Hong Kong tie-dye label co-founded by girl, 8, promotes sustainability and tradition
Shek O Beach Club makes sustainable clothes with the help of ethnic minority craftswomen. They’re practical too, 8-year-old co-founder says
Like many children, Emilia Li loves arts and crafts and hanging out at the beach.
But what makes the Hong Kong eight-year-old stand out from the crowd is Shek O Beach Club, a tie-dye fashion brand she founded with the help of her mother, Jillian Xin.
“I called it Shek O Beach Club because Shek O is one of my favourite places to visit,” says Emilia, referring to the beachside village in the southeast of Hong Kong Island.
On a damp and grey afternoon in May, Emilia, her mother and her three-year-old sister, Aria, pay an after-school visit to the beach to talk about the brand that launched on International Women’s Day this year.
The girls are decked out in clothes from a small collection – six T-shirt designs and shorts in three colours – which is big on durability, sustainability and practicality.
“All our T-shirts are dyed by hand using 100 per cent natural dyes and [none of the] chemicals that are often used in mass-produced clothes,” Xin says, and each piece is as unique as the child who wears them. “We’ll probably do a long sleeve T-shirt when the weather cools.”