The Mills – neither surname, nor salutation – an enterprising “springboard” holding temporary residence @Campfire. Offering incubation and, when necessary, all the succor of a motherly embrace: The Mills are on a mission to provision Hong Kong’s growing number of Techstyle startups. A sub genre once dominated by – far less incendiary, wild and wacky than a Milan or Paris catwalk – device-in-clothing or plug-and-play Wearables, now matures, seamlessly, toward an envisioned penultimate: hardwired fashion. Sans delimiter and paired with a quiet fortitude, the Mills distinguishes itself from Hong Kong’s one-recipe venture capitalist, piloting businesses that “intelligently” circumvent norms into interfacing apps, textiles, and scalable manufacturing processes.
Uniquely qualified: an earned faculty as much to do with industry’s amphibious nature as it does with the Mill’s supporting cast and ambitious salute. When faced with a Mills correspondent – beyond the fashion forwardness – a sense of astute intellect serves a traditional purpose: to befuddle, to secure. Assume the Mills’ is the sum of its’ employees.
Two occupied rooms belonging to the collective are each wall-to-wall disparate and make up our most fashionable corner. One neat, orderly and steered by executive decision makers, the other: loose leaf with hieroglyphic markings – if math is your strong suit then illustrations are an assault on the mind and body. Interiors serve as anecdotal evidence: branching, by all mean, works in its desired effect: clarity.
Committed to community engagement, the Mills’ also pertains to a philanthropic vein. MILL6 is a non-profit “arts and cultural institution” and registered charity in Hong Kong. Stemming from the same binding ethos, it offers an insider’s look at Hong Kong’s textile art landscape with aims to “foster a creative practice” through exhibitions of both modern and heritage art. MILL6 will open to the public sometime in 2018.
To bring this bio to an end: on and before the 25th of August except a relay of startups slapping hands in turnstile fashion as the VC is flooded with entries to their annual “Pitch Day”. The winner – one who blends perfectly the lines of tech and fashion – can expect earnings of HKD 100,000 and a chance-place at their highly revered incubation program.9
