POPCAST EP05 🎙️Variations on “5”: Hins Cheung teases an “unprecedented” new work that’s about to be born, breaking free from limits to write tomorrow’s look out of the classics

Twenty-five years into his career, Hins Cheung’s aesthetic vision has long extended beyond music. Once known to the public simply as a singer-songwriter, he has grown into a cross-disciplinary creator with an independent aesthetic of his own. In the latest POPCAST interview, he returns to familiar Causeway Bay to share how classics can be given new life, while offering an early preview of his upcoming work that has Janice eagerly anticipating it.

Hins Cheung shares the long-awaited news fans have been hoping for: he is about to release the “most honest” album of his career. He admits that the past two years have brought many upheavals and emotional conflicts, saying, “I put all my emotions into this album. When you write songs with emotion, you step outside the boundaries of a musical genre. So I feel that, across this collection of work, I’ve explored many styles I’ve never tried before.” As Gabrielle Chanel famously said, “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” Only by not being bound by your past self can you stay fresh over time and continue creating irreplaceable classics.

This dedication to detail also reflects Hins Cheung’s craftsmanship in music. He mentions that to create a one-of-a-kind fragrance, CHANEL oversees every step, from its own flower fields and distillation process to hand-packaging, each one the culmination of countless people’s work. He says emotionally, “Music is the same… every song is the result of a team’s hard work.” Despite his many years in the industry and countless classics, he continues to nurture his curiosity through his interactions with young students while running a music school, reminding himself to embrace their free-spirited, rule-breaking vitality.

After many years in the industry, Hins Cheung has become a veteran of the music scene and even runs a music school. He says with a laugh that he is now more nervous when meeting newcomers, as some younger fans tell him, “I’ve been listening to you sing since I was three,” while parents share that they used his songs for prenatal education. Still, he greatly enjoys spending time with young students, saying, “I remind myself that these are things I need to have now… How do I maintain my curiosity? By spending more time with them and holding on to the impulsiveness, wild imagination, and refusal to play by the rules you have at their age – that’s where vitality comes from.” This mutual learning with the younger generation also continues to inspire his creative path.

During the conversation, Janice and Hins Cheung also had the chance to experience N°5 EAU DE TOILETTE in its newly redesigned glass bottle. As soon as Hins picked it up, he sensed what made it special: “This bottle shape is very retro. It’s a version that was released many years ago, and it’s very simple.”

N°5 EAU DE TOILETTE pairs its legendary abstract floral scent with woody notes. Its new bottle is inspired by the clean, pared-back glass bottle Gabrielle Chanel loved in 1924. Reinterpreted by Sylvie Legastelois, CHANEL’s director of fragrance and beauty packaging design, it is the only design in the collection that differs from the iconic perfume bottle. It does away with the label, replacing it with “N°5” screen-printed in black, and is finished with a cylindrical cap bearing the double-C logo for an understated yet highly distinctive presence.

For Hins, the design aligns with today’s pared-back aesthetic. He has noticed that people are beginning to embrace the idea that “less is more,” whether by stepping back from social media or returning to acoustic instruments in music-making – all expressions of a return to simplicity. He admits that he, too, seeks variations within a framework when creating. For instance, while his songs “青春告別式” and “青春常駐” share a similar structure, they convey different emotional depths.

In 2026, N°5 EAU DE TOILETTE chooses to “return to a blank page,” using its new design to tell the world that every day, you have the right to rewrite your story. Just as Hins Cheung continually creates variations within the classics, N°5’s distinctive character, shaped by elegance and a complex structure, reminds us that style is not imitation. It is about finding a form that feels close to your soul, then fearlessly pursuing the life you seek on life’s stage.

Visit the limited-time CHANEL N°5 store in Causeway Bay to view Hins Cheung’s personal collection of vintage N°5 pieces, and let CHANEL fragrance experts guide you through the new N°5 Eau de Toilette.

Dates: From now through April 8, 2026
Location: G/F, Capitol Centre, 5-19 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong