How Hong Kong’s FabriX is leading a digital fashion revolution across borders
FabriX is proving that digital fashion isn’t all just hype. Since launching in 2022, the cutting-edge technology platform has explored the possibilities of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) and game skins to uplift emerging designers and inspire new avenues for online shopping. The growing list of local and international designers that FabriX has worked with includes Feng Chan Wang, Susan Fang, Markgong, Charles de Vilmorin, Ponder.er and more.
It all began when founder and CEO Shin Wong—who has also curated the Hong Kong Design Festival deTour for over a decade—was probed by a series of burning questions: what is the future of fashion? What role can emerging technologies play? And finally, can one actually make money from this?
Backed by support from the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) and PMQ, Wong had the chance to cross the globe for these very answers. After touching base with the world’s leading technology companies, FabriX first broke into the digital fashion space with AR filters and Metaverse activations created with 12 Hong Kong talents from Demo and Christian Stone to Shek Leung and Nilmance. AR try-on kiosks have since followed, allowing users to virtually style, print a photo of themselves in and directly pre-order the outfits of their dreams.
In just three years, FabriX’s innovative and engaging digital fashion technologies have captivated industry insiders at London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week and Pitti Immagine Uomo. An on-going series of virtual collections on Roblox, an online game platform that allows users to create virtual avatars, has also given Wong’s brand collaborators the chance to broaden their reach with audiences on the virtual plane.
At ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025, FabriX took their efforts one step further. For the very first time, the digital fashion hub debuted exclusive designs co-created with a brand. Specifically, Wong linked up with London-based brand and long-time collaborators Paolina Russo to create a limited-edition series of sports jerseys. First available for purchase and pre-order at the three-day festival of music, art, fashion and pop culture, attendees were able to use the FabriX AR try-on kiosks to explore the capsule collection alongside the latest designs of local brands Yat Pit and Celine Kwan.
Tatler speaks to Wong about FabriX’s first foray into retailing, her learnings as an entrepreneur and what she thinks is the next frontier for digital fashion.
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FabriX booth at ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025 (Photo: FabriX)
The FabriX booth at ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025 spotlights three designers: Celine Kwan, Paolina Russo and Yat Pit. What gravitated you towards these brands? We’re quite picky with who we work with. The designer’s need to have character and really believe in what we're doing. Supporting local designers is our priority. Yat Pit has always been my favourite local designer. Celine Kwan is one of my favourite cute and young brands.
For Paolina Russo, I’ve loved working with Paolina and Lucile since our first collaboration. They were so excited to tell me that NJZ will be singing at ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025 and that they will be dressing them in sports jerseys for the performance. I then suggested: why don’t we create a Hong Kong edition [of the sports jerseys] with FabriX?
Is this the first time that FabriX has dropped limited-edition designs with a brand? Yes! [Paolina Russo] really loved the neon signs of Hong Kong. It’s a brand new pattern that they made just for us to be sold and for pre-order at ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025. My team doesn’t come from a retail background. So for us, retailing is something completely new.
I want to do this with more brands because it's not just creating more sales for the designers but it's also opening people up to a different way of purchasing fashion.
FabriX’s ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025 booth features AR try-on kiosks. How does this benefit emerging designers? Rolling out this AR try-on kiosk to the public is one big success for FabriX. We started using AR technology with Paolina Russo two years ago. Paolina and Lucile were already working with NJZ. They wanted to sell these designs but they found it impossible because the production cost is way too high.
The AR technology really helped them because so many more people recognised their brand through social media. We've also provided them with the data. Apart from knowing their customer demographics, they were able to tell whether one top was more popular than the other.
Next, we will launch with Paolina Rosso at Dover Street Market in London. It’s the first time that Dover Street Market is using AR technology. It's really exciting for us.
FabriX also creates game skins for brands. Why is this an untapped frontier? With Roblox, we are creating game skins based on a brand’s designs. This allows them to be introduced to new age groups. On Roblox, there are 300 million active users. I don't think any other platform or retailer can reach that number. That's the power of digital fashion.
FabriX's AR try-on kiosk (Photo: FabriX)
FabriX's booth at ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025 (Photo: FabriX)
Celine Kwan designs exhibited at FabriX's ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025 booth (Photo: FabriX)
Yat Pit designs exhibited at FabriX's ComplexCon Hong Kong 2025 booth (Photo: FabriX)
What is FabriX's vision for AI?At FabriX, we see AI being applied to garment fitting. You can generate a fitting within less than a minute, all you have to do is take a simple full body picture of yourself. Then whatever items you wanna try on virtually, it's already a perfect fit for you. Later, we hope to integrate size suggestions.
Have you faced any pushback from designers? We target high-end designers and couture. I think for a lot of them, it comes back down to how it minimises the craft. Especially the Europeans, it’s all about how [the clothing] feels. You can’t do that with digital fashion. So I had to emphasise the strength of digital fashion: it enhances the storytelling of a collection by making it more fun and engaging.
Why is it important for the fashion industry to adopt these emerging technologies? With the AI robots that are coming out, you’re not going to be able to distinguish reality and the virtual world in the future—and you're not supposed to. For me, it’s the angle of how you’re seeing things. I’m in my forties. I’m not really that young but I embrace change. I just want to be one of the first to introduce these ideas in a very simple setting. Through digital fashion, I feel that we are actually creating more opportunities for designers than what traditional fashion can.
Look into the future, how else will these technologies revolutionise fashion? I see digital fashion being applied not just commercially. I would love to do projects related to archives. There’s a huge problem in the film world right now where they can’t preserve costumes. It is very costly to upkeep a physical archive and the restoration can be nearly impossible. In my perspective, the only way to do it is by doing a digital library. With digital archives, 3D models can also be created. This can help design students learn too. We’re actually going to test this with some bigger brands soon.
Do you have any reflections of your journey since starting FabriX? I never thought about being an entrepreneur and I've never been in a commercial setting where business is always a priority. I’ve always been a low-key person but it’s fun and it makes me really motivated. It's really important for me to bridge young designers with the commercial world because there are some talents that are really undervalued.
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