Living better with G.O.D
Hong Kong's well-established local design brand offers plenty of products ideal for your home
Not long ago, Hong Kong’s trendsetters looked down on local designs, setting their heads and hearts on such luxury global brands as Prada, Versace and Fendi.
But times and tastes are changing and much of the credit must go to designer Douglas Young, co-founder of G.O.D – Goods of Desire – who has worked hard to draw the attention of Hong Kong people back to local design.
“Short pants and white vests or t-shirts make them uneasy. They need Gucci, Prada and other international brands to give them confidence,” says Young with a frown. “Hong Kong people don’t feel comfortable with their identities.”
For more than a decade, Douglas and his designers have been forcing local folk to look twice at G.O.D. Goods of Desire, he says, is derived from the phonetic translation of the Cantonese words meaning “to live better”. Inspired by Hong Kong’s bustling urban and Asia lifestyle, the idea of G.O.D is to make Hong Kong’s mundane items into something extraordinary, to make a typical, white vest into a new Gucci.
In Hollywood Road, where a G.O.D shop stands in the middle of Hong Kong’s Central district, a huge poster of Mao Zedong hangs on the white wall. Done in a cross-processed printing technique, this whacky poster will never make it to any office of the Communist Party of China. But it’s perfect for the wall of a chic-looking pub in London or a stylish apartment in Singapore or even Bangkok.
There’s a coffee table that’s been recreated from old-fashioned luggage, and a lamp made of typical Chinese chicken-painted bowls. Stylish as well as catchy, G.O.D products always give a hint of their Hong Kong provenance.
“I want to give G.O.D a national identity. That’s important for Hong Kong’s pride and respect,” says Young.
With nine shops scattered around Hong Kong and Kowloon, G.O.D, is obviously a successful brand. Its products can also be found in boutiques as far away as London, Amsterdam, New York, Sydney, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Singapore.
Over the past 10 years, G.O.D has pocketed many design awards – including 2005 Innovation and Creativity Award from the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the 2004 Hong Kong Top Ten Brand from the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association and the 2004 Design for Asia Award by the Hong Kong Design Centre.
But Hong Kong’s signature in the hands of G.O.D is quirky rather than traditional. More often than not, G.O.D makes the locals love to hate it as the products often make fun of Hong Kong’s weakness.
For example, in 2003, G.O.D introduced a shirt collection with the slogan “Delay No More”. Spoken in Cantonese, the phrase sounds like one of Hong Kong’s most frequently heard Cantonese curses – “f*** your mother”.
Naturally enough, they quickly became G.O.D’s best-selling shirts.
If you go
G.O.D’s products are available at its nine boutiques around Hong Kong and Kowloon. They’re at Stanley Plaza, Leighton Centre, and Street Culture Museum. For more information, visit www.GOD.com.hk.
