Three nights in Hong Kong with one mission in mind: get inspired on a global scale — through DesignInspire Exhibition plus trend hunting — and bring it all back to RipeConcepts’ Cebu headquarters. Sounds like a mission…possible! RipeConcepts’ Special Projects Team Lead, Clarice, and I were so up for the challenge. It would be our first off-screen-empirical research: to walk on one of the trendiest streets in Asia, to scrutinize on elite brands’ merchandising displays, and hunt for what’s hot in the market to forecast future trends.
Our first stop is a quick night stroll at Ladies’ Market on Tung Choi Street. It was late in the evening but the streets were still lit up in neon signs and live performances. The crowd (with us in it) in their all-out haggling skills is visible from a kilometre stretch of clothing, accessories, and souvenir stalls. Why the name, we’re not so sure about that because we’re positive there were men stuff equally showcased too.
Day 2 was a high dose of creative stimuli. It was a stimulation of visuals in an over-speeding ticket. But it was a good high and we’ve managed to keep it all in. In retrospect, here’s a mind-blowing collage of our second day at Hong Kong Island. Here are some of the window displays that caught our attention. How do you call out customers’ attention? From holographic visuals to animal mannequins. Any more tricks we’re missing?
Look, even Apple has turned Ripe. Pun intended ✌️
Day 3 started off with a big hello to our RipeConcepts HK office, conveniently situated at the heart of Hong Kong! And must not forget to mention we had free, flowing coffee here!
Our next stop was at DesignInspire, an international exhibition that creates an inspiring platform for global creatives, design brands, design associations, and institutes. We have seen how design can take us to a higher purpose, through their RetroInnovation, interactivity, robotics, traditional craftsmanship, workshops. InnoTalks was also a big highlight of this visit where we attended a talk called “Global Design Trends”. We now wonder how bright the future is and that everything is all up to us to make every product thrive into its sustainability.
Our last remaining art-pop culture immersion walk is at the Hollywood Road where we got a quick peek at PMQ — originally a government school turned police headquarters (Police Maried Qarters) then finally to what it is today — a creative industries landmark for the local creatives in Hong Kong.
It was a short trip but we sure filled up our baggage with excess insights. We’ve also managed to get hold of our new IG account dedicated to trends, follow us @ripetrends for updates. Mission accomplished! The plan is to share the story in details with the whole RipeConcepts team on a Friday night, with pizza and beer at the office, whoot!
Over and out, Govinda
