LIFESTYLEASIA

...Martin Lee
Fashion Designer

Designer Martin Lee talks about his new line of jeans Red Monkey, the launch of his premium Yoripiko line, and why celebrities like Jay Z are crazy about his premium demin…

Your company “Red Monkey Company” (RMC) and your alias “Martin Ksohoh” are both very intriguing titles– what’s the story behind them?

“Red” symbolizes the soaring red sun, as well as being a symbol for Asian culture and “monkey” signifies evolution, because apes evolved into human beings. “Martin” is my name, and “Ksohoh” is the combination of Hong Kong and Soho. I was born in Hong Kong, and I feel a total connection and ownership to my brand, so that I incorporate my name into the brand name. I wanted to make it so I was one with the brand. “I am who I am, I am RMC.”

You’ve recently started a new line of jeans called “Yoropiko.” Some of your pieces can be on sale for as high as 8,000 HKD. Can you tell us a little about this new line?

RMC is known for its detailed embroidery on the pockets of our jeans, but not 100% of my ideas were suitable for the RMC brand. That’s why I decided to create another brand “Yoropiko” to satisfy my desire of creativity. The pronunciation is very similar to the Japanese “Yorosiko” (YO RO SHEE KOO), which is a very common phrase you say to your friends when you want to ask them for advice. I always appreciated this kind of attitude, and so I adapted it to “Yoropiko.” Yoropiko is my premium line, and it is much more detailed than some customers may even notice. For example, the gold or silver-plated buttons are detachable. And we even have tailor-made versions of diamond buttons and ones that use precious gem stones.

A lot of celebrities choose your jeans, for instance, Nick Canon, Jaime Fox, Fat Joe. Do you find a special connection between your style and the hip hop community?

I am so glad that I can have the long standing support from those celebrities. There are so many hip hop artists who love my products. I think it is because my products are all limited in quantity, and perfectly suit their taste. Jay-Z once mentioned in an interview that he was so surprised to see a brand coming from the East with such high quality, and it made him want to see a lot more of Asia. That’s why he added Taiwan as one of the stops for his very first Asian tour.

We’ve heard that there were some fake RMC products found in the U.S.? How are you counteracting this, and how can we identify the counterfeits?

I was so surprised! On one hand, I realized there was a counterfeit problem, and it is so difficult to tackle, but on the other hand, I found out that people in the US were showing great interest in my products. We have lot of good customers, I don’t want they buy a counterfeit/copycat product without knowing it was fake.

To show their authenticity, right now our jeans have a unique laser carved serial number on the leather patch, which is exclusive from Japan, and makes it more difficult to copy our jeans. The leather patch on our Yoropiko jeans is goat leather, and I not only use the same laser carving technique, but also special pre-washed treatment to make it looks more unique.

Everyone has that favorite pair of jeans they wear until it’s torn and ragged. What’s your favorite pair?

Non-wash jeans are my favorite since they change everyday. It is hard to say which specific pair I like the most because each of them has its own story. But the most special one is my very first pair, a pair of Levis that my mother brought me when I was a primary school student.