Fame at Thirty,
Three Hundred AwardsProfessional Designer Kan Tai Keung
Mr Kan Tai Keung was born in Guangdong province, and came to Hong Kong in 1957. After working as a tailor for ten years, he became a designer at a department store, thus beginning his rise in the design profession. In 1976 Mr Kan started the SS Design and Production design company, which was renamed the Kan Tai Keung Design and Associates Ltd in 1988. Today, Kan's reputation as an international design is well established.
Kan's designs range from postage stamps, to cultural icons to brand logos. His work has won much acclaim, and over three hundred awards. In addition, Kan's ink brush paintings are also very well known, and are exhibited in the Minneapolis Museum of Art and the Paris Art and Decoration Society.
From Suits to Design
Three years of apprenticeship, seven years as a tailor, a total of ten years in the trade. Why did Kan abandon his profession to start afresh in another career? This turning point was partly accidental.
"Ever since I was young, I have been interested in the arts. When I was a kid, I lived with my grandfather who was a retired artist, and whenever he was free he would paint. I observed my grandfather a lot, and naturally wanted to be an artist. In school, art was one of my favourite subjects."
"When I was fifteen, I came to Hong Kong to be a tailor's apprentice. Then there was no opportunity to continue learning art. When I finally settled in, I would find time to visit bookstores, listen to music, enjoy the arts. I decided to become an artist, so when I got off work I would take drawing classes, and study at the evening school, and took some design courses. These courses made me respect the value of design to the society. Originally I wanted to be an artist, and looked down upon commercial arts. As I gained understanding of design, I began to realize that its contribution towards the society and culture is as significant as that of art."
"Giving up the tailor profession came naturally, and was not intentional. I needed to work to sustain my livelihood, but while pursuing my dream of being an artist, I couldn't see how art can provide for my living. Arts became a long term struggle, as I had to find time outside of work to develop my creative skills. After attending the design course for three months, I unwittingly came across a job vacancy for a designer. I felt that design and arts had a strong relation. Secondly, the job offered more free time as it did not require working late into the evening. At least I was able to attend evening school without missing too many classes. The income was lower than tailoring, but I had no regrets about quitting a profession of ten years for an opportunity to further develop myself."
Professional Designer cum Tailor
There are few any relations between a tailor and a designer, but Kan was able to make use of his ten years tailoring experience to help him in his design career.
"Courses in design are like basic training to give fundamental knowledge. My appreciation and impulse towards the arts overcame rules and boundaries, and pushed me towards making break throughs, to pursue the uncommon. This motivation is very important to my design career."
"Tailoring did not stimulate any creativity in me, and neither did it have any real effect on my design. But it benefited me in two ways: Firstly, it is a rigorous way of life, and trained me to work hard, to live simply, not to be materialistic, and added to one's living experience. It moulded the qualities needed for creativity and design."
"Another thing, in tailoring one has to take note of a person's dimensions to make a suit for him, so that he is comfortable wearing it, so that it looks good on him and it fits his fancy. These also are concepts that a designer should have. You have to create a design for a consumer or a client. The aim is to satisfy him, and not create the design for yourself. It is the same idea as tailoring a suit: the suit is for someone else to wear, not for yourself. I found it easy to understand these concepts. I am not like designers who insist on instilling personal artistic flair into their designs. I will design to fit my client's needs."
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