“My first ‘Bandage Boy’ drop is on the list, and I just ticked it!” Andrew Mok exclaims with a grin, his eyes widening as he stares intently at his phone. “This is really, really cool.”
Two days after the release of his first-ever fashion brand “Bandage Boy”, Mok – better known as Drew, alias Offgod – was speaking to me about his debut clothing collection over a video call when we stumbled upon the topic of his “Manifestation Bank”: a list he created on his iPhone Notes app brimming with his milestones, goals and dreams. He leaned forward and turned his phone towards the camera to show me his list, and lo and behold, an orange tick next to the words First bandage boy launch. His smile beamed so brightly that I couldn’t help but smile back on the other side of the screen. It is not every day you get to witness someone realise that their dreams have come true.
The last time I saw Drew, the same smile adorned his face at his solo art exhibition in Harbour City, the largest shopping mall in Hong Kong. In between patiently answering my (many) questions about his highly coveted sculptural AirPods Max attachments, he let it slip that he was fighting every high schooler’s biggest battle: his IB exams. Now, he sits before me, no longer the IB student stressing out about his higher-level psychology elective — since then the 18-year-old Gen Z icon has met Pharrell Williams, starred on the pages of VOGUE Man Hong Kong, walked the stage in his graduation gown, visited Apple Park in California to meet Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and joined hands with A Bathing Ape to debut his creations at the BAPE Heads Show 2023 in the Big Apple. Oh, and he also dyed his hair blonde.
At his solo exhibition "Prosthetic Garden" in Harbour City, Hong Kong
“Honestly, a lot of the time when I achieve something, I don’t really process it until later,” Drew chuckles. “I’m a person who has a lot of big goals. When I take a step back, though, it’s amazing to see everything I have done because it’s stuff I’ve dreamt of doing for a long time.”
The word “amazing” hardly begins to describe his heavy arsenal of achievements, but in case you still haven’t gotten the memo, Drew is a dreamer. “After all the celebrating, I still catch myself thinking, ‘What’s next?’” He admits. “I want to keep it up, and I want to do better. I think that this is an important mindset to have. For many people, when they achieve something, they think they’ve reached their peak and slow down. But I don’t know,” he muses. “I always think there is so much more I can do. It is a good and bad thing for an artist. I am still very proud of my achievements.”
So for the next hour we went on and on about dreams. And Wong Kar Wai and TikTok and those big, yellow MSCHF boots — tried and tested by Offgod. His verdict? “Surprisingly, it’s not too bad and pretty comfortable.” Eventually, our conversation led us back to “Bandage Boy” — the brand Drew started with a pen, a passion and a simple thought: “Why not?”
At the "Bandage Boy" Pop-Up at Belowground, Landmark Atrium
What does “Bandage Boy” mean?
The name refers back to my old art style. On the characters I drew, I used to put little Emojis, stickers, or bandages on their faces just to separate myself from the different art styles on the Internet. And that was how it all started, honestly.
Can you tell me more about your designs for “Bandage Boy”?
As much as I wanted my clothing brand to be a separate project, I tried adding elements from my usual art stuff in this first collection to ease people into the brand instead of just dropping something completely different and having people say: “Oh, this is very different from what you usually do.” At the same time, I wanted the brand to have a direction and theme. With the colour scheme, I knew that I wanted earth tones and greens. Green is my favourite colour too, so it was a natural choice. The graphics on my t-shirts feature people wearing headphones, ties, or sunglasses. It’s everything that I usually draw or doodle in my sketchbook. So I was like, why not put it on a shirt?
Do you have a favourite piece from the collection?
I like the hoodies a lot. For the t-shirts, the designs were printed on blanks; for the hoodies, they were cut-and-sewn pieces I designed myself, so they took more effort and time. I also really like the construction of the hoodies, and it was a design that I started conceptualising and experimented with a long, long time ago. I’m just so glad that I got to bring it to life.
The Hospital Gown Hoodie (Green) from Bandage Boy by Drew/Offgod
You started your creative journey sketching and drawing before you experimented with fashion. Do you remember what prompted you to venture into fashion?
When I first started branching off, my friends weren’t into fashion. So I think a big part of why I started liking clothes is that when I used to draw fan art for rappers, I paid attention to the stuff they wore. Rappers wear a lot of unique, statement pieces, and I would research the designers they were wearing or collaborating with. I was very inspired by Virgil Abloh, of course, but it’s also just been me getting exposed to more designer clothing and young talents in fashion, which made me realise I had a passion for clothes as well. I started paying attention to the clothes of people I drew and slowly shifted that attention onto my own wardrobe and developing my own style.
What about the clothes that you wear? How would you describe your style as Drew?
Oof, this is tough because I just wear whatever I like right now. It’s kind of hard to put my finger on what my style is. I take elements from streetwear but also incorporate classier pieces like derbies and boots. I try to mix both in my everyday wear and spice it up with accessories. I love to wear a lot of accessories. In terms of style, though, I think I’m very experimental. If I want to do something different or wear a certain unique shoe, I’ll just do it.
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Well, you can never go wrong with accessories. What’s one accessory you always reach for?
I carry around this little clip-on keychain on my pants, and on it is a little camera that I always have. It is something I started bringing around all the time recently. One of the long-term passion projects I have in mind is creating a lookbook photo series, drawing on pictures and creating a little fun magazine. Just me documenting the events that I go to or my day-to-day life. Whenever I go out with friends or go to events, I just keep it with me. If I want to document or take a picture of a special moment, I can take it off, snap one picture and put it back on.
Where did you get it?
Sham Shui Po! The camera is one of the older models, but I just really like it because it gives the pictures a very nice film sort of overlay and grain. The thing about film photography is I like it a lot, but I can’t be bothered to get my film developed.
Ditto.
So, I just went with digital. It’s much easier.
How many photos can you take with your clip-on camera?
Like a hundred. With the battery and everything, it is really, really good.
Guess I’m headed to Sham Shui Po.
You really should.
Speaking of accessories, the Airpods Max has become quite iconic to your brand and image. So, I’m curious — what’s been playing in your Airpods Max lately?
[Laughs] I need to check my Spotify now. This is a really interesting question. Most of the time, I just listen to whatever’s on my playlist that I keep updating, but I do listen to podcasts once in a while. At the moment, it’s been a lot of Daniel Caesar. I just went to his concert. Oh, and Lil Yachty. He’s got this new album called “Let’s Start Here”. It’s very experimental, and I love that kind of stuff.
Drip or drop: What’s a fashion trend you love, and what’s a fashion trend you will never hop on?
I’m loving jorts. I think it’s such a unique and easy way to look stylish, especially in Hong Kong summer. One thing that I’ve always liked about baggy pants is the silhouette that they create. It’s hard to get a nice shape or look super stylish in just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, but with jorts, it gives the wearer a very nice silhouette and is also very comfortable.
A trend I didn’t like was the whole Hypebeast thing that happened back in 2016 — when people just rocked the Supreme logo. I think the whole Hypebeast era was definitely interesting, but I just observed from afar. It was an important time in fashion, but it’s not my cup of tea.
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Back to your Manifestation Bank — what do you want to check off next from the list?
Some big ones include designing a shoe with a brand like Adidas and working on a toy figure. I’ve got a few that I still haven’t done, but looking at the list now, it’s really good to see the progress that I’ve made. I also want to work on either an animated film or a real-life production. I realised that after watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Even if I’m not the person animating the final thing, I think creative designing or character designing will be very fun. A film studio that I want to work with is A24, just because they give the directors a lot of creative freedom. For their upcoming horror film The Backrooms, it’s really cool seeing big production companies picking up young talent who are just interested in making art and doing their own thing.
Imagine your Wikipedia page being written right now — what would you want it to say? What kind of artist do you aspire to be?
As much as I like to do my own thing, I want to be a really good influence for the youth and also just younger artists that want to pursue art and fashion, especially those who are growing up in places like Hong Kong where art is sometimes restricted by parents, schools and the society. When I first started drawing, I didn’t tell my parents what I’d been doing because if I got bad grades on a test, they’d say, “It’s because of your art.” It’s hard for children here to go through with that dream of “I want to be an artist” and pursue art after graduation. For me, it was challenging to reach a global audience with my work, so I’m grateful for the power of social media. I’ve been trying my best to utilise that and make a positive influence. I started off as a kid who loved art, and I want to leave people with a good impression of me and inspire people who also want to chase their dreams.
The Bandage Boy by Drew/Offgod Debut Collection Pop-up will be open to the public from August 5 to 13, 2023 at Shop 3, Belowground, B/F, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queens Road Central
Editor
Kaitlyn LaiCredit
Images Courtesy of Drew/Offgod
