Douglas Young
Designer and trendsetter Douglas Young has broken taboos and crossed boundaries since launching his store G.O.D. (Goods of Desire) with business partner Benjamin Lau in 1996. Taking inspiration from unlikely emblems of Hong Kong such as woven plastic bags, old mailboxes and crumbling apartment facades, he has turned everyday items into coveted vintage designs. Within two decades the creative project of Young and Lau, both trained architects, has now evolved to boast seven lifestyle stores and collaborations with Cathay Pacific, Starbucks and chef Jowett Yu. In 2007, police raided G.O.D. outlets, arresting shop assistants and seizing boxes of t-shirts bearing the logo ‘14K’, the name of a Hong Kong triad. They claimed the company broke a law forbidding insignia relating to organised crime, but Young insisted it stood for ‘14-karat gold’. No charges were ultimately filed, but the remaining t-shirts sold out quickly. G.O.D. designs are also sold in international department stores such as Bloomingdale’s in New York and Selfridge’s in London.
