LYF magazine interview Pazo Ho
We have known each other for many years now, but for those who don't know you yet could you please
tell something about vour career in this field and vour background.
• Hello, my name is Pazo Ho from Hong Kong, have been working in the eyewear industry for over 32 years since 1990, and I am also a registered optometrist in Hong Kong
In 2008, I founded the optical store in Hong Kong called "Visual Culture Optical". I am the first to have introduced into the Asian market some of the most famous international eyewear brands such as Moscot, Oliver Gold-smith, Kuboraum, Kaneko Optical, and so on. And the company was the distributor of Moscot and Oliver Goldsmith in the Greater China regions at that time. I was also the first to get the exclusive right to open the well-know
Japanese eyewear brand HAKUSAN MEGANE first ever eyewear store outside Japan.
At the end of year 2016, I left "Visual Culture Optical" and planned to create my own eyewear brand which is handmade and can represent hong Kong. heretore. dedicated a lot of time in doing eyewear research and devel-
opment in terms of eyewear designs. sustainable materials and production and so on. Eventually. I founded my own brand 22 DEGREE EYEWEAR at the end of 2019
Where does your passion for beautifully research glasses come from!
After wearing glasses for the first time at the age of 14, I was pleasantly surprised and amazed realizing how clear my eyesight could be. Ever since then, I became very interested in eyewear's history and development, so I think
that's why even my first job was already in the evewear field
When did you open your 22 Optical Showroom and what are the concept and the philosophy behind the
• 22 Optical Showroom was opened in August 2021.The concept of the store is mainly the same as the showroom of 22 DEGREE EYEWEAR and that is to present all the collections at the same time as I really appreciate good guality. rich cultures and hand-made eyewear brands all over the world. Theretore. apart from my own brand. also select some of the eyewear brands that I respect most and that I share with eyewear lovers
Who took care of the interior design. what materials were used what are the peculiarities and what eftect did you want to achieve?
Ollooked after the interior design myself and it took me 3 months to complete the interior decoration.
the materas used in the shop are mainly natural and raw ones as want the showroom tobe presented as an expression onatural sense because Hong Kong is well-known as a concrete jungle'.
The other important part of the showroom is the workshop on the upper floor, which is the place where the
22 DEGREE EYEWEAR product is created. Besides, as Ive said before, l am a registered optometrist and my showroom also
provides eye examination services
You are certainly an eclectic person and the space tells a lot about your personality. There is a mix of objects and furnishings of different styles. Tell us about it.
• When I first saw this vintage Scandinavian furniture and caudex plants, I immediately thought that they would fit my showroom
very well. It is the fusion of classic, vintage, modern, natural and raw
How much is the culture of your country city reflected in the store concept.
• When I started thinking of the showroom interior design, I looked for something that could represent Hong Kong. As you know, it is a very diverse city and this characteristic is really vivid. I was born in Hong Kong and I think that this kind of mixing of vintage/classic and modern/tuturistic has grown in my mind and has influenced me very much.
What do you look for in a collection and what makes you fall in love with ie?
For the 22 DEGREE EYEVEAR collections am looking for something thatt can truly represent Hong Kong alsofor the future eyewear
Hong Kong has the highest percentage of population wearing glasses in the world. I would love to create my owneyewear brand which is hand-made in Hong Kong, that can represent this city and be proud of it.
Meanwhile, I want to create something innovative, sustainable and eco-friendly suitable to the future, that should
be different trom the classIc, traditional eyewear in the market.
Regarding the other eyewear brands collections, am looking Tor their culture, desien and quality. ine ways a brands culture is expressed through design and finished products ot good quality is very important for me.
What are your customers seeking when they come and visit your store and what message do you want to transmit to them
As I have been working in the eyewear industry for more than 3 decades, there is quite a proportion of my clients who are regular customers and most of them are willing to take my advises and recommendations.
For the young generation customers, I will introduce in my brand something centered on concepts, designs and
What must a frame represent for the person who wears it?
In my opinion, there are 3 must for the person who wears a frame:
the first is 'vision correction' and protection and this is one of the most important reasons to wear a frame
Secondly there is comfort. If the person doesn't feel comfortable when wearing glasses, it's useless to wear them.
The third one is personality. The frame we are wearing should represent our personality. It is more effective to express a persons image with eyewear styles
The market is continuously changing, the big groups choose shortcuts buying ready-made and winningprojects which quite often lose their identity, what do you think about this?
That's a very deep question. In some case it is a matter of money games. When we speak about the martket inthe commercial world, then these companies have to look for high efficiency and profits. So, it really depends onthe brand owners. I think what they need to keep in mind is to think about the reason why they have decided to invest on a project.
On the other hand, since the market is changing rapidly, business models are also modifying and there is no
more the traditional one-way business deal such as the B2B, B2C, C2C where eyewear brands find agencies or distributors within a specific region and they wholesale to retail stores that then sell to customers/end users.
INowadays, as internet and technology nave tremendously improved, market transactions can be multi-ways and the business deals I mentioned above can be multi-directional. The different parties can be a part of any transactions or be involved in all the parts of the transactions. So. it's very complicated. but it doesn't happen only in the eyewear industry
I think diversity is always an advantage for industry with the possibility of spacing among different eyewear brands
with their own cultures. innovation and creativity. cach brand has more space to grow and develod and both the whole industry and the customers benefit from this.What do you look for in a collection and what makes you fall in love with ie?
For the 22 DEGREE EYEVEAR collections am looking for something thatt can truly represent Hong Kong alsofor the future eyewear
Hong Kong has the highest percentage of population wearing glasses in the world. I would love to create my owneyewear brand which is hand-made in Hong Kong, that can represent this city and be proud of it.
Meanwhile, I want to create something innovative, sustainable and eco-friendly suitable to the future, that should
be different trom the classIc, traditional eyewear in the market.
Regarding the other eyewear brands collections, am looking Tor their culture, desien and quality. ine ways a brands culture is expressed through design and finished products ot good quality is very important for me.
What are your customers seeking when they come and visit your store and what message do you want to transmit to them
As I have been working in the eyewear industry for more than 3 decades, there is quite a proportion of my clients who are regular customers and most of them are willing to take my advises and recommendations.
For the young generation customers, I will introduce in my brand something centered on concepts, designs and
What must a frame represent for the person who wears it?
In my opinion, there are 3 must for the person who wears a frame:
the first is 'vision correction' and protection and this is one of the most important reasons to wear a frame
Secondly there is comfort. If the person doesn't feel comfortable when wearing glasses, it's useless to wear them.
The third one is personality. The frame we are wearing should represent our personality. It is more effective to express a persons image with eyewear styles
The market is continuously changing, the big groups choose shortcuts buying ready-made and winningprojects which quite often lose their identity, what do you think about this?
That's a very deep question. In some case it is a matter of money games. When we speak about the martket inthe commercial world, then these companies have to look for high efficiency and profits. So, it really depends onthe brand owners. I think what they need to keep in mind is to think about the reason why they have decided to
invest on a project.
On the other hand, since the market is changing rapidly, business models are also modifying and there is no
more the traditional one-way business deal such as the B2B, B2C, C2C where eyewear brands find agencies or distributors within a specific region and they wholesale to retail stores that then sell to customers/end users.
INowadays, as internet and technology nave tremendously improved, market transactions can be multi-ways and the business deals I mentioned above can be multi-directional. The different parties can be a part of any transactions or be involved in all the parts of the transactions. So. it's very complicated. but it doesn't happen only in the eyewear industry
I think diversity is always an advantage for industry with the possibility of spacing among different eyewear brands
with their own cultures. innovation and creativity. cach brand has more space to grow and develod and both the whole industry and the customers benefit from this.
