Design Anthology, Asia Pacific Edition Issue 8

Welcome to issue number eight — our second anniversary issue! Throughout the last two years, the support we’ve received from you all — our readers, subscribers, followers, supporters, advertisers, contributors, distributors and event partners — has been overwhelming, and still so appreciated. Without you Design Anthology has no reason to exist. So again, we say a heartfelt thank you. To celebrate this major milestone, we’ve created a special edition on all things travel, with a design perspective. And with good, if unintentional, timing: Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam, speaking at the recent seventh annual Ambassadors of Design Ball, revealed that the country’s design industry has grown to a size now equivalent to that of its tourism industry. In this issue, as well as giving our regular updates…

Flexform, Chengdu & Kuala Lumpur Upmarket Italian furniture brand Flexform continues its wave of expansion into Asia with not one, but two new flagship stores — in Chengdu and Kuala Lumpur. Chengdu is one of mainland China’s fastest growing cities and will house Flexform within a luxury shopping mall megastore, while the monobrand store in Kuala Lumpur marks the label’s first presence in Malaysia. Both stores will carry a wide selection of best-selling and newly released products of the relaxed and elegant style for which Flexform is known. flexform .it Creazioni, Hangzhou Italian design brand Creazioni has announced the inauguration of its first Asian flagship store. The 900-square-metre showroom in Hangzhou, China is divided between four areas: retail, gallery, coffee bar and VIP space. On offer in the retail…

André Fu Living Respected Hong Kong architect André Fu of practice AFSO has recently launched his eponymous lifestyle brand, André Fu Living. Bucking tradition, the collection’s inaugural product is a perfume — not a home fragrance, but a personal one. Created in collaboration with Argentinian perfumer Julian Bedel of Fueguia 1833, the unisex scent is named Fargesia after a particular Asian species of bamboo, from which it also derives its characteristic minimalistic and clean notes. The limited edition fragrance is now available via Fu’s website or The Upper House hotel in Hong Kong. andrefuliving.com Joseph Dirand French architect and interior designer Joseph Dirand, who is responsible for some of Paris’s most chic restaurants including Le Flandrin and Monsieur Bleu, now wants to bring that signature luxe modern aesthetic to his…

Eight Hong Kong Poets edited by David McKirdy and Peter Gordon (Chameleon Press) An anthology of contemporary Hong Kong poetry, Eight Hong Kong Poets represents a fabulous example of urban poetry, capturing as poetry so eloquently and lucidly can with its broken couplets and halted tempos the nuances and contradictions of life in this gritty city. The volume is headed by the late Leung Ping Kwan, who so marvellously evoked a picture of Hong Kong caught in a transition towards modernity, and also features selections from Sarah Howe’s debut collection Loop of Jade, awarded the TS Eliot Prize — the first debut ever to win the esteemed literary award. Along with the other six poets, both long-time foreign residents of Hong Kong and locals now living abroad, these pieces complete…

Our pick of the most stylish travel goods from around the world…

On the occasion of The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s tenth anniversary, the studio of local interior design star Joyce Wang has unveiled 109 newly refurbished and fully reconceptualised guest suites. Wang has gained acclaim in recent years for the innovative selection and use of materials in her interior designs. Having first studied Architecture and Materials Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wang went on to complete an additional degree at the Royal College of Art in London where various collaborations with fashion designers, jewellery artisans and even filmmakers served to shape her signature style — in fact, Wang has often cited cinematography as a core inspiration behind many of her more dramatic interior projects. Wang brings all of these influences to the table in this most recent commission,…