{"id":732,"date":"2022-11-19T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hkcc.org.uk\/?p=732"},"modified":"2024-04-01T10:25:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T10:25:29","slug":"what-the-x-do-i-know-about-fashion-%e3%80%8afashion%e5%91%a2%e5%ae%b6%e9%87%8e%e6%88%91%e8%ad%98%e6%a2%9d%e9%90%b5%e5%92%a9%e3%80%8b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hkcc.org.uk\/?p=732","title":{"rendered":"What the x do I know about fashion? \u300aFashion\u5462\u5bb6\u91ce\u6211\u8b58\u689d\u9435\u54a9\u300b"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What the x do I know about fashion?<\/h1>\n

\u300aFashion\u5462\u5bb6\u91ce\u6211\u8b58\u689d\u9435\u54a9\u300b<\/h3>\n

November 19, 2022 by Y<\/h6>\n
EN<\/a> \u4e2d\u6587<\/a><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Photo from Mandem on The Wall, extracted from Complex UK<\/em>
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Small talk seems to be a vital part of working in the UK (not sure if my boss would agree?). One day, my female colleagues were chatting away as usual, discussing their favourite boys outfit. One of my colleagues said she liked the \u201croadman\u201d style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you mean construction workers?\u201d I asked, curious. I had seldom heard girls in Hong Kong adoring this style. What\u2019s more, it was hard to associate my young and polite British colleague with construction workers\u2019 style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My colleague smiled and shook her head. She showed me a picture on Google [see feature photo] – boys in sporty attire (limited to black\/ white\/ grey colours), donning a padded jacket\/ windbreaker and sports shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh! Isn\u2019t this the outfit of nearly every boy in Manchester?\u201d My colleagues laughed and said I was absolutely right. They further explained that the Roadman style was popular in the UK likely because of \u201cGrime\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consulting Google again, I learnt that Grime is a genre of music originated in East London in the 2000s, inspired by British electronic pop and many different musical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scroll further down to listen to a song by Wiley – the \u2018godfather\u2019 of Grime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do Roadmen dress the way they do? The simplest reason would be the sportswear\u2019s functionality and flexibility, which appeals to street teens. This would also explain why Grime musicians adopt this style as they perform on the streets, gradually influencing other music artists and the younger generation, creating the popular Roadman phenomenon today. My colleague explained that Roadman style can also be called \u201cChav\u201d, which means \u201cteenagers with brash and loutish behaviours, usually of a lower social status\u201d – this description made it even harder for me to understand the attraction of Roadman\/ Chav outfit. Maybe this is the UK version of \u201cchicks dig bad boys\u201d? However, some of my female colleagues admitted they couldn\u2019t stand Roadman style; they prefer sloanie or hipster style (I will look into them at a later stage~).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After giving a long and detailed speech, my colleague turned to me: \u201cSo, what do boys in Hong Kong usually wear?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was speechless. Never given the topic much thought, what came into mind for me were canned fashion brands like Uniqlo, GU, and Zara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back home, I turned to Google again. However, many of the search results didn\u2019t reflect what Hong Kong people normally wear nowadays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There had been celebrities\/ fashion icons like Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung, who were once-in-a-century superstars. A more recent singer-actor, Edison Chen, co-founded the Hong Kong-based fashion label CLOT; but the brand has long turned to China and global markets. Needless to mention the historical Cheung Saam (long coat), Hanfu (Han Chinese outfits)1<\/a>, 2<\/a><\/sup>, Tanka (boatmen outfits), and Hakka style clothing, which are all out of date.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Online image from Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing<\/em>
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Hong Kong does have its local fashion brands, eg. from the 90s – Giordano, Bossini, U2, G2000, and from the 00s – izzue, Tough, double-park3<\/a><\/sup>. There has also been local designer brands sought-after internationally4<\/a><\/sup>. However, they are non-mainstream and foreign to me. Some say Hong Kong fashion is largely influenced by the US, Japan and Korea; which is probably true considering the brand names that come to my mind immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grappling around fruitlessly, I suddenly thought of something from Hong Kong comparable to the Manchester \u201cRoadman\u201d style – the \u201cMK\u201d style. MK is short for \u201cMong Kok\u201d, a busy district in Hong Kong where street roamers and underground dwellers come together. It is quite hard to define the MK culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both MK and Roadman are characterised by street-style, rough-looking features. According to the Hong Kong urban dictionary, MK outfit can refer to outfit worn by triads, or delinquents pretending to be triads5<\/a><\/sup>; Roadman, on the other hand, refers to outfits commonly worn by teens hanging around on streets, engaging in illegal acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MK style is quite fluid; it evolves with time. Back then, MK can refer to those with hair dyed golden, tattooed and form-fitting black t-shirts. Throughout the years, MK hairstyles has evolved to include Kpop hairstyles – with bangs that fall over the eyes, and later all-back \u201cPidgeotto\u201d style. Though not all MKs smoke, or have piercings and tattoos, their common traits include the use of distinctive social media alias, and forming \u201cfamily\u201d ties with all their friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strangely, nostalgia has softened my skepticism towards the MK style. In Hong Kong, the sacred grounds where MKs gather have gradually been renamed or repurposed. Will the MK culture prevail?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel quite embarrassed to show photos of MK style to my colleagues. My friend instead suggested me to show pictures of Mirror – a Hong Kong boy band that rose quickly to fame in recent years. Out of ideas, I think I will have to follow the suggestion in the end\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S. Some would say that grime resembles American hip hop, but many fans claim grime is more upbeat and techno, with its unique style. For our personal safety, I would suggest not to say grime evolved from hip hop (*sheepish grin*).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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