An innovator like himself was an obvious choice to judge a competition of unfettered young designers that have not yet disenchanted by the dark side of fashion. ‘Hong Kong is a really developed city,' he says. ‘It has a strong awareness of fashion and takes in a lot of different cultural influences. Based on tonight’s showing, anyone from around the world could appreciate the level of design by the contestants.’ Ochiai does lament, however. ‘Unfortunately, Hong Kong designers don’t have a lot of opportunities to break out of the city.’ That’s usually the common criticism of Hong Kong’s fashion industry – welcoming to outsiders, but provides few opportunities for local talent. However, that is changing with many Hong Kong designers such as JOURDEN, Six Lee, Ffixxed Studios, The World is Your Oyster, Injury, Kay Kwok and Robert Wun breaking out on an international level. ‘As an Asian designer myself I want to tell the Hong Kong designers that fashion is borderless,’ he says. ‘Just because you’re an Asian designer doesn’t mean you have to worry too much about how your designs translate to the West. Just keep to your own creativity and originality and that’s the most important.’