An Interview with Edison Chen
First off, welcome back to Hong Kong. I imagine things were pretty tumultuous over the last little while. What does it mean to be back in Hong Kong for you?
Going back to Hong Kong was a great feeling, being back in my town and being back on the block has rejuvenated me to an even higher level. I don’t know what it means, to be honest, but I think it means my life in Asia can go on, been wilding out in America for a lil’ while now, missed the iced lemon teas, egg tarts and Tsiu Wah.. haha don’t hate.
From watching your CNN interview, as we understand, you dabble a bit more into the movie side of things. However on the CLOT/JUICE relevant-side of things, in terms of fashion, were you setting up any potential projects?
I live CLOT, CLOT is a part of me and I am a part of CLOT, so as time rolls along you will see the projects and the creative direction we at CLOT will bring. Malaysia is just the first installment, kind of like the prelude. CLOT is learning as we go along and let’s just put it this way, this one part of CLOT had a lot of time on his hands to be creative and exploratory so wait and see, the acts about to unfold. It will be interesting to most.
Were they any logistical difficulties being away from Hong Kong whilst working on these projects? Or has the Internet and the way communication works these days made it relatively painless, as if you had never left?
Ive got a great team behind me, I mean checking samples was hard and time tables were hard to keep. But now that I am back everything will be seamless. There are some things you can’t express or feel through the Internet, it is much better with real interaction. I feel people are losing this nowadays with all this madness going around.
While much of CLOT’s influence resides in its very own Hong Kong aesthetic, which is seemingly themed somewhat around Japanese streetwear, did your time back in North America create some inspirations for future collections? Maybe even collaborations with more American brands rooted only in Western markets?
I have always had that part of me but I guess being in North America updated me to that world cause I was living in Hong Kong and Asia for the longest time. Seeing the direction and movement in the States has deepened my inspirations to kind of bridge the East and the West together. More collabos will come and go but true experiences stay, we shall see what time will tell.
Was the launch of JUICE KL one of the major factors in deciding it was a good time to return back to Hong Kong and Asia or are they largely by coincidence?
I would say its purely coincidental, although its funny how things come out in sequence. I am not returning to Hong Kong, my heart has been here the whole time, now my physical being can be here as well. Timing is essential, but this time I guess things just clicked and it worked. Fate I guess you can call it.
Could you go into detail about some of the exclusive products that are
dropping for the launch of the store? What does the censored image of Michael Jackson represent?
Well, basically it is a part of the playful level in the Spring/Summer CLOTone series. The pixelated graphics are kind of about perspective and relation to where you stand and how you see different things. We chose a few people to represent this that many people have different views on… Princess Di, MJ, Obama, Jesus, Mao. If you are far away you see a clear image, if you are close you see obscure pixelated images. This tee is about perspective and also a fun go at some of the icons we feel at CLOT represent the time and condition of the era we live in. All in all, life is all about perspectives, it’s where you choose to stand and what you represent that affects the way you react or analyze things.
Having recently seen you hook-up with Shinsuke-san of NEIGHBORHOOD, is it safe to say something is in the works between NBHD and CLOT?
Haha, you’re funny. You don’t stop…Tak-Shin and I are good friends that go beyond just dollars and cents. NEIGHBORHOOD is a good brand and they have this one pair of denim everyone must have this Fall/Winter season. But it ain’t a CLOT collabo, maybe stay tuned and see.
Haha, I just saw it today on Shin’s blog. What do you hope to achieve with the opening of JUICE KL and where will JUICE and CLOT be within the next 2 years you hope?
JUICE KL Is just the beginning. We want to make a network of shops across South East Asia that not only reflect our own style and views but connect all the different regions we work in. There’s a bunch of other stores in-line that we are working on and we’re excited to finish the first wave of expansion.
Arguably much of the success in Asia on a product level comes down to branding and celebrity affiliation, does CLOT/JUICE get a boost from your ability to return back to the limelight on a consistent basis?
I don’t believe this. If this were true the brand would have collapsed by now. I believe the coming seasons, CLOT will be able to flex our muscles a bit with our products, improving in quality. CLOT is CLOT, Edison is Edison, I had this problem separating the two in people’s minds in Hong Kong for a lil’ while and I guess I still need to work harder to separate the two. The celeb affiliation helps at the beginning but without true creativity and influence we would not have been able to last until now, the consumers nowadays are much more savvy than most think.
Interesting answer, the relationship between marketing and celebrities seems to take many different angles as opposed to the Western world so it’s good to hear your insights on that. Do you have any last words or shout outs?
My last words are 21 gun salutes to those who have fallen and to those who have fell, like Aaliyah said, “just dust yourself off and try again”… Much love to the heads supporting CLOT, much more tasty treats coming your way.
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