Hong Kong-based, Belgium-born designer and artist Jonathan Riss founded his fashion brand JAY AHR in 2005, selling seasonal ready-to-wear collections. His perspective shifted when he felt the need to slow down and focus on creating enduring, timeless, one-of-a-kind pieces. Having developed a love for embroidery since living in India when he was 20 years old, and after collaborating to create embroidered artwork for fashion brands including Tod’s and Mr & Mrs Italy, Jonathan began embroidering vintage Louis Vuitton Keepall Bags that he sourced from trusted contacts around the world. His latest project dubbed ‘A Collection of Vintage Icons Transformed’ has seen Jonathan lovingly re-craft authenticated vintage Hermès Kelly, Birkin and Constance handbags, dating back to as early as 1954, from his studio in Wong Chuk Hang, sold locally at Lane Crawford and at exhibitions and trunk shows globally. 

Each unique embroidery is inspired by its bag’s provenance, manifesting in designs such as an interpretation of a country’s flag or local cultural artefacts. “The design process comes from finding the bags around the world – the different years, different provenances, different people I buy them from,” says Jonathan. “Where the bag comes from tells a story and that helps assign the design on that piece. Sometimes the bags tell a story so strongly, I just tell it. It’s that process of transformation that I really like.”