It’s been 30 years since international sneaker brand Ruco Line emerged out of the central Italian hamlet of Mugnano; a locally-designed, ultra-feminine tricot shoe that spoke casual comfort to the unerring fashion sense of the homeland.
In a cute twist of fate, its local brand ambassador Karen Mok – one of Hong Kong’s most dazzlingly fun performers – experienced her own Italian awakening in the same year.
“I found anything, everything Italian amazing!” remembers Mok. “It probably has to do with the fact that Italy was the first European country I visited during the first time I went abroad, so that was my impression – and I went when I was 17, so it was that formative age, where whatever you feel, see or deal with has a big impact on you. It was the first time I left home, studied abroad, and of course that’s where I met my first boyfriend!”
Mok, brimming with her trademark energy and innate sense of humour, seems particularly satisfied with her crossover work with Ruco Line. Like all of Hong Kong’s famous faces, brand endorsement has been a core part of her repertoire since the outset; the recent trend of celebrity/brand collaborations has given her the opportunity to have far more involvement in this brand than she had in the ambassador roles she undertook earlier in her career.
“I do throw in a lot of ideas; it’s probably very challenging for them because I’ve got tons of crazy ones.” laughs Mok. “Of course, I can’t design the technical bits, because I’m not a shoe designer, so that’s their job, they’re the experts. But it has to come from me as well if we’re going to actually do a crossover.
“So it should be something – things that I like, things that move me, colours that I like, and the material – I do want to explore different types of material. I always try to push the limit!”
The 30th anniversary of both Ruco Line and Mok’s Italian breakout year were marked by their fourth collaborative series, an autumn collection that will rang bolder notes than the earlier releases did.
“The first collection last summer was all fun and happy, to give you energy I think,” muses Mok. “Shoes are very important – I’m a big shoe person. So because it was summer, it was all flowers, and fun, cute, sweet colours. But of course, we were still getting to know each other.
“Now it’s getting bolder,” she continues. “While we were designing this collection, I actually threw a concert in Milan [Mok was the first Chinese performer ever to perform solo in Italy] and of course the whole team came, they watched me on stage, and they really got a feel of what I’m about. So I inspired them to throw more ideas into this new collection: the colours, the material we try to use, and also details like sequins and studs – yeah, really going for it.
“It’s always glamorous as well, that’s a big part of me! It has to be something that I can relate to and also that my fans can relate to – and if they see that, they can say, ‘Oh, OK, it’s a Karen Mok creation,’ and then ‘Oh, I can see where it’s coming from.’ I think it should at least give them that sort of feeling.”
Mok is more of a collector of trinkets picked up during her travels than she is a shopaholic per se – and when she does feel the call for some retail therapy, it’s so rare for her to manage a spending spree at home that it’s more likely to be at Hong Kong’s airport than at one of its more popular malls. That said, Mok still insists that Hong Kong will always be home.
“It’s probably the place I’m most familiar with, because I grew up here,” she admits. “But I actually don’t spend so much time in Hong Kong since I left home. I come and go all the time, my mum is here, my office is here, so I run things out of Hong Kong, but I don’t feel like I really live here after all. I do come from Hong Kong, of course, that will never change, but it’s not like I’m rooted here. I hardly ever shop in Hong Kong, because when I’m back, I’m just doing business stuff, and then I’m off again!”
According to Mok, the Karen Mok X Ruco Line collection offers footwear for young and energetic people – not just the girls – who like to have fun. The designs manifest a confidence that come from a performer who knows what road she’s on and who feels blessed to be doing exactly what she loves every day of her life.
“I have a tendency to do things that have not been done before,” enthuses Mok (who is poised to embark on the creation of the first Broadway-style Chinese musical) – “and I like being the first person to get this award or to do such a thing, or to make certain accomplishments. That gives me a high. So if I have to feel obliged to live up to anything, that’s probably it. Of course it gets tougher and tougher, because you always have to find the next thing to achieve!”
