Izzue view

Today, London; tomorrow, the world. The Hong Kong fashion label makes a capital statement in its bid for global domination

On Feb 19 at the Strand in London, a palpable sense of excitement pervades the pristine blue skies on the final day of London Fashion Week, as I.T Group-owned brand Izzue prepares for its historic moment-to be the first Hong Kong fashion label to stage a solo runway show in the capital. But this is no ordinary fashion morning, as it turns into a fashion mourning. News has spread at 10 am that famed Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld has breathed his last and died in Paris. Izzue has inadvertently chosen a prophetic day on which to make a triumphant statement of its own.

Outside, the ubiquitous crowds of voyeurs, bloggers, stylistas, influencers, KOLs (perhaps ironic that Hong Kong's oft-used acronym for "key opinion leaders" also could stand for "Karl Otto Lagerfeld"), the furred and the faux-ed jostle to find focus for the lenses of moment-defining street-snappers. The likes of British singer Lily Allen and fashion designer John Rocha arrive for the Izzue show, as does Hong Kong-born, London-based blogger and writer Susannah Lau aka Susie Bubble.

Not attracting quite the same screen time, though no less culturally visible, is Colombian artist Oscar Murillo with his wife and child. David Zwirner, the renowned gallerist who represents the artist, calls him this generation's Jean-Michel Basquiat. "Well, I live in London, as you know, so it's natural that I come to the shows," says Murillo, who recently staged the inaugural show at Zwirner's Hong Kong gallery in H Queen's.