Eye-Catching Business

Luxury brands and environmental consciousness don’t always go hand-in-hand, but for eyewear and accessories brand Smith & Norbu, eco-friendly materials are an intrinsic part of the brand. Established in 2009 by Hong Kong-based Belgian Benoît Ams, Smith & Norbu crafts its products from Tibetan yak and buffalo from southern China, Vietnam, India and western Africa.

Crafting a Future

The frames are created from the horns of the yak and buffalo, then assembled with rivets and polished by hand, without using glue or wax in the process. Mr Ams goes a step further: the leather cases are made of vegetable-tanned yak leather, and the entire product is packaged in a box crafted from cotton-based paper.

“The story comes from the horn of the yak,” Mr Ams said. “I’ve travelled to Tibet, to Western China, and I happened to find handicraft in horn, which I found beautiful; the colours were stunning, and I kept this idea. I then met someone who is in the optical business and we tried working with horn, with experimenting, and we finally decided to open a workshop with these frames.”

They started with yak, then added buffalo horn to the range in 2010. Each frame takes on its own distinct look, depending on the horn it comes from. For Mr Ams, working with horn is a way of creating a beautiful product, while using a by-product from the animal.

In Western China, he said, yaks are bred, like cows – for their milk, meat and leather “For the yak, everything is used. The bones are used in Chinese traditional medicine as well.” The horn, he added, “is really a by-product.”

Going Bespoke

With 50 designs now sold worldwide, including Hong Kong, , the company is now focusing on a bespoke workshop at PMQ, the revitalisation of Hong Kong’s Police Married Quarters, which is being preserved for creative industry uses. The workshop is set to open in early 2014.

“We can be more proactive with our client because, as you can imagine, every plate is different, every yak is different, so it is part of the bespoke approach to be able to choose the plate that matches your skin colour; there’s a sensual approach to all of that,” Mr Ams said.

The bespoke range, which costs about HK$10,000 compared to the ready-to-wear frames priced in the HK$6,000 region, includes everything from adjusting the frames to suit the face, down to monogramming the yak leather cases. Mr Ams has been delivering custom frames to clients when he travels, but the Hong Kong atelier is the first time the service will be available in Asia, which he believes will resonate with his Asian customers.

“A frame is something very important, something you have in the middle of your face; it will be your signature,” Mr Ams said. “I think there’s a growing demand, not for branded frames, but for frames that match who you are, match the identity you have and match the image you are willing to give. We feel there is a growing demand in that respect.”

In addition to the workshop, Smith & Norbu will also offer a customised service through its website, with the online services launching this month. The “semi-bespoke” service will offer some options for clients, personalising their frames without all of the made-to-measure elements of the bespoke range.

Luxury Capital

Although he has a workshop in Guangdong province and another in Belgium, Mr Ams is based in Hong Kong, which he sees as a necessary component to operating a luxury brand.

“I couldn’t do this anywhere,” Mr Ams said. “Hong Kong is probably the luxury capital of Asia. Asia has been very much major-label-brand driven, and I think things are changing. And if it has to change somewhere, it has to be Hong Kong. I feel that change, so I think it’s the perfect timing for us.”

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Smith & Norbu