With this year's Avant Garde theme, the 22nd Hong Kong Eyewear Design Competition's winning pieces reflected the creativity, acute sense of style and boundless imagination of local designers. The competition aims to encourage innovation and enhance the design quality of Hong Kong eyewear products, identify new talents and promote Hong Kong's creative products to international markets.The award presentation held on 13 January was organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Hong Kong Optical Manufacturers Association, with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Design Institute as co-organisers.
The competition was divided into two categories: the Open Group and Student Group. The judging panel made up of experts in different disciplines evaluated the entries based on (1) product design, (2) practicability and functionality, (3) product description, (4) marketability and (5) presentation.
Winning pieces represent local innovation
Survival Next designed by Lai Pui Yan, BOBO from OKIA Optical Co. Ltd came top of the Open Group and received the Made-to-Sell Award. Her eyewear design was inspired by the gear NFT video game characters use for survival. The product allows wearers to travel between the virtual and real worlds.
Representing Sun Hing Vision Group Holdings Limited, Leung Ngai Ming's Turning was the first runner-up of the Open Group with his futuristic folding sunglasses. With a 360-degree hinge, the eyewear can be changed into four forms, namely sunglasses, optical glasses, folding glasses and butterfly shapes.
The Open Group's second runner-up Chim Pui Ho & Lam Long Him's Time Traveler incorporated the concept of time travel into their design. The eyewear's left side represents the past through the use of traditional materials and techniques, while the right highlighted the future with a bolder appearance and colour tone, a perfect fusion of the past and future.
Discovering design talents of tomorrow
For the Student Group, Yip Tsz Yan of the School for Higher and Professional Education, took first place with her Parallel Universe design. The eyewear's intricate geometric and parallelism design represent the intersection between life and infinity.
Osseon designed by Wong Zhen Jie, Lionel of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was first runner-up of the Student Group. The design's surface undulations blur the boundaries between the exterior and interior. It can be produced by 3D printing, with tough but flexible PA12 nylon. It can be dyed in different colours to accentuate wearers' individual taste.
The Student Group's second runner-up was Lau Chi Sum of Youth College International. Titled Infinity, the design is composed of two semi-reflective lenses and a customisable layer of glowing powder between them. It appears to have an infinite depth with mutable colours and patterns, which can be customised for individual wearers.
The Creativity Award was presented to Law Hoi Shan, Jamela. Her Morphogenesis design encourages viewers to embrace transhuman aesthetics and envision humanity's evolution. Apart from correcting myopia, hyperopia and presbyopia, the multi-purpose accessory allows wearers to use different lenses to access diverse features, such as magnification, light polarisation and colour enhancement. By looking through different lenses, wearers are encouraged to look at the world through different eyes.
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