment instead of a tool. Percy believes that whether it’s eyewear or other fashion items, they are good designs as long as they can make people think. Quality fashion brands in the industry all provide products with great aesthetics that are comfortable to wear. Their products showcase their design philosophy and make people think deeper about their design.

 

A brand team that is simple and powerful

 

PERCY LAU has a team of eleven people with Percy acting as the brand director. In Hong Kong, Percy has two colleagues helping out the business while there are three people stationed overseas. Five colleagues are based in Shanghai, responsible for the market in mainland China. Four of the team members are professional talents in design and arts while six of the team members are in charge of internal management and customer service. Meanwhile, PERCY LAU cooperates with several companies on public relation management and sales. The simple yet powerful team has allowed the brand to produce high-quality results and develop high efficiency.

 

At present, PERCY LAU has formulated a highly mature production line and eyewear design. “Ever since we started the company, the manufacturing company we partner with has been able to meet our demands regardless of the weird manufacturing requests,” Percy said. “Now our brand is working with over ten fashion clothing brands of different kinds and having crossover collaborations with different designers. We want to have more new inspirations in the design process and actualise the product concepts. In a later stage, we will make use of our professional skills to complete the entire series.”

 

Attracting customers with unique product design

 

Despite not having any brick-and-mortar outlet, PERCY LAU has already accumulated an impressive sales number. “Our showrooms during Shanghai and Paris fashion week accept orders from boutiques around the world. Besides, our products are also available on our official website and our shop on Tmall. The sales figure is looking quite well,” Percy stated.

 

Eyewear design is a very challenging field, Percy admitted. “Making glasses requires you to have professional knowledge in ergonomics and eyewear materials. Meanwhile, it’s also necessary for you to know how to make innovations on the eyewear structure to realise your design concept,” Percy explained. “This is what makes designing eyewear different from other fashion designs.” Each season, PERCY LAU will launch an entirely different and revolutionary eyewear fashion design concept. PERCY LAU’s team doesn’t invest a lot of efforts in marketing and promotion because Percy believes that the products themselves are already appealing enough.

 

Developing eyewear design curriculum with renowned institutions

 

As Percy sees it, there aren’t a lot of designers in the industry actually paying attention to originality. This is perhaps contributed by the lack of proper education resources on eyewear design. That’s why PERCY LAU is offering PERCY LAU eyewear project at the Central Saint Martins’ jewellery design department, hoping to encourage more students to opt into the line of eyewear design.

 

In the future, Percy is hoping to maintain its independent voice and cooperate with more fashion brands to launch eyewear items. “We are hoping to build an eyewear design platform where brands can create their own products and launch them into the market. Currently, boutiques from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong can purchase products from PERCY LAU. I am hoping to make more connections from Macao,” Percy said.

 

PERCY LAU

percylau.cn