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What's wrong with Top Shop?

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Having been in the fashion industry for most of his life, Peter Caplowe, CEO of Japanese denim brand Evisu and founder of The Hub, questions Hong Kong's lack of multi-brand fashion stores.While Italian cities easily have one popping up in every corner, he can name all of the ones in Hong Kong with just one hand: D-mop, I.T., Harvey Nichols, Lane Crawford and DFS Galleria - all of which, unsurprisingly, are owned by large corporations who can dish out the rent.This lack of choice is one of the key reasons fast fashion brands like Top Shop can flourish in Hong Kong."I don't like fast fashion brands at all," says Caplowe (pictured)."To me and to people where these brands are from, we know that these are not held in high-esteem because they copy other people's ideas."They're creative thieves," he says.Even the handful of multi-brand companies in Hong Kong are not good launching platforms for foreign brands due to their constant demand for exclusivity either in limited-number editions or special collections."Competition between the multi-brand stores in Hong Kong is fierce, so they always need the brands to do something special for them, which, in the cost-productivity stand-point, doesn't make any sense."As such, The Hub is Caplowe's attempt to spice up the city's fashion landscape with more international labels, and, at the same time, educate Hong Kongers to aim for originality rather than "I bought this from Hollister".But when asked about any tips in marketing a new fashion brand, Caplowe said it's all about connections."Yes, social media makes promotion easier, but it's also difficult to stand out at the same time. Key few things are personal relationships, networking and keeping authenticity: tell a story.""People always think they're doing something new in marketing; but especially in fashion, where it's always eating itself, there's nothing new in this industry anymore."For Evisu, I used marketing strategies that were already used in the 80s and 90s, but my target audience wasn't alive then, so it was exciting for them."

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