SINGAPORE – Mark Ong is chuffed. So he should be.
The Singaporean sneaker artist – also known by his moniker Mr Sabotage – never imagined that he would one day be designing a watch strap for Swiss luxury watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen.
Working with IWC’s chief design officer Christian Knoop, the 43-year-old came up with the IWC X SBTG special-edition watch strap, which was launched on Thursday at the IWC Top Gun Exhibition in Design Orchard.
Created for the brand’s famous range of pilot’s watches including the Big Pilot’s Watch 43, Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 and Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII and XX, the calfskin strap features an X-ray camouflage pattern, the visual trademark of Ong’s home-grown label SBTG.
“I come from a streetwear background and now I’m working with a luxury brand,” says the avid skateboarder who apparently used, among other things, rubber and bicycle tyres to patch his shoes in his youth.
Ong – whose sneaker art has since found fans in celebrities including American rock band Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda – adds that camouflage is a versatile pattern which lends itself easily to reinvention.
His love affair with camouflage began two decades earlier.
“I like to juxtapose elements that don’t belong. So back then, sneakers were designed mostly for sports. As I’d spent time in the army (Republic of Singapore Air Force), I chose camouflage to be on sneakers. It was odd back then, but now it’s pretty common.”
The pattern for the watch strap was derived, he says, from a non-military pattern called Tiger camouflage.
“It’s used in a lot of movies,” he says, before adding: “We accidentally reversed the colours one day on Photoshop and thought it was interesting.”
The collaboration with IWC came about when the brand’s chief executive Chris Grainger and Mr Knoop were alerted to his talents by IWC Singapore.
The Covid-19 pandemic nixed face-to-face meetings, so the design process was conducted over Zoom calls and WhatsApp messages last year.
Mr Knoop, who flew in from Schaffhausen in Switzerland for the launch, says: “We were sending each other messages, inspirational pictures and sketches, and because we couldn’t visit each other’s studios, we also had to send around material samples, including fabrics and leather, and physical prototypes. Some executions also sparked new ideas.”
Like Ong, he is an ardent lover of the colour green.
Sounding extremely pleased with the collaboration, he says: “It’s fascinating what the strap does to the watch. It really is an instrumental part of the watch design. In the past, we put a lot of effort in creating a matching strap for a new edition, a strap designed for a particular product.
“But what we have here is a new phenomenon: We have created a strap that perfectly embodies creativity... It supports so many of our iconic watch designs, because it’s not designed for one watch, but for a full range of watches in our portfolio.”
He adds that the IWC X SBTG special-edition watch strap – which comes either in 20mm or 21mm width sizes – has the EasX-Change system, which allows straps to be easily swopped.
Incorporating streetwear influences into IWC designs is perfectly natural, says Mr Knoop, because “the world of sneakers and streetwear has made its way not only into high fashion, but everyone’s lives”.
“As a brand, we observe what’s happening around us not just as creators, but also as customers or consumers ourselves. The world has changed and there is a trend towards casualisation.
“We have a product that has a very long history and which we have been making for a long time. But we’re also constantly evolving as a brand. We’re constantly look forward to getting influences from other industries, including streetwear and fashion.”
Asked if there is a possibility that IWC might one day get Ong to design one of its dials, Mr Knoop laughs and says: “We haven’t got to that stage of our relationship yet. But let’s see where this leads.”
The IWC X SBTG special-edition strap set is available at $670 in limited quantities on IWC.com and at IWC boutiques in The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and Ion Orchard.
