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Background:
Soon after sharing his graduate work from the London College of Fashion on-line, Hong Kong-born Robert Wun was approached by Joyce Boutique to purchase his assortment. Like many different impartial designers, he discovered navigating the wholesale mannequin difficult and through the pandemic he pivoted to serving purchasers with one-off, customised designs with couture stage pricing.
“I realised that, in order for me to have a strong wholesale business model or grow a brand, this is not the time yet,” Wun says. “For me to sacrifice all these years – to leave my family, to come all the way to London, to chase my dream – everything I create needs to have a responsibility, not only for myself but also for the message that I’m trying to relay.”
This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder Imran Amed sit down with Robert Wun to debate his path from Hong Kong to London to Paris Couture Week, and the way he’s constructing a client-first enterprise that protects his creativity whereas staying commercially viable.
Key Insights:
- Hong Kong’s cultural imprint formed Wun’s eye from an early age. Growing up in a metropolis he noticed as a inventive engine, Wun factors to icons like Wong Kar-wai as inspiration, including that “Hong Kong is almost a symbol of cultural leadership when it comes to Asia.” Wun remembers discovering how deeply world style intersected with the metropolis, from Joyce Ma championing new designers to Jean Paul Gaultier creating stage items for musicians in Hong Kong. “You always had this idea that creativity was powerful … but I think what changed was a shift in culture and economic power,” he says.
- Wun was found by Hong Kong’s Joyce Boutique after presenting his London College of Fashion graduate assortment on social media in 2012. Joyce’s head purchaser Michael Mok, was an instrumental determine in his early days, internet hosting a pop-up and even giving classes on pricing. “I remember that conversation very deeply because it was never really in my mind how to even price my work, what is it worth,” Wun remembers. Meanwhile, early endorsements adopted: Lady Gaga purchased two pairs of sneakers and the Hunger Games costume workforce requested appears to be like.
- When pandemic lockdowns halted the common style calendar, it supplied a reset for Wun. Being compelled to launch his Autumn/Winter 2021 assortment with an iPhone shoot carried out in his studio kitchen, made him prioritise that means and message. “Everything I create needs to have a responsibility, not only for myself, but also for the message that I’m trying to relay,” he says. That conviction pushed Wun to prioritise work that’s not “to make money” however moderately “to communicate and be honest.”
- After receiving little assist in London, Wun discovered his slot in Paris, the place he was shortlisted for Andam and received the Special Prize. “I just want to do what I love to do for the rest of my life until I cannot,” he says. In successful the prize, Wun obtained mentorship from Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of style and the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode fast-tracked him onto the couture calendar with a unanimous vote — his first ever runway present, debuting with a group titled “Fear”.
- Wun has shifted from wholesale to bespoke orders and selective collaborations. “We are a team of almost twelve now. We’ve turned from not making any profit at all to actually starting to make profit since last year, and we’re almost doubling in terms of turnover by the end of this year,” he says. The core is a loyal personal clientele, and demand is anchored in the US — notably New York and Los Angeles millennials and Asian Americans — plus artwork collectors and {couples} in search of trendy ceremony put on. “Our average for those couture orders ranges from £45,000 to £60,000,” Wun says, a mixture that enables him to guard his creativity whereas working a commercially profitable enterprise.