Miru Wong was engaged on her closing yr undertaking on the Polytechnic College in Hong Kong when she realized what she needed to be when she grew up.
She was enrolled in a visible communication design course and, for the undertaking, created a proposal for rebranding her household’s shoemaking store, Sindart. Her grandfather had opened the store in 1958 to make and promote conventional hand-embroidered slippers.
“My plan was to rebrand the store, by enhancing the previous patterns and performance of the merchandise, including new designs, and selling the data and heritage craftsmanship of embroidered sneakers,” she instructed Enterprise Insider.
Her plan included growing the product vary, organizing workshops, and selling the model. She stated she had sadly been watching the craft change into considered one of Hong Kong’s disappearing trades.
“Initially, I hadn’t thought of becoming a member of the household enterprise, however after I made the marketing strategy, I knew I needed to pursue it,” she stated.
Miru Wong
She graduated at 22 with a bachelor’s diploma and acquired began on the store. Remaining true to her grandfather’s imaginative and prescient of offering reasonably priced choices, Wong has stored costs cheap. The most affordable pair is made with out embroidery and prices 99 Hong Kong {dollars}, or $12. For extra detailed sneakers, costs go as much as round HK$300, or $38.
Wong says a lot of the supplies — together with nylon, silk, satin, and brocade — are sourced from Hong Kong, Japan, and Europe. She says the shop sells 80 to 100 pairs of sneakers every week.
However because the store’s third-generation proprietor, Wong, now 33, has needed to make adjustments. This is what she’s been specializing in over the previous decade to maintain the shop operating.
Miru Wong
In with the brand new
“It is essential to constantly enhance the product design, performance, and aesthetics to remain related and interesting to shoppers whereas preserving the core conventional methods,” she stated.
After she took the helm, she stated she targeted on infusing recent vitality into the enterprise. Introducing new designs, such because the crowd-favorite panda in varied colours, she aimed to captivate a youthful viewers. She additionally honored her late grandfather’s legacy by preserving lots of his timeless, unique designs.
“Again within the previous days, my grandfather made the slippers for indoor use solely,” she stated. “So after I graduated, I needed to create extra outside designs whereas additionally increasing the gathering to supply marriage ceremony kinds and informal, on a regular basis choices.” She now has round 300 designs, together with that of her grandfather’s.
Miru Wong
Passing down the abilities
Wong stated that her workshops, demonstrations, and exhibitions assist unfold the phrase and he or she’s been noticing a resurgence of curiosity in artisanal and bespoke merchandise throughout Hong Kong.
Others really feel that extra could be accomplished so as to go down the abilities in Hong Kong. “We must always encourage the switch of expertise from skilled shoemakers to youthful generations via apprenticeship applications,” Erin Cho, Ph.D., a professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic College’s Faculty of Vogue and Textiles instructed BI. “Academic establishments may supply programs in shoemaking and footwear design to spark curiosity within the craft.”
Miru Wong
Gaining a wider attain
Social media has performed a big half in selling Wong’s enterprise. With 26,000 followers on Instagram, Wong engages her viewers by providing styling recommendation for her sneakers and sharing behind-the-scenes movies showcasing the intricate means of crafting every delicate piece.
“My clients like to know the best way to costume up with the sneakers and the best way to match them with their outfits,” she stated.
Ardour is vital
Coaching and mentoring are wanted to safeguard the normal craft’s long-term sustainability. “It is a very particular business as a result of it is a mixture of two crafts — handmade Chinese language embroidery and shoemaking,” Wong stated. “I need to promote the craft as a result of it is a very invaluable Hong Kong custom and other people can study in regards to the significance behind the designs.”
Nevertheless it’s not simple. “Rising labor prices in Hong Kong additionally make it troublesome for conventional shoemakers to keep up profitability,” Cho stated. The professor went on to say that there could also be a scarcity of youthful craftsmen taking on this occupation.
Lindsay Varty, the creator of Sundown Survivors, a e book about maintaining Hong Kong’s conventional industries alive, instructed BI that the excessive value of lease mixed with the fashionable expertise getting used to exchange these industries make it troublesome.
Miru Wong
“However I feel the principle purpose many of those previous trades are disappearing is due to a whole lack of prepared successors; previously, you adopted your loved ones into no matter commerce they had been in, however now, nobody with a college or college training needs to change into a knife sharpener, face threader, or shoemaker once they may get a job with higher hours and higher pay,” Varty stated.
Fortunately for Wong’s household, this wasn’t the case.
Concerning the continuation of the enterprise into its fourth technology, Wong is presently single with no children. She stated she’ll need to see if any future kids share her degree of curiosity within the enterprise. “I will see in the event that they ask me to show them as a result of I feel it’s important to be very on this craftsmanship,” she stated. “And when you actually take over this enterprise, it’s important to be very in love with it, like I’m.”
