Behind the Label: Eddie Borgo

Who started it? Jewellery designer Eddie Borgo, a longtime favourite of noted fashion stylists Tabitha Simmons and Camilla Nickerson, launched his first collection just over two years ago. Borgo, who has collaborated with designers such as Marchesa and Phillip Lim, combines punk influences and urban architecture-inspired shapes, making him a favourite among today's hip young things.

Why we love it: the architectural, geometric pieces are edgy and have a mystical vibe, which appeals to the likes of Alexa Chung, Blake Lively, Diane Kruger, Rihanna and Victoria Beckham, and are often seen in editorial fashion shoots.

What we'd pick: the bow-pendant (above; HK$10,790) is beautiful and we are loving the chunky, gunmetal-plated, crystal cone bracelet (left; HK$9,990), both of which are versatile enough to match any look.

Where can you get it? Eddie Borgo is available at Lane Crawford, IFC Mall, Central, tel: 2118 2288.

Byline: P. Ramakrishnan
April 22, 2012

Behind the Label: Yael Sonia

Who started it? American Yael Sonia established her jewellery label in 1997, at her studio/showroom in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In 2002, her intricate Spinning Wheel necklace won the Tahitian Pearl Trophy of International Jewellery Design, and she has continued the toy-inspired theme with the Spinning Top, Perpetual Motion, and Kite collections. The designs elicited rave reviews from fashion magazines such as Vogue, W and In Style. Sonia now has her own boutique on Madison Avenue in New York, the city in which she grew up.

Why we love it: inspired by art of kinetic energy, Sonia's jewellery has a "sculptural allure" that led one critic to label her pieces "mini-feats of jewellery engineering". Rolling spheres, swinging pen-dulums and spinning tops incorporate gemstones that are free to move within their settings. There's a consistently playful element to Sonia's work, bringing a sense of fun to some serious bling. Prices range from HK$8,000 for diamond earrings and other small trinkets, to more than HK$1 million for Tahitian pearl necklaces.

What we'd pick: the reverse-fit rectangle earrings (above; starting at HK$8,000) and the spinning top pendant (below; HK$59,280).

Where can you get it? The brand's latest collection will be available from April 20 at AME Gallery, 12/F, Tin On Shing Commercial Building, 41 Graham Street, Central, tel: 3564 8066; or visit www.yaelsonia.com.br.

Byline: P. Ramakrishnan
April 22, 2012

The Beat Goes On: Interview with Hong Kong's very own Jack Byrne

All of 21, Irishman Jack Byrne is tripping the light fantastic with his eclectic tastes in music as the new hot DJ in town. Between gigs, KEE exchanged some notes, of the musical kind.

Words: P.Ramakrishnan
Images: Tim Cheng


What are you listing to right now?

Right this very moment, I'm listening to "Must I Go (Waifs & Strays 2 Drops of Acid Remix)" by Teva, mind bending! Currently I've been listening to a lot of deep house, producers such as Jamie Jones and Maceo Plex are amongst my favorites. Recently I've been finding a lot of underground house music, it has that element of freshness to it that I love and it's really good to relax to.



What was the first cd you ever bought?

There are a few CD's I think could have been my first but to be 100% honest I can't remember, when I was really young there were always house CD's and cassette tapes lying around at home, playing in the kitchen or in the car when driving to my grandparent's house on the weekends. When I got a bit older these CD's and tapes all ended up in my room. When it came to buying CD's I used to go to a shop and listen to almost the whole disk before I decided whether I really wanted to buy it or not, it was something very personal to me, spending time and money making sure I was buying something really worthwhile.

What sort of music do you like to play? Who's been an influence?

As I have grown up my taste in music has changed drastically, I have always had a passion for house music, however I go through phases listening to all different genres of music which I believe has helped me develop my current sound when DJ-ing. When I play, there needs to be momentum, I can't keep playing the same mood for a whole night, I like to feel as though music is constantly building as the night goes on. Deep house, tech house, funky, nu-disco, techno, electro… These are amongst my favourite styles to play however it's the way in which they are delivered which I find the most important.

It’s been a much traveled tour of Asia and UK as a youngster, but is Hong Kong finally home? What have you seen and learned behind the scenes?

Yeah, Hong Kong is home. Working behind the bar at Drop for the past year I have seen the way in which the resident DJ's (Joel Lai, Eric Byron, Janva Tam & Tai Pan Dan) are able to read the crowd and are able to entertain the customers. I would definitely say listening to these DJ's for the past year has helped me learn how to improve my skills as a young DJ. I would not have had such a passion for my music if it weren't for my upbringing. My parents used to go to Ministry of Sound warehouse parties in the early 90's and there was always really good music playing in the kitchen or in the car when growing up in London.


What do you hate to hear at a club? What do you love?

When it comes to music I can be such a snob. Not a fan of anything which could be considered commercial or mainstream, even as a child growing up if there was pop music on TV I would switch to the news. I have no problem with nightclubs playing such styles of music, it's what a large percentage of people enjoy and it's the reason they go out clubbing, However,personally it isn't my style. I love being in a club and hearing something fresh that I haven't heard before that makes me go "WWAAHH!! WHAT IS THIS!?". I enjoy being around like-minded people who all enjoy similar music and don't go out looking for anything in particular, just to enjoy the music and have a wild night.


What are you surfing?

Facebook! I'll share a track or two on my wall, Beatport, YouTube and a few small promotional music websites such as The Fresh Beat are usually where I spend most of my time if I'm surfing the net.


What are you reading right now?

When I was younger I used to read quite a lot of non-fiction, biographies and autobiographies in particular, I find peoples accounts on past occurrences really interesting. Iggy Pop's autobiography was full of bright and fascinating stories, I highly recommend it to anybody… willing to keep an open mind.

Colour coded: Interviews with Hong Kong's Top 3 Makeup Artists

What's hot for summer? P.Ramakrishnan gets the lowdown from three Hong Kong-based makeup artists.

Karen Yiu


"This season, cat eyes are back - use lots of eyeliner to create big, dramatic eyes, as well as electric blue shades. For the face, there's the English rose look; a natural look highlighting great skin, with heavy, watery skin texture.

The products I'm using a lot of this year are Maybelline's Hypersharp liner and Shu Uemura's Cleansing Oil. The Shu Uemura 2012 artist collaboration series with contemporary kimono artist Mamechiyo is amazing, and I love the limited-edition design. Other items I like are Cyber Colour's Concealer, which is a three-shades-in-one pack - you can cover dark circles or use it to highlight your features. And it doesn't hurt that it's reasonably priced.

Avoid over-powdered look, with thick foundation and coverage, and go for a glowing skin tone.

The face to watch this year for me is Chinese model Xiaowen Ju. She's beautiful, but more than that, she's interesting to look at.

There isn't a trend that I hope won't make a comeback. I don't mind any trend; I just mix the best of them all. I recommend that you follow your own trend, wear something that suits your face, skin colour and age group - don't just follow a trend because you saw it in a magazine, always mix and match. Try the vintage `60s look - which is a personal favourite."

Denise Toms


"Spring-Summer 2012 welcomes a broad array of beauty trends to excite - everything from barely there makeup, to sun-kissed skins. There are also dramatic eye-liners and doll-like lashes, paired with soft, neutral lips. Those craving splashes of colour can play with vibrant scarlets or smoky blues and mauve eye-shadow, or sparkle with golds and silvers. Brows remain groomed but full and boyish, while cheeks are subtle and skin luminous. A rich red or burgundy lip is also a winner this season.

My favourite beauty products this summer are the lush and creamy Romanticism eye tint from Becca's Balearic Love Collection - it provides a gorgeous mauve-bronze hint of crease-proof colour, and their deliciously hydrating sheer tint lip colour in Valentina will be daily obsessions. YSL's new Rouge Pur Couture Vernis a Levres in racy #9 is truly like bold, intense seduction in a wand. Its new line of glossy, creamy lip-stain colours are sure to be cult favourites. Also, don't tan madly and badly - instead invest in bronzers. Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfector will give you a luscious glow.

My current favourite beauty inspiration is actress Rooney Mara. She always wears classic, clean makeup and uses timeless colours - perhaps a pop of red lip.

One trend I'm thrilled is not back is over-plucked eyebrows."

Megumi Sekine


"The Spring-Summer 2012 trend I foresee for is natural, radiant skin with a hint of colour on lips, cheeks or eye shadow. Or even just defined eyeliners and lots of mascara. My favourite beauty products for the year run the gamut. I love Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfector - you can use it as a highlighter on your cheekbones, or even mix it with your foundation to create a dewy look. I also love NARS' Pure Radiant tinted moisturiser and MAC's Blushcreme.

My biggest don't for the summer is cakey foundation. Too much foundation on the face just looks like you have a lot of make-up on - which is not the intention of good make-up. Also, I don't like fake lashes. My make-up do is all about radiant skin; use highlights on cheekbones. And don't forget SPF, especially in summer.

My muse for this season is model Xiaowen Ju. I've worked with her many times when she was a regular model, and she's now a super model. It's inspiring to see how her career has progressed. And she always has great skin. I also love Rihanna - her makeup and hair is ever-changing, and it's fun watching the transformation .

The only trend I hope doesn't make a comeback is goth. It's been done to death, so let it die. My advice to women is wear whatever you feel comfortable in. Bad style is better than no style at all."



P. Ramakrishnan
Apr 13, 2012




Earlier feature, 2011.

The Art of Artifice

Three of Hong Kong’s top makeup artists opine on the fine lines being brushed across faces today.


Megumi Sekine



I think for the coming season, eyeliners are back! Well, it's always there but this season more accentuated with thicker, elongated lines. Also, thick eyebrows and red lips will be seen a lot more.

For Hong Kong women, I’d say, decide which look you want to go for that day. If you want to look softer, you can use black liner pencil and if you want to look sharp and cool, you can use liquid eyeliner.

Different products produce different looks and images so use wisely. Also, if you line your bottom lids all the way, this will make your eyes look smaller. If you like to make your eyes seem bigger, then apply to your top eye lids in a thick manner.

Asian women usually have nice and thick eye brows. I suggest to fill in with powder or pencil and make it little bit more defined. If you are scared to use red lip color, apply red color first and tissue off - that way the color is not as vibrant, your lips are tinted red and it lasts a long time.

My advice to women? I guess wear whatever you feel comfortable in. Bad style is better than no style!



Denise Toms

Makeup trends for this season may be natural or bold, but always sophisticated. Natural makeup never goes out of style, with flawless skin being complemented with beige, brown or butterscotch shades, against nude or soft pink lips. Brows are shapely, whilst eyes are kept clean with simple matte, dewy or bronze metallic eye-shadows. Applying a cream shadow with your fingertips or dusting a neutral shade over the entire lid keeps makeup looking unfussy. Statements are dramatic yet crisp, with either lips in poppy oranges, crimson reds or vampy purples or neat eyeliners slick along the lash-line or displaced above the socket. To look great and current this Fall/Winter, keep skin clean and healthy looking, cheeks subtle, brows defined, and arm yourself with a nude and bold lipstick and a sharp eyeliner, and dare to wear it as small and large as you fancy.



Karen Yiu

I think metallic colors will be in, and scarlet red lips. Get the metallic eye color in mosses or gel form, apply it with a brush or finger, use small amount and thin later on the eye area.

I recommend that you follow your own trend, wear something that suits your face, skin colour, age group - don't just follow the trend because you saw it in a magazine, always mix and match. Try the vintage look, or the sixties look – which is a personal favourite. There are many great products out this season that I’ve been using a lot on shoots and backstage at fashion shows; Llusiion D’Omere from Chanel, this new eye-shadow can be applied with a brush or finger, you can apply in different layers to achieve the depth and color you want to get that metallic eye look. Dark, smoky eyes will be in for fall too, I love the eye-shadow from Shu uemura, you can choose your own shades so it doesn’t have to be a black smoky look - you can choose green or purple or blue smoky eyes for just HK $260. I use cream check color from Shu Uemura, you can get a nature cheek shade by using cream (Cream Cheek Amber, HK$135). Shimmer Eyeliner Cosmetic Silver is one of my favourite products - put it in the inner corner of the eyes for sparkle and its just HK$180. Mascara, I always recommend Maybelline New York, as its reasonably priced and has great quality. Volume Express Hypercurl Mascara for just HK$89.

Vanity Cases: Interview with actor Carl Ng, Musician Rosey Chan

When it comes to beauty trends knowing what's in, what's out, what works and what doesn't can be hard work. To lend a helping hand are four personalities who provide a broad spectrum of all that is trusted in fashion and beauty. From an elegant concert pianist to a charming leading man, from a dapper bespoke tailor to an international fashion icon, each brings something different to the table, but all are connected through their effortless sense of style.

Carl Ng, Actor

Carl Ng might not be the billboard-friendly pretty boy he once was, the actor settling into roles that play up his rugged looks - but the ageing gracefully embrace wasn't premeditated. It's all a matter of Ng not taking things so seriously.

"It doesn't matter how good or stylish you are if you can't relax and accept a few flaws," says Ng. "Makeup, a stylish wardrobe and skincare products can only take you so far, but yoga is a great way of maintaining the mind and body. Stress will eventually manifest itself physically on your body and face, so fix the inside and you don't need to disguise the outside."

Ng is passionate about yoga and practices it almost obsessively, but that doesn't mean he neglects his looks - especially in a place like Hong Kong. The city's "cauldron of pollution" as he calls it, demands that Ng implements a strong and sturdy grooming regime.

"I don't mind the few wrinkles that have crept up on me, but dried-out skin is never nice to touch," he says. "Clinique products for men are great - it has a good PH neutral facial cleanser and matching toner, followed by a deep surge moisturiser for eyes and face that's a must. And Kiehl's hair products, because they make my hair look natural."

An easy and effortless way of life goes beyond beauty products, trickling down into his choice of style. "I'm not one to put too much thought into my wardrobe or how I look on a particular day - style should be effortless, something that comes without thought," says Ng. "It's a very personal decision; my style is comfortable and classic - simple, clean lines and basic colours, things that can be worn regardless of what year it is and what people are wearing around you. Comfort is important to me; standing out isn't."

In that regard, his key items are traditional but high quality: a lived-in pair of selvage denim jeans, simple shirts with good stitching, fine cotton or handspun cashmere scarves, and lots of bespoke items from smaller brands.

"I'm somewhat jaded by what luxury brands deem as good design," says Ng. "The recent growth of individual boutique fashion is more interesting. People are tired of being corralled into certain looks and are trying to make their own choices against the masses. It brings back individualism and personality."


Rosey Chan, Pianist / Creative Director


Classical musicians don't often venture past their genre's influence, let alone into the worlds of fashion and beauty - but Rosey Chan isn't your average Brahms and Beethoven performer.

As an international pianist and composer, Chan's creative director role at this month's Hong Kong Liberatum Festival will showcase her wide array of musical influences: among the hand-picked participants are Pharrell Williams, Marianne Faithfull and Khalil Fong.

But it's not just music that defines her; Chan is renowned for her fashion sense, listing such timeless celebrities as James Dean, Katherine Hepburn and Jean Seberg as her style icons.

That's more than apparent in her graceful but contemporary on-stage looks. "I try to avoid current fashion, and like to buy fairly timeless clothes that can be combined and re-used forever," she says. "I work very closely with Boudicca; they understand the multi-dimensions of my work. Joseph Li is great for my music and art projects, and I love Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada and Alexander McQueen."

There are also Chan's ever-present Jimmy Choo couture heels, which have become something of a signature look for the performer. "Jimmy Choo has custom designed for me so many times," she says. "He once made me an exquisite pair at the last minute, literally dashing to the workshop as soon I realised I'd packed the wrong shoes for a Kuala Lumpur concert. You could still smell the freshly cut leather as he brought them to the door, just 30 minutes before I went on stage."

Constantly jetting around the world for sold-out performances, the endless climate changes and airplane journeys would normally wreak havoc on one's beauty regime, but Chan has a simple and affordable solution. "Heard this years ago; know this now," she says. "Drink lots of water - it's that simple."

But she does rely on modern methods to treat her flowing tresses. "I never travel without Tara Smith organic hair products. And I love its product motto: 'tested on film stars and not on animals!'"


By P. Ramakrishnan
All Photos by Earl Wan

Crave Plus: Defining Taste: Amanda Strang poses for Crave magazine

Crave plus! Get it now!


Cover shoot with Amanda S.

Photography: Jonas Lillie
Stylist: Jolene Lin
Hair & Makeup: Karen Yiu

Producer: P.Ramakrishnan

New on the block: Seed Heritage

For Hong Kong yummy mummies, and some severely fashionable tots, Seed will be an all-too familiar name. Seed Heritage, on the other hand, may not be.

The childrenswear and womenswear collections of the Australian brand are combined under that name, in the comfortable surrounds of stores in Queen's Road Central and The Peninsula hotel, both of which opened in January.

Launched in 2000 as a childrenswear store only, head designer Karla Fitzpatrick introduced a womenswear collection back in 2008.

"My design aesthetic is simple and graphic, with a strong focus on colour and print," says Fitzpatrick, "I like my collections to communicate a sense of fun, with relaxed, bohemian styling."

The stores have a warm and homely vibe and stock affordable casual clothing (T-shirts cost from HK$385 while dresses range from HK$385 to HK$1,895).

Sold from more than 75 outlets around the world as well as through an online store, the clothes' modern yet conservative quality is clearly a winner.

Seed Heritage is at 41 Queen's Road Central tel: 2577 0721; and The Peninsula hotel, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2721 4638.

April 1, 2012
Byline: P. Ramakrishnan