Anyone who has ever scoured design blogs like Dezeen, shopped online on boutiques like Shop des Createurs, or have gone shopping in design stores like Kapok, or even just have gone out to a few parties in Hong Kong may have noticed iconic looking metallic square watches that is really just hard to miss.
It’s on Louise. (She’s wearing the White on White. With mustard straps.)
It was on Jason at the Konzepp Party. (His was black on black. Typical architect.)
…and on Mike Mystery at the ArtHK Party in Chai Wan.
And it’s also on Sebastian.
He was one of the first people to ever get it. And when I say first ones I mean… like 3 years ago at the start of the whole business, way before all the craze. (And yes, there is a craze.)
Now three years later, rewards are reaped, and celebrations made at the 15squarestreet boutique in Sheung Wan, home to both David Ericsson’s VOID Watch and Alexis Holm’s Gram Shoes Headquarters. And every month, you can expect a street gathering like this of friends, family members, and supporters of the 15squarestreet boutique as a way for them I suppose to keep grounded and stay connected to the community who have supported them (and continue to support them). Not to mention the fact that street parties are the best way to end the week and to blow off some steam!
I was lucky enough to able to say hi, and grab a quick interview with David Ericsson before the beginning of summer (this was their last street party before the guys took a break and went on long vacations). At the time, I just got my new Canon S95 and was fumbling around with settings, so I was quite lucky and surprised to get such a great shot of David on Square Street.
Additionally he was gracious enough to grant an interview for theWanderlister+ mid-way through his summer hiatus. So I’d like to thank David for this quick chat!
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W+: Hi David, thank you for taking the time out from your vacation to have a chat with us. We dont want to waste anymore of your time so lets get started… at three years in, VOID Watches have become quite a niche fashion piece, internationally at that. Imagine my surprise when I learned that VOID is actually based in Asia. Why set up VOID in Hong Kong, as opposed to say London, or New York, or Sweden for example.
DE: A lot of people think we’re a Swedish brand, and that’s not far from the truth I guess. I’m Swedish but living in Hong Kong so I suppose the brand is not very different than it would have been if I would have been in Sweden. The main reason I’m here in Hong Kong is that it’s a good place to be as a designer. I think most people are quite aware of the fact that this is where ‘everything’ comes from these days and for a designer that’s a bit like it is for a kid to walk in to the world’s biggest toyshop. If you want to produce something, this is where you usually book your air ticket to.
W+: Have you always been interested in designing watches or was there a moment in your life where you said to yourself… oh my… WATCHES! I’ll do WATCHES now.
DE: I think the time lag from when I decided that I wanted to design watches until I actually designed them was quite short. I’ve been interested in watches for quite some time. Mainly vintage LED’s and weird old mechanical watches from the 70s and since I decided to start my own company and that I didn’t just want to do consultancy work like most designers who run their own companies, watches was a rather natural choice.
W+: The design of the VOID Watch is quite unique and special, and reads like no watch out there, and I think that’s the reason why it’s become so successful… how the heck did you come up with this form and this idea?
DE: As I mentioned before, I used to be quite interested in old watches, mainly from the 60s and 70s and back in the day they had lots of different weird watches that told time in weird ways so I got my inspiration there. The case design is a different story, I wanted to make something that looked different but doing it as simple as possible. The basic geometry is extremely simple for all our watches, but still, they look quite unique. I did a lot of sketches until I came up with this idea, I knew more or less immediately that I would be happy with it over time.
W+: You belong in a collective known as “SQUARE STREET”. Tell us more about Square Street and the folks you work with.
DE: 15squarestreet is not really a collective, it’s a ‘lifestyle brand’ that I started about a year ago together with Alexis Holm, fellow Swede and founder of the cult shoe brand gram. squarestreet started a bit like a hobby and slowly turned in to a business and now it’s a small shop on - yes, you guessed it – Square Street. For some reason we got a bit hooked on leather and have made a lot of leather goods but the basic idea is that 15squarestreet is an outlet for us to do what ever projects we feel like. Usually in fairly limited quantities.
W+: Obviously you celebrate your success with your community, since no designer/entrepreneur works as an island and you hold these Square Street Block Parties, can you explain more about your monthly block party, who goes to it, why you do it, and how long you’ve been doing it for?
DE: We started these monthly events as soon as we moved in a year and a half or so ago. I think both Alexis and me are too lazy to organize things all the time so we invite all our friends over once a month, that way we don’t have to do it every week. Over time, the event has grown. A bit too much some times, the police always come and want to join the party…
W+: We have watches, we have cuff links… what is the next cool product we
can expect from VOID.
DE: The simple answer to that is; more watches. I’m working on a few things right
now, there will be a few additions coming up this year so stay tuned…
And there you have it!
A few cool shots of the squarestreet block party at the start of summer. David and the huge street crowd below.
Patrick DJ’s while Jessica looks sneaky.
Someone wearing a frown. Literally.
Alexis Holmes, founder and designer for gram shoes. A Q+A profile with him will come around at the end of the summer.
Linus Hui, paper artist amongst other things.
He did this for Lane Crawford during ArtHK.
Jessie looking quite fierce.
Olivia looking more chic than geek… I think that red purse from 15squarestreet did the trick.
The muse, Khan-Linh with Thomas
Also spotted, Anthony.
and of course Jessica. Nice Heels.
and the leather goods available at the boutique 15squarestreet.
which included leather shoppers…
and gram shoes with VOID watches of course.
VOID WATCHES are available at Select Outlets:
15squarestreet / Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Kapok / Star Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong
http://www.shopdescreateurs.com / Worldwide / Type “Wanderlister” Code at Check Out for 5% Discount with Free Worldwide Shipping
http://www.voidwatches.com/
xJJ
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