SPACES: Hong Kong's 8FIVE2 Is the One Destination for Skate Locals and Legends
Brian Siswojo walks us through his new shop and talks Hong Kong’s skate scene.
No new name to Hong Kong’s street culture landscape, Brian Siswojo has long frequented our webpage as both a contributor and host. As the founder of 8FIVE2, his output hasn’t fallen short either, taking form as collaborations with Vans, Nike SB, Girls Skateboards, in addition to a limited edition T-shirt with HYPEBEAST during the site’s formative years. Whether he’s introducing brands like Fucking Awesome! and Hockey to local retailers via his distribution company or running workshops and events at SK8FIVE2 (an indoor skatepark he founded in 2012), Brian Siswojo is instrumental to the city’s creative growth. Entering the retail game in the late ’90s, Brian soon realized the demand for imported skate brands as locals skaters and streetwear aficionados would swarmed to his mom’s small apartment where he sold the likes of Alphanumeric, Mecca and DC Shoes. In 2001, Brian opened the first 8FIVE2 store and the imprint’s been growing steadily ever since, moving several times to bigger spaces around Hong Kong’s bustling Causeway Bay district, while also opening an outpost in Kwun Tong.
In our latest HYPEBEAST Spaces episode, we visit the new and improved 8FIVE2 store located a stone’s throw away from its last location on Jaffe Road. The marble floor space opened its doors this summer and boasts a clean interior with a selection that balances the necessities of a quintessentials skate shop — in providing skaters with hardware and decks — with the lifestyle elements of a fashion select store (carrying the likes of Palace Skateboards, Dime, Thrasher and the 8FIVE2’s own Know1edge). Here, Brian lets us in on 8FIVE2’s humble beginnings and shows us 8FIVE2’s hall of fame – a polaroid-filled wall consisting of snapshots of close friends and past collaborators such as Eric Haze, Stefan Janoski, KAWS, Hardy Blechman and others.
8FIVE2SHOP
1/F, 522 Jaffe Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
