he idea took shape. “We were all living in Hong Kong,” Simanson told Inside Retail. “I was working at an investment bank at the time. My relationship with the other founders started completely as friends. It wasn’t until several years later that we began having more serious conversations about different business ideas. There were probably six to twelve months of that before what became Luah really started to take shape.”  “In terms of belief, not to be cheesy, but I don’t think it would have come together if we weren’t friends. I trusted them, and I believed in them as partners.” A product creation and social strategy  The proposition depends on jewellery that survives being ignored. Rolim, who leads design, applies a wear-test before an aesthetic one.  Asked what her hands check before her eyes weigh in, she answers: “Beauty and wearability. Before I look at it, I feel the weight balance, the materials, how the piece moves and how it reflects light.” “With necklaces especially, I check whether it hangs naturally, whether it twists, whether it catches on hair or collar, and whether the clasp is secure but effortless. If a piece isn’t functional for everyday wear, it doesn’t matter how good it looks – customers will not build it into their lifestyle,” she said.  According to Simanson, the idea is to create pieces that are durable, waterproof, sweatproof, hypoallergenic and cosmetic-friendly that customers never have to take off. “Instead of showing constant close-ups of the product, our campaign marketing focuses on moments: training, working out, travelling, and the pace of a normal, busy urban life. The jewelry is always there, but it’s the bigger story and world around it that is our focus,” he said.  Unlike most jewellery labels of its generation, Luah didn’t build its business direct-to-consumer – stores and events came first, with social media following behind. “It’s a bit different for us since we aren’t a DTC brand – everything for us is about the retail and community experience,” Simanson said. “For marketing, things didn’t take off for us until we opened our first store and started doing events across Hong Kong. The lesson I learned during the first two years, which was often a struggle, is there is no shortcut – it has to be grassroots. You can’t do it from a laptop. If you are building a retail or lifestyle brand you have to go out and do things in the real world. Our social media presence is just a by-product of what we are doing in real life.” The Mainland China test  Expansion is where the Hong Kong jewellery brand sees growth.  “Our biggest growth driver is taking the concept and footprint we’ve built in Hong Kong into new markets,” Simanson said. “We’ve just finished our first pop-up in Shanghai and ran a short pop-up in Singapore earlier this year, which gave us a lot of confidence that the brand resonates beyond our home base. I can’t share specifics yet, but those are the markets I’m thinking about most right now.” To him, Singapore shares the same size, profile and demand as Hong Kong. However, Mainland China is the brand’s most important market outside its home.  “It’s not just the scale of the market, it’s the dynamism of the people and culture. I actually started my career in Beijing, and that was my first real exposure to Asia – the pace and style of the fashion scene there is unlike anywhere else,” he said. “It also makes sense for us strategically: we’re not a foreign brand trying to retrofit ourselves to China. We live here. Our HQ is in Hong Kong, we have direct access to some of the best suppliers in the world, and we see a huge appetite from Mainland consumers for domestic brands that care deeply about the fashion, style and trends emerging across the country. One clear lesson from our Shanghai pop-up is that the product is really resonating.” Meanwhile, Rolim’s definition of success sits outside the growth charts.  “That Luah became a brand people wear again and again, one they trust enough to come back to, and one they genuinely want to be part of,” she said. “In ten years, I’d feel it was worth it if customers around the world think of Luah as their default jewellery: pieces they reach for because they know they’ll hold up to whatever the day brings. And beyond the product, I’d want Luah to feel like a community – customers who see themselves in the brand, connect with each other through it, and feel proud to wear it. That kind of repeat wear, repeat trust, and shared identity is the real proof of product-market fit in jewellery.” Further reading: How Luah’s ex-corporate founders split creative and commercial control.