MAISON&OBJET ASIA is back for a third round this year. While the past two fairs suffered from an ambiguous identity, this year’s edition is crystal clear about its role in serving the design community, says fair director Regina Chan.
It might have something to do with the fact that our meeting takes place just before Valentine’s weekend, but Regina Chan, Asia-Pacific director of Safi Asia — the organiser of MAISON&OBJET ASIA (M&O Asia) — is quite happy playing Cupid. “What we want to do is matchmake designer with manufacturer, client with manufacturer and/or designer and, because it’s all about collaboration these days, designer with designer,” she says.
M&O Asia is an offshoot of M&O Paris, the world’s biggest and most glamorous salon dedicated to home furnishings, decorative flourishes and lifestyle merchandise. The Paris edition celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015. The Asian edition, now in its third year, runs from March 8 to 11 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre. About 150 brands from more than 20 countries are expected to take part, down from 250 in 2015.
The past two editions, Chan admits, suffered from an unclear positioning. Was it a mini-Paris, asked visitors and industry professionals. Was it a sourcing show meant for distributors, department stores/chains and retailers to replenish their stock of homewares and accessories? In reality, it was a bit of both. This year — third time’s the charm — the fair’s positioning is absolute. “I don’t want people to think of us as an accessories show. That’s secondary. We are a design show. M&O Paris is midway between being a sourcing show and a design fair, but M&O Asia is all about design.”
What this means is that the fair will be less about trendspotting (is orange the new black? Are blob-shaped ceramic vases all the rage? Is chintzy tableware making a comeback?) than about making connections and finding design solutions. “It’s a networking platform,” says Chan. “If you spend one day here, you can see for yourself how the hospitality industry will develop over the next two to three years because of all these concepts and solutions. Plus, you will meet interesting personalities, people that share your interests. To organise such meetings — with the right type of manufacturers or designers — could other wise take you a year!”
Chan adds that the reason M&O Asia is focusing on the hospitality industry is that spending power remains strong even in times of economic uncertainty. “People still spend on holidays and good food,” she says, adding that she has no qualms the fair has downsized. In fact, trimming the fat has allowed M&O Asia to be described as a “curated exhibition”. It also means that the organiser can take better care of the exhibitors, a feat next to impossible in a fair the size of Paris, which has close to 3,000 exhibitors.
Of the 150 brands taking part this year, only about 30% are from Asia. “The challenge I have is not to convince international brands to exhibit with me, but Asian ones,” says Chan. “[Asian brands] always think the market is in Europe or North America. But the money is in Asia-Pacific. If you want branding, then yes, go to Paris, London or Milan, but be prepared to not have a lot of business opportunities in return.” The Asia-Pacific hotel industry is worth about US$8.5 billion ($12 billion), according to a recent report by global real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle.
Chan says there is a lot of potential for Asian brands to get a head start at M&O Asia. She sees the fair as a platform for nurturing up-and-coming labels. “If you’re accepted to this platform, you should feel really good about yourself. And if you’re good enough for us and you’re ready, we have Paris and Miami Beach for you,” she says, referring to the two other global editions of the fair. “We really want to grow our clients. We don’t make empty promises. We don’t just sell square metres. It’s about doing business together.”
That said, this year’s fair is organised into three segments: Curated Exhibition (exhibitors, concept cafés and concept booths); Interior Design & Lifestyle Summit, a line-up of 20 conferences helmed by notable speakers from Asia-Pacific; and Awards, which will honour the region’s best with trophies handed out to the Designer of the Year and Rising Asian Talents.
A curated approach
Visitors pressed for time will want to zoom in on exhibitor highlights, such as home-grown company The Rug Maker. This 12-year-old, family-run business, which specialises in rug customisation, will launch its Tropical Collection. Designed in collaboration with Outofstock — M&O Asia’s Rising Talent from 2015 — the rugs took two years to produce and will be mounted like artworks in a gallery. This alludes to the laborious nature of their manufacture as well as subverts the conventional notion of rug display.
Another local family-run enterprise worth checking out is tableware manufacturer Luzerne, which produces almost 30 million pieces of ceramic and stoneware a year for clients such as Shangri- La Hotels and Resorts and Las Vegas Sands. Its booth is designed to resemble a lazy Susan mounted on the wall — quite possibly one of the most creative installations at the fair. “It took us two years to convince them to do this, but I think it will take them to the next level,” says Chan.
Local design collective Supermama — which touts itself as a retail store, artist residency studio and design platform all rolled into one — will present a hotel gift shop concept. Teaming up with nine different companies in Japan specialising in glass, ceramics and timber furniture, company founder Edwin Low is introducing a new collection based on the theme of souvenirs. These items could be retailed in a boutique hotel gift shop, for instance.
Also not to be missed is Japan’s Asahi Glass Co, one of the largest flat glass producers in the world. Marina Bay Sands’ glass façade, for instance, was produced by AGC. At M&O Asia, the firm will showcase a new product: Information Glass, a thin sheet of glass that can be used to display information and images. The possibilities for this type of technology are endless: think billboards, commercial building façades, residential home exteriors and so on.
Of ideas and concepts
Similarly rife with possibilities are the two concept cafés presented by Dutch furniture maker Eichholtz and Belgian furnishing company Sempre. Eichholtz’s aesthetic is more Euro-luxe, while Sempre’s is styled after a Japanese takeaway kiosk. Both will be fully operational, meaning that visitors can actually order a meal and consume it on the premises. The idea, says Chan, is to entice mall developers to buy the design wholesale and then get an F&B operator to run the outlet. “Instead of hiring a designer to do up the space, you can buy this whole concept, copy and paste, and put it in your mall.”
For the first time, the fair will also showcase a concept booth curated by local design studio TERRE, called Framed. Set in a painted steel structure that resembles the skeletal form of a house — hence the name — the 63 sq m space will be transformed into a mini-residence with living, dining and kitchen elements. These areas will be furnished with pieces from various retailers and animated by a programme of activities, such as a sake appreciation workshop, coffee brewing session and floral arrangement masterclass.
Commenting on the genesis of Framed, TERRE founder Terence Chan explains: “We thought about how we could create a space without walls and came up with the idea of using frames. Then, we thought of creating a living environment [within that space], and working with furniture retailer DREAM, lighting specialist Sunlight Luminaire and kitchen specialist House of Madison to showcase their pieces, alongside accessories from my own line of homewares, Teapot & Giraffe.”
Of the concept, M&O Asia’s Chan says, “The purpose isn’t to show people things they have seen before, but to show them things in a way they have not seen before. He’s putting together an area with different activity zones. We’re happy to have an installation like this because it’ll be an example if other interior designers want to work on similar concepts with us.”
Reaching the summit
In tandem with M&O Asia’s focus on the hospitality industry, the Interior Design & Lifestyle Summit will be oriented towards trending issues in the F&B, hotel and interior design fields. For instance, Hyatt Hotels Asia-Pacific’s top F&B man Andreas Stalder and Hong Kong interior design superstar André Fu (M&O Asia Designer of the Year 2016; read more about him in the side story) will speak about “timeless hospitality design”, while cult favourite interior designers Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie of Melbourne’s Hecker Guthrie will discuss the somewhat more esoteric topic of “authentic considered experiences”.
“They’re a mixed bunch, but they all have one thing in common: They’re all based in Asia or they’re from Asia,” says Chan. “Their experiences are all relevant. I’m not flying in an architect from Copenhagen to talk about a project in Copenhagen. We also have members of the media to run the talks and ensure the content is relevant. This is not something we usually do.”
Trophy hunting
The awards presentation, too, is undergoing a transformation. Where prizes for Rising Asian Talents were once handed out only to product designers — the focus, remember, was previously on home and living accessories — they will now be given to designers from diverse fields, as well as studios involved in multidisciplinary work, such as Singapore’s Lekker Architects. Other recipients include Australia’s LAB DE STU, Japan’s Chihiro Tanaka, the Philippines’ Stanley Ruiz, Taiwan’s KIMU and Thailand’s Ease.
The awards are important because they acknowledge the creativity and discipline of the region. But they also perform a secondary function: to throw the spotlight on promising names you might not have otherwise noticed or had time to look into. As for why Fu was chosen to be Designer of the Year, Chan says: “Very simple. The show is about the interior design community. We needed a personality with enough regional and international experience who could inspire people. André is only 41 years old, but he has already worked on so many projects. He was quite an obvious choice. And when we spoke to him, he told us he had just launched André Fu Living, so it was a good opportunity to showcase his products.”
Five minutes with MAISON&OBJET ASIA’s Designer of the Year 2016 André Fu
Hong Kong-born, Cambridgeeducated André Fu is the brainchild behind illustrious projects such as Hong Kong’s Upper House, Tokyo’s Restaurant Nadaman at the Shangri- La and Bangkok’s upcoming Waldorf Astoria. In Singapore, he is responsible for a few leading hotels.
What does it mean for you to be recognised as Designer of the Year?
I have always believed that MAISON&OBJET is an important celebration of modern artisanship and the title “Designer of the Year” is a tremendous recognition to be entrusted with.
How important is it for MAISON&OBJET ASIA to recognise regional talents?
Asia is a fast-growing market, yet the importance of regional talents is usually left forgotten. M&O Asia offers a platform for many of the creative talents to showcase their creations under one roof and allows accessibility to a global audience.
What do you think Singapore needs to do to become a global trendsetter in design?
I believe all forms of trends are rooted in a city’s history and the way art and design are integrated into the local ways of life. The juxtaposition of cultures in Singapore has already created a very unique platform to foster new ideas — it simply requires more incentive to allow talents to create landmark projects to showcase what they are capable of.
Tell us how André Fu Living came about and what we can expect from the collection.
My understanding of the latest evolution in the world of hospitality design is that it gradually demands more profound human sensitivity. As such, I wanted to move into the broader world of lifestyle with the establishment of André Fu Living. My vision is very much in the spirit of a select shop — a selection of artisanal objects created without a plan in mind. It is about a journey of discovery, exploration and, ultimately, collaboration in every sense. This month, we shall be previewing a collaboration with Cooper & Graham for a collection of bathroom fixtures. We are also working with a renowned glass company with a collection due to be presented at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan this year.
Besides chronicling developments in the luxury watch industry, Aaron De Silva also runs The Time Traveller SG on Instagram (@thetimetravellersg) and Facebook (www. facebook.com/thetimetravellersg)
This article appeared in the Options of Issue 718 (March 7) of The Edge Singapore.