Fashion Designer Hannah Kong: Ready-to-win

As a little girl, Hannah Kong would tag along with her dad Francis Kong whenever he visited his garment factory. Watching their factory seamstresses sewing on buttons, installing rivets to jeans plus her love for dressing up made her dream of becoming a fashion designer one day.

After establishing herself as a fashion designer, she decided to venture into ready to wear (RTW), opening her first pop-up store at SM Aura. Asked what made her want to get into RTW, she replied, “I think there’s a need for a store that sells evening wear and more dressy pieces, and I decided to open this RTW so I can also challenge myself to create more pieces that are accessible.”

She shares how much she enjoys both RTW and made-to-order. With RTW, she gets to design whatever is on her mind and pick out the colors and materials she wants to use without limit. As for the latter, Hannah enjoys meeting and discussing with different clients as well as learning a lot from their stories.

Hannah draws a lot of creative inspiration from her family and their family travels abroad as they enjoy visiting museums.

She hopes by next year, she can open a permanent store to cater to her growing clientele. Asked how she manages being a wife, mom and designer all at the same time, she says she sets a time for her family and goes out on dates with her husband. She loves being a mom. On a light day, she brings her toddler to work so he can also see what she does in the office.

Here are Hannah’s tips for designers who also want to get into RTW:

With husband Jason and children Matteo and Lily Qua.

1. Learn your market. “Before opening the shop, I asked some of my regular clients what they usually look for when they attend special occasions or even dine out with friends. Try to do research as well on what silhouettes and details would work best for your style.”

2. Find your voice. “I think for any creative, this is a difficult journey to embark on. Our moods change and our tastes change, too, but I’ve always known to my core that I love feminine and dainty designs so I always try to stay true to that.”

3. Understand the merchandize mix. “In my first two weeks of opening, I got feedback from my sales staff on sizing requirements and styles that customers who walked in look for. I learned a lot from my first few weeks of opening on adjusting my size offering and color options as well.”

4. Listen to feedback. “I learn a lot from listening to what my customers like wearing and to where they’ll wear the pieces, that tells me a lot of what I should design for the next collection. While having your signature style is important, it’s also important to consider the needs of your customers.”

5. Learn to adjust. “I learned to adjust some of our designs based on customer feedback. Sometimes customers will give feedback on certain fabrics or cuts that they love or even colors. The only thing to remember is to find the balance between adjusting without compromising your brand vision.”

6. Find mentors. “I like listening to others who are in business; my dad always says the best way to learn is to learn from the mistakes of others. I have been blessed to be surrounded with people in various businesses and most have been very generous in sharing their knowledge with me.”

7. Understand retail marketing. “Marketing has been a tough one to learn since the landscape is always changing, with social media and algorithms always changing. It’s good to learn how to keep up, but I always believe that service and quality should be priorities, too.”

8. Balance business and the creative side of things. “With doing custom, I did not have to stock up on fabrics too much but with ready to wear, it’s the other way around when making pieces that are ready to wear. I have to be conscious about making sure the price point for each piece will be and still be able to create something beautiful with the budget on hand. It’s hard to balance being conscious with costs and still be able to create with a vision on hand.”

9. Customer service. “We pride ourselves on providing the best service we can to our custom clients and we hope to extend the same ethos to the retail side of the business. At the end of the day, we believe that having consistent quality and good customer service will go a long way in building a strong brand.”

10. Designing and building the store. “My No. 1 tip for building a store is to make sure you work with good designers and suppliers who can build the vision you had in mind for the store. Sometimes, the cheapest option doesn’t necessarily mean the best option.”

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