Designer Kay Kwok on Creating Worlds with Fashion

Text by Gennady Oreshkin

Fashion designer Kay Kwok merges ancient myths with futuristic ideas, bends metal and invents worlds beyond imagination. Prestige finds out just how he does it.

Imagine. It’s the year 2100, a grim post-apocalyptic hellscape, not unlike the one described in Joyce Carol Oates’s short story Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God. What’s left of humanity is drawn deep underground, the planet’s surface is swathed in toxic fumes and the soil is barren. Depressing? Perhaps. Alarming? Unless your heart is frozen to the core. Does it inspire a strange feeling of post-societal liberation? Certainly.

The divine deliverance from societal norms such as standards of beauty opens entirely new possibilities for self-expression – or at least according to Hong Kong-born, London-based fashion designer, metallurgist extraordinaire and creator of realms Kay Kwok. He made his debut at London Fashion Week in 2013, and his graduate collection won him first place at the Mittlemoda competition, making him the first Chinese designer to be awarded such an accolade in two decades. It was clear by then that Kwok’s collections were ahead of their time.

Shortly after, Kwok disappeared from the London fashion scene to work with singer Muse and other artists including Aaron Kwok and Karen Mok while running his fashion label on a smaller scale in Hong Kong and China. “I’ve been through a lot,” Kwok says of his hiatus. “I wanted to explore different insights under the ‘fashion’ umbrella,” he says, “I was working with artists as their concert costume director, the style director for commercial ads and a columnist for Elle Men magazine. However, the more time I spent in those industries, the more I wanted to have my stage to express my creativity.”

His triumphant return made for a glorious sight, with the new KWK by Kay Kwok line and an abundance of revolutionary concepts. Kwok’s Chapter 1 – The Journey Begins collection for autumn/winter 2022 delved into similar concepts to those of many classic science fiction pieces: what will become of those who stay behind on Earth when the majority embark on a galactic journey? The idea, he says, was inspired by the biggest futurists of this generation, such as Yusaku Maezawa and Elon Musk. Kwok created digital avatars, an ominous yet cinematic mise-en-scene, a plethora of genderless looks and prints mimicking chromium-coated metal that would later evolve into his signature metallic structural pieces; the latter tenet truly ripened, however, when Kwok unveiled Chapter 2 –Deify. Those were the exquisite metallic bikinis on twinks, who donned metallic zibellinos made not out of sable but, presumably, Ridley Scott’s Alien carcass, bra tops that coiled around the models like Dicepticonian snakes and no less delicious prints. These forms are not merely formulaic interpretations of extra-terrestrial life,but rather, well-informed artworks that recall 16th-century deities, like Daji – the malevolent fox spirit that first appeared in Tang dynasty folklore.

Kwok’s worlds are immersive and frightening, yet confoundingly enticing and even inviting. And never one-dimensional. “I’m bored with very futuristic things,”he says, “Why not clash an old myth and the future world?” Why not, indeed? Instead of praying to one muse, he imagines colourful characters and creates stories around them. Daji is one, naturally. Lala, the heroine of his Chapter 3 – Louder, is another. “She lives hundreds of meters underground in the wet and dark with her robotic dragon friend, it’s because the Earth has become so toxic it barely resembles home,” Kwok says. Joyce Carol Oates is too stunned to speak surely. And what a collection it is. Like the veritable metal bender he is, Kwok creates magnificent metallic structures – of dragons, snakes and mythical creatures, doubling down on his signature motifs and reinventing them beyond recognition.

Kwok’s vision is so meticulous that his pieces are often mistaken for 3D renderings (until recently, this writer wasn’t above such a misconception). And the young prodigy knows precisely what he’s doing – over the past two years, he’s been supplementing his physical launches with digital collections modelled by the avatars of his divine devisal. In Chapter 3, for example, it’s Lala, and in Chapter 2 – Daji. The latter takes the shape of a blonde manic pixie girl, donning such pieces as the beloved cropped blazer with a mini skirt in bubble pink. Kwok calls digital fashion “a lifestyle” and “A new way for us to express ourselves in Metaverse.”

“I’m a lover boy,” the fashion designer says friskily. “My muses are quite diverse,” he adds when asked about the inspiration behind his fantastical realms and exquisite clothes, “from surrealists like Salvador Dalí to new media artists like Jason Sims and personalities like Björk and Kim Kardashian.”

There’s never been a better time for world-building. Infatuated by the latest tech innovations – metaverse, digital assets and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to name a few – and uneclipsed by the controversies surrounding them, Kwok is recreating his post-apocalyptic mindscapes in vitro. In Chapter 3’s trailer video, LALA is seen traversing the desolate Dune-esque landscapes with her dragon companion. While the show itself made this post- apocalyptic dreariness even more palpable thanks to its exceptional score. “Music in the Chapter3 show was composed by CHATGPT [an AI chatbot] and Daria Fisher, a visionary sound producer, violinist, and singer,” Kwok says, “Creating music from the depths of her imagination, she brings an alternate universe to life. Daria’s sound art reflects her thoughts and emotions, channelled through the notes of ChatGPT – it’s futuristic and rooted in technology.”

“The Parkwood [Entertainment – the singer’s entertainment company] team approached us and said she wanted to work with KWK,” he says. “They already targeted one of the designs from Chapter 2, we discussed the size and then produced [the garment]. Many artists I worked with before changed so many things in my designs because of their body concerns – I don’t like that. Beyoncé is the best. Not only because she kept the original design, but because she’s confident in being able to wear it.” Although Kwok says he’s always known he’d collaborate with the R&B empress someday, “We’re thrilled she chose us, when there are so many world-class brands around,” he says.

“Live louder,” Kwok postulates to his audience – as if they’re characters in his universe and he an omnipotent narrator of their experiences, “no matter the race, body shape or sexual orientation. Only when you can live your life louder, not care about the critics of others, and let go of every trauma, you’ll glow brightly, and the universe will see it. All wishes will come true.”
And so it shall be.