Eddie Lau Pui-Kei (born February 24, 1951) is a fashion designer in Hong Kong. Lau has worked in the fashion industry since 1962 until his retirement in 1999, but continues working in fashion. His career peaked in the 1980s, when he designed haute couture and stage costumes for celebrities including

Anita Mui Anita Mui Yim-fong (; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and i ...

Leslie Cheung Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actor. Throughout a 26-year career from 1977 until his death, Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films. He was one of the most prominent ...

, Eunice Lam, Bak Sheut-sin, Liza Wang, and

Michelle Yeoh Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own ...

. Lau was also employed to design uniforms for international brands – Cathay Pacific (1999, 2011),

Cathay Dragon Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), also known as Cathay Dragon () and Dragonair, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. In the final year be ...

(2013) and gained recognition for this work. Lau is the first fashion designer whose works have become a focus of the

Hong Kong Heritage Museum Hong Kong Heritage Museum is a museum of history, art and culture in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, located beside the Shing Mun River. The museum opened on 16 December 2000. It is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong ...

's collection In 2013, the

held an exhibition of Lau, named '他Fashion傳奇Eddie Lau‧她Image百變‧劉培基', including iconic stage costumes worn by Anita Mui, as well as Cathay Pacific cabin crew uniform. His autobiography ''Clair de Lune'' () was released in the same year.

Early life and education

Lau was born in Hong Kong. He has never seen his father, while his mother was , an author. When he was eight years old, he was sent to a boarding school in Fanling. However, his mother did not pay any of his

tuition fees Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

. At the age of 11, Lau started out as an apprentice under a Shanghai tailor, Hai Hung-fat, in

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsi ...

. During this period, Lau learned the craftsmanship which became particularly useful throughout his career. Also, the experience gained from the apprenticeship inspired the three elements that were emphasized in his future designs – silhouette, simplicity and elegance. In 1973, after he had saved enough money, Lau left Hong Kong for his further education on fashion design in a renowned fashion design institute –

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

in London. According to

Elle Magazine ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

(199edition of August 1), Lau 'was enlightened by the freedom and artistic environment there and began to understand better what fashion design really was'.

Career

In fact, before Lau went to London for his further study, he established his own workshop in a rented room in Mirador Mansion at the age of 16. Since then, Lau began his personal lifelong business in the

fashion industry Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashio ...

. After finishing his 2-year study in London, Lau returned to Hong Kong with his first collection. Soon in 1977, Lau was invited to parade his fashion collection for the grand finale in the

Ready-to-wear Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing ...

Festival, which was organized by the

Hong Kong Trade Development Council The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 as the international marketing dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. The organisation has 50 offices around the world, includin ...

. In the same year, he headed back to London to hold his

fashion show A fashion show (French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fal ...

, and also flew to different countries afterwards to showcase his collections. Later on, Lau launched his own lines:‘EDDIE LAU’and‘KAI’ (). He also founded his own fashion

boutiques A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse". The term ''boutique'' and also ''de ...

with his own brand 'EDDIE LAU' in Hong Kong and Japan, and collaborated with Chinese Arts and Crafts (H.K.) Ltd. to create several fashion collections. With these notable accomplishments, Lau became the first-ever Hong Kong designer to own an individual workshop and boutique. In the 1980s, apart from fashion design and haute couture, Lau began his work in image design and stage costumes for pop stars, and the most iconic artist is

, who dressed up in Lau's garments for almost every occasion and won the title of'Ever Changing

' (). In 1999, Lau completed a project for Cathay Pacific – designing the flight attendant

uniforms A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

. He used 'The Heart of Asia' as his inspiration, and the design received a myriad of positive responses from the public. He retired after he had finished the project. However, after Lau's retirement, his passion towards fashion remains, and he is still keen on contributing to the industry. Lau renewed Cathay Pacific uniform designs in 2004 and designed the new

for Cathay Pacific and

Dragonair Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), also known as Cathay Dragon () and Dragonair, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. In the final year be ...

respectively in 2011 and 2013.

Awards

* Hong Kong Outstanding Young Persons Award '1983 *Awards For Business Excellence '1987 *Artists of The Year Awards in Fashion Design '1999 *Artists of The Year Awards in Image Design '1999 *MingPao Weekly's Hong Kong Dynamic Fashion Award '2013

References

External links

official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lau, Eddie 1951 births Hong Kong fashion designers LGBT fashion designers Gay artists Living people