How is spirituality manifested in form? How would designers express their faith and values in their fashion creations?

“Sons ‘n’ Daughters: A Fashion Discourse” is a showcase of new works by fashion designers of the Christian faith – Barney Cheng, Lulu Cheung, Joanna Chu Liao, Noel Chu, Enoch Ho, and Hidy Ng – informed and inspired by their faith journeys.

This fashion show was included in an important response to T S Eliot’s poems “The 4 Quartets” – the event being “The Still Point” by the International Arts Movement, in Hong Kong, in 2014.

Characterised by qualities of the designers’ oeuvre, and built on their faith for God the Father, the new collections attempt to present an imagery of refreshing departure from an otherwise vanity–based industry, to stir a discourse on closing the seeming gaps between faith and fashion.

Barney Cheng designs

Barney Cheng – find out more on his website.  Barney trained at Royal College of Art (London), Parsons School for Fashion (Paris), and University of Waterloo (Canada) before establishing his atelier Yenrabi.  His work tends to use gorgeously embroidered fabrics, for special events such as cocktail dresses and weddings and evening gowns.

Lu Lu Cheung, Spring/Summer 2017

Lulu Cheung has a very distinctive website –  lulucheung.com.hk which initially just displays her name – but when you click on that, it opens as http://www.let-therebelight.com, and you hear birdsong.  As you click on the Lookbook to see the clothes, beautiful classical music begins to play.

There are pictures of flower arrangements on the website, and her opening statement is that her work is inspired by nature.

“I like my designs to conjure a carefree and buoyant feminine beauty but I also want to have down-to-earth practicality.  My design is expressing the soft-yet-strong of women.”

Noel Chu working on one of her glorious wedding dresses

Noel Chu specialises in wedding wear.

With each unique wedding dress design, Noel captures the essence of the individual woman behind the label “bride” that often comes with high expectations. Noel’s devotion and demand for perfection go into every one of the gowns she creates, as she shares her incredible enthusiasm and creativity with each bride.

 See more on her website.

 
Hidy Ng makes award-winning ready to wear ranges of clothing, a favourite of International Fashion Editors.  Her website is full of runway shows at Paris, Hong Kong and .  Even her design drawings are exquisite.

Hidy NG runway show

HONG KONG – JANUARY 16: A model showcases designs on the runway by Hidy Ng during the ‘Hong Kong Fashion Extravaganza’ show on day one of Hong Kong Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2012 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on January 16, 2012 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Photo by Victor Fraile / Illume Visuals

You can view an industry interview with her here.

Enoch Ho has his own label, Berayah – named after the Hebraic word meaning “God has created”.

His clothing is modern with a “crisp geometric aesthetic”.  If you like having pockets in your clothing, then prepare to be delighted – as these, whether hidden in seams or featured upfront, are ever-present.

The statement on his website gives a rather beautiful description of his Autumn/Winter 2017 collection “The Grace of Grey”:

“Our morals are guided by black and white, yet in reality our flawed beings live in grey areas in between…. the world can be a beautiful place if we learn not to cause division by our definitions of black and white, but rather the common extension of grace in our respective greys.”