![Song for the Mute co-founders Lyna Ty and Melvin Tanaya focus on resilient fabrics and an "aversion to elitism".](http://web.archive.org./web/20170609053102/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/k/p/8/p/image.related.afrWideArticleLead.940x529.gwk9da.png/1496780384266.jpg)
Australians may not yet have embraced Song for the Mute's meticulously crafted, avant-garde leaning clothes en masse. But the Sydney label, founded in 2010, is rapidly picking up fans overseas and is stocked by some of the world's top high-fashion retailers, including Leclaireur in Paris, Selfridges in London and online luxury emporium SSENSE.
So why did Song founders Lyna Ty and Melvin Tanaya pass over these stores and instead choose Lane Crawford – a Hong Kong company with nine outlets in the territory and in mainland China – as the exclusive retailer of its most intricately designed men's collection to date?
"It's a sign of respect," says Tanaya, Song's managing director. "Lane Crawford backed us from the beginning."
Beside which, he says, it is not afraid of the riskier styles. "Other stores will order the easier-to-sell pieces from each collection, whereas Lane Crawford will order pieces that represent Lyna's true vision."
![Song for the Mute has put together its most intricately designed men's collection to date.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170609053102/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/d/k/3/v/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1496714441868.jpg)
Fittingly, creative director Ty chose fearlessness as her keyword while designing the six-piece capsule collection. The clothes – which are available now at lanecrawford.com – are not for men who wish to blend in.
They include a voluminous kimono jacket with a large graphic patch, a worker jacket adorned with black tassels and a skirt with shorts sewn inside. True to form, the garments are constructed from premium Japanese fabrics – in this case, a wool-cotton blend and a rayon-based fabric, both adorned with floral motifs.
Floral motifs
According to Tanaya, the idea for the capsule came during the development of the brand's main spring/summer 2017 collection. Titled Beau and currently in stores, the latter features low-key floral designs on a few garments. This new capsule collection brings those floral motifs to the fore.
During the Beau research phase, Tanaya and Ty visited an old mill in Japan that specialises in jacquard – fabrics with designs or motifs woven in rather than printed on them. The mill owner agreed to show the pair his extensive fabric archive in the attic.
![The garments are constructed from premium Japanese fabrics.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170609053102/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/d/k/4/9/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1496714442091.jpg)
"We spent hours in the archive room, going through every single fabric from the past 50 years," says Tanaya.
Eventually, they settled on a decade-old, rayon-blend fabric with a floral design. The mill agreed to produce a variant of this fabric, in khaki, in limited quantities for Beau.
A few months later, Ty began designing the Lane Crawford collection with the bespoke fabric in mind. The mill agreed to produce more of the jacquard, this time in black.
But Ty came to feel that re-using the Beau jacquard in a new colourway was not sufficient. "She wanted the capsule to have a life of its own," Tanaya says.
![The clothes are not for men who wish to blend in.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170609053102/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/d/k/c/n/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1496714441932.jpg)
The pair returned to the mill in Japan and selected a second jacquard, a heavyweight cotton/wool blend with a similar floral motif, to complement the rayon. The kimono jacket, which Tanaya says is the capsule's defining item, is crafted from this cotton/wool, while the other five pieces are made with the rayon blend.
In total, Ty spent two months designing the capsule collection. "For contrast, it normally takes Lyna four or five weeks to design a full-size collection," Tanaya says.
There are just 100 pieces for sale. "This collection is not about money," says Tanaya. "There's no margin in this for any of us."
Strategic sense
Whether immediately profitable or not, the strengthening of ties with a retailer who is supportive of Ty's less conventional designs makes creative and strategic sense. Lane Crawford also offers Song attractive access to the Chinese market, which Tanaya says already accounts for 40 per cent of the brand's sales.
Lane Crawford was founded in 1850 by two Englishmen in Hong Kong. Apart from its nine stores (five in Hong Kong, two in Beijing and one each in Shanghai and Chengdu), it offers customers in major Chinese cities same-day delivery. International courier delivery is also available.
The Hong Kong high-fashion market has lately become crowded with competitors including Joyce, I.T. and Harvey Nichols. But Lane Crawford has done a good job of maintaining its own raison d'etre. It says it prioritises artisanship over novelty and tries to make its bricks-and-mortar stores feel welcoming to those who may only be able to afford one or two high-fashion garments a year.
"We're looking for uniqueness, innovation, attention to detail and craftsmanship," says the company's menswear buying manager Charles Lo. "We're not only focusing on trends and hype: we want to present our customers with beautifully made garments."
It's a mission statement that aligns nicely with Song for the Mute's focus on resilient fabrics and Tanaya's self-proclaimed "aversion to elitism".
"Lane Crawford wants to make high fashion accessible," he says, "and so do we."
AFR Contributor