INTERVIEW: KINKS LAB

Can you tell us a little about your childhood cultural background and when did you decide to become a jewelry designer?

Growing up in Hong Kong, we have been surrounded by systematic infrastructure. The extensive pedestrian walkway network above ground leads us to popular destinations like shopping malls, transport exchanges and residential developments. We never questioned the efficient network that existed since our young age.

Having been architects in our past few years, we started to rethink the downside of the efficient city we have been living in. Buildings exist to maximize usable floor space as their first priority and almost-identical skyscrapers surround us – there is a lack of character in the building’s form. With this feeling towards our city, we take jewelry as a medium to express ourselves. We base our idea on an organic and curvy form of architecture, Blobitecture, in which it serves as a reciprocal to Hong Kong skyscrapers. It manifests the freedom of space and the idea of architecture without limitation.

We know your jewelry pieces are handcrafted and this is very important for a slow-fashion industry. Can you tell me how you decided on this approach and how many people are in your team?

Cultured designs are disappearing. A number of traditions we used to love have become sunset industry, and even with the soaring of crafting culture, fast fashion is still the trend. Among all the traditions, we are most intrigued by silversmithing. During the pandemic lockdown, we went for a short course in silversmithing. We learnt about the basic skills, such as cutting, filing, welding, soldering etc., and we even learnt about wax carving. As architects, we immediately want to impose three-dimensionality in carving. With the surgeon knife in our hands, we can barely cut a perfect arc, not to mention a 3-dimensional object. Without much knowledge, we immediately looked up to more precise methods in achieving the form we want. With our knowledge in 3D modeling. We then realized 3D printing can be a way to achieve the form we wanted. From then on, we have a small mission in mind, and that is to promote the missing link between technology and traditional craftsmanship. We are eager to create objects that challenge the wax carving technique that even professional wax crafters struggle with; we create forms that can barely be imagined and carved by hand. Kinks Lab was found to adopt silversmithing as a methodology in production. With injection of technology, our design philosophy is to prove that technology impacts culture – positively.

We are a small team of two. We are currently outsourcing our handcrafting work to 4 silversmiths.

What about education in the jewelry industry? Do you think is important before launching your own jewelry brand and why?

It is a big NO. Indeed, we did not receive any education in the jewelry industry before starting our brand. I think this is also an advantage for us to build an experimental brand as we do not have (or know) any limitations in the creation of our jewelry. The downside is, we fail a lot during the process. But don’t you think the lessons learnt are more remarkable than what college will teach you?

Our best teacher is always failures.

Will there be any possibility in the future to see jewelry workshops in person or online with KINKS LAB?

This is a good question! We always plan to incorporate workshops in Kinks Lab. Instead of holding jewelry workshops, we are preparing our home decor workshops. We see our brand as a channel to convey our brand story, and this should not be limited to any kind of medium. The form we developed, based on Blobitecture, has the potential for various functions. As we think that our jewelry requires a long-developed expertise to produce, we think crafting our home decor could be an interesting form-finding experiment for beginners or craft lovers.

How would you describe your style of jewelry and the women who buy them?

Contemporary, experimental and bold.

We are targeting females with a strong will to express their aesthetic views. Through our bold statement pieces, we strive to trigger dialogues among users and their friends – this is also the ultimate user’s experience we envisioned.

What’s your favorite place where you feel more inspired?

Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong means home to us. Every time we walked by the harbour front, we would think of the missing piece in our dynamic city. The harbour seems to be the only blank space in this skyscraper’s jungle. Looking at the harbour helps to relax our intensed mindset for flow of inspiration.

How challenging is the business part for a jewelry brand like yours?

Challenges mostly come from finding the right sales channel and where our target audiences are. While being a small team of two, we spend quite a heavy amount of time to refine our designs (this is the most exciting part for us as usual). The marketing and sales-conversion parts are always our weakness. In this social media-dominated era, we realize that our products won’t be found without a nice marketing strategy. Over the past year running our business, that has always been our struggle. Having said that, we still enjoy the finding-and-testing processes, and we know that this can’t be rushed. We are grateful to have found some helpful business partners that showcase our products in Hong Kong and even in big department stores in Japan.

What’s next for your brand?

We see ourselves as a designer brand and bringing Kinks Lab to Fashion Week is our dream. Over the past years, runways only accept clothing brands. We understand accessories are in the role to assist or elevate the outfit, but we want to challenge such conceptions. We are exploring various possibilities in having an accessories brand to own the stage. We have already put on our debut runway show at Centrestage 2022 in Hong Kong. In fact, we watched some accessories brands showcasing their collection with performing arts at fashion week. We think that may also be a potential way to showcase our products as well.