Gardener Tenth: Interviews with Michael Lau
There's the upcoming vinyl toys, the sneakers, the book, and ten years' worth of memories cherished by fans, and then there's Michael Lau - the man himself. The a visionary pioneer and founder of the urban vinyl style / designer toy culture in Hong Kong, and beyond ~ no small claim and readily worthy of such claim, IMHO. From the East to the West, Michael's influence has touched many a collectors, no doubt.
With the Gardener Tenth celebrations happening slightly over a week away, the www-hype machine ramps up coverage for the event, including a round of interviews with Michael himself (something not as prolific in past memory, especially for the West). These are just some of the few locales that had the opportunity to spend some precious face-time with the main man:
- On Hypebeast ~ Gardener 10th Anniversary: Interview with Michael Lau (by Season Chan / all pics via]
- On Vinyl Pulse ~ Michael Lau Ten Years / Ten Questions (Part 1)
- CLICK THRU for more toy-images (showing multiple colorways for his upcoming new vinyl Gardeners!) and mirrored excerpts of Michael's fav collaborations, his design process, and why he may not be producing any more 6" Gardeners!
HYPEBEAST: What has been your most memorable collaboration to date? What is your favorite toy?
MICHAEL LAU: My favorite collaborations are probably T-Garden and Mr. Shoe. With Mr. Shoe, I was able to see him tour around various parts of the world.
My favorite toys are probably my earliest ones like my G.I. Joes and my Play Mobil sets.
HYPEBEAST: Can you outline your process of design for toys?
MICHAEL LAU: I sketch a ridiculous amount every day and it often piles up, and more often than not there’s an exact science to it. It really depends on my mood at the time and how these particular settings work their way into my design. The production time for toys is often quite long, so there are quite a few sketches that have never made it to light as a toy.
[Credits: Above Interview excerpt via Hypebeast / Interview & Photography by Season Chan / all pics posted here via]
VINYL PULSE: You've released 6" versions of many of your Gardeners. Given limited time and resources how do you choose which characters to create smaller versions of? Do you have a rough order in mind that guides you?
MICHAEL LAU: When I first started with the 6”, I had a very clear plan laid out. I figured in two years time I would release all the figures. Of course the plan changed. I had new products coming in and the plan got disrupted. In fact after the 2nd release the original plan was pretty much gone.
Now, the choice of which characters to make into 6” versions is purely random. When I sketch something, I think oh this one is good, so I pick it. So far I’ve only released like 30 of the 106. To the fans out there, Gardeners of course have a special meaning but for the 6” Gardeners, fans might think “Oh, it’s Gardener again…”. They might misinterpret Gardener as a platform toy like a Be@rbrick. In fact it’s not. Each time I do a new 6” figure, it’s a completely new thing. It’s not like just changing the clothes or something like that.
MICHAEL LAU: Since the plan has lingered on for so long, maybe I won’t produce any more 6” Gardeners. I want to do new things and have only limited time. If I spend time on the 6”s it will take time away from creating new ideas. I think the fans might want something new, so maybe I will not do any more 6” Gardeners. I’m still thinking about it, but that’s how I feel now. Deep down I really want to finish it – all the six inches for all the characters, but I’m not sure I can do it in my lifetime.
Maybe in the future I will ask people to vote via my upcoming website on which Gardener you want to see made into 6”. So people could vote and then we would make them.
[Credits: Above excerpt via Part 1 of Vinyl Pulse's interview / Part 2 to launch "on the eve of the opening of the 10th show in LA" ...]
With the Gardener Tenth celebrations happening slightly over a week away, the www-hype machine ramps up coverage for the event, including a round of interviews with Michael himself (something not as prolific in past memory, especially for the West). These are just some of the few locales that had the opportunity to spend some precious face-time with the main man:
- On Hypebeast ~ Gardener 10th Anniversary: Interview with Michael Lau (by Season Chan / all pics via]
- On Vinyl Pulse ~ Michael Lau Ten Years / Ten Questions (Part 1)
- CLICK THRU for more toy-images (showing multiple colorways for his upcoming new vinyl Gardeners!) and mirrored excerpts of Michael's fav collaborations, his design process, and why he may not be producing any more 6" Gardeners!
HYPEBEAST: What has been your most memorable collaboration to date? What is your favorite toy?
MICHAEL LAU: My favorite collaborations are probably T-Garden and Mr. Shoe. With Mr. Shoe, I was able to see him tour around various parts of the world.
My favorite toys are probably my earliest ones like my G.I. Joes and my Play Mobil sets.
HYPEBEAST: Can you outline your process of design for toys?
MICHAEL LAU: I sketch a ridiculous amount every day and it often piles up, and more often than not there’s an exact science to it. It really depends on my mood at the time and how these particular settings work their way into my design. The production time for toys is often quite long, so there are quite a few sketches that have never made it to light as a toy.
[Credits: Above Interview excerpt via Hypebeast / Interview & Photography by Season Chan / all pics posted here via]
VINYL PULSE: You've released 6" versions of many of your Gardeners. Given limited time and resources how do you choose which characters to create smaller versions of? Do you have a rough order in mind that guides you?
MICHAEL LAU: When I first started with the 6”, I had a very clear plan laid out. I figured in two years time I would release all the figures. Of course the plan changed. I had new products coming in and the plan got disrupted. In fact after the 2nd release the original plan was pretty much gone.
Now, the choice of which characters to make into 6” versions is purely random. When I sketch something, I think oh this one is good, so I pick it. So far I’ve only released like 30 of the 106. To the fans out there, Gardeners of course have a special meaning but for the 6” Gardeners, fans might think “Oh, it’s Gardener again…”. They might misinterpret Gardener as a platform toy like a Be@rbrick. In fact it’s not. Each time I do a new 6” figure, it’s a completely new thing. It’s not like just changing the clothes or something like that.
MICHAEL LAU: Since the plan has lingered on for so long, maybe I won’t produce any more 6” Gardeners. I want to do new things and have only limited time. If I spend time on the 6”s it will take time away from creating new ideas. I think the fans might want something new, so maybe I will not do any more 6” Gardeners. I’m still thinking about it, but that’s how I feel now. Deep down I really want to finish it – all the six inches for all the characters, but I’m not sure I can do it in my lifetime.
Maybe in the future I will ask people to vote via my upcoming website on which Gardener you want to see made into 6”. So people could vote and then we would make them.
[Credits: Above excerpt via Part 1 of Vinyl Pulse's interview / Part 2 to launch "on the eve of the opening of the 10th show in LA" ...]
