Hong Kong Living Influencer Awards 2020: Art and design

Sunaina Chand, founder and CEO of Vivaz Fine Jewelry  

Drawn to Hong Kong’s charm, energy and convenience, Sunaina Chand moved to the city from Japan 20 years ago. After finding her passion for diamonds, she left her job in public relations and marketing to study natural diamonds at the Gemological Institute of America in Hong Kong.

While Chand had a dream to embark on her own business venture, making it a reality was a challenge. “I single-handedly learned how to manage a company and build a team to create Vivaz,” she says. Her hard work paid off and she now has a network of loyal clients and collaborations with luxury designers, including Giovanni Ferraris and Paolo Costagli.

Her secret to her success? “Constantly creating different avenues to reach out to consumers. Getting too comfortable in one area or direction is risky,” she says. While the design process is essential to any Jewellery business, Chand encourages people to not get lost in it. “Jewellery is embraced as art and it’s easy to lose yourself. Keep in mind the business perspective and always stay true to quality and details.” By keeping an open mind Chand has been able to maneuver around the events of the past year and maintain a clear vision for the future. 

Kaye Dong, founder of The Good Studio

For Kaye Dong, being able to wake up every morning, spring out of bed and do what she loves is what success means to her. Born and raised in Melbourne, Dong is a woman of many talents. Inspired by her own experiences as a parent, she has taken on various roles in philanthropy. 

In 2015, she founded her own non-profit organisation, K for Kids Foundation. The foundation helps love, support and empower children from disadvantaged backgrounds, primarily reaching out to children under 12, many of whom live in poverty or in out-of-home care. 

Dong also owns and runs design firm The Good Studio, which has conceptualised standout interiors in Hong Kong, like Colour Brown X PHVLO HATCH in Sham Shui Po. While this year has been tough Dong shares some words of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, “know what sparks joy in you,” she says. “Never forget why you wanted to become an interior designer and keep the passion alive.”

Florence Kong, founder of FAB-A-MATTER

From being a member of the national fencing team at the age of 15, to setting up an award-winning architecture and design firm, Florence Kong has gone from strength to strength. Kong’s athletic training from early on in life has taught her the importance of perseverance and teamwork. To this day, they remain the core values that underlie her work ethic. “From my training as a sportsman, I learned to trust that hard work pays off, even if it isn’t for now, it will eventually,” she says. 

Kong started her career in architecture working with a number of architectural studios and property developers with projects around the world including Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Mainland China and Hong Kong. After graduating from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Kong trained under luminaries such as Zaha Hadid and Kohn Pedersen Fox, before returning to Hong Kong to set up her own architecture design studio in 2015.

Her latest project is a collaboration with MIT Innovation Node, for the 17th Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition, which has been postponed for at least a year due to the pandemic. “It’s tough for everyone during this time. It is important to stay agile and be ready to adapt to new situations when there is a lot of uncertainty,” Kong says.

Read more: 6 Hong Kong interior designers to watch out for

Austy Lee, director of Austy Lee Art Jewellery

Designer Austy Lee may have found success, but his journey wasn’t always so smooth sailing. Starting his own bespoke jewellery brand was a childhood dream, yet he encountered many personal issues in the beginning.

“Start-ups are so fragile that they can be easily demolished by minor matters,” he says. Eventually, though, he learned to overcome the challenges and went on to become an established jewellery designer in the industry. Fascinated and inspired by the meaning of jade, Lee’s collections act as symbols of goodness, preciousness and beauty. “To Chinese people, jade stones are the embodiment of the Confucian virtues of courage, wisdom, modesty, justice and compassion,” he explains. “The polish and brilliance of a jade stone are considered by the Chinese as the representative of purity, while its compactness and hardness reflect intelligence.”

Looking forward, Lee is more than optimistic regarding the future of high jewellery. “Jewellery collectors are always seeking for interesting and one-of-a-kind pieces. Any designer should not be afraid to be their unique self and should express who they are through their creations.”

Birgit Wahlhaeuser, creative director of W Interior Concepts

Graham Uden, photographer

British-born photographer Graham Uden has experienced it all. A former war photographer, Uden has shot (photos that is) AK-47 toting ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers in Cambodia, crawled across minefields in Laos, squatted 300 metres from Taleban frontline trenches in the 2001 Afghanistan War and narrowly missed suicide bombs in Baghdad during the 2003 war.

After arriving in Hong Kong in 1992, Uden established himself as a corporate and commercial photographer, shooting top brands and events including the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and Art Basel. “I’ve been very fortunate with my career path and haven’t really had any lows up until June last year when the civil unrest began, after that work really slowed down.” The recent downtime has given him a chance to consolidate his portfolio and focus on his self-promotion in preparation for a big return. 

Uden’s signature style and technique elevate every project he works on, but his charismatic photoshoots and charm have won over many of Hong Kong’s elite. “Shooting a good picture is not enough. You need to be sociable and able to entertain and direct people confidently,” he says.

Tom Mak, director and founder of Tom Mak Design (TMD)

Bringing over 20 years of experience working in the creative industry and a background in environmental graphic and branding design, Tom Mak launched his own design studio earlier this year. As a designer, Mak specialises in wayfinding experience design and property branding and has taken on numerous commercial, hospitality, residential and mixed-use projects throughout the years. 

Working with a range of clients all with different needs, Mak thinks it is important to stay true to his designs while adopting his ideas to suit the values of the companies he represents. “By keeping an open mind and allowing ideas to come from multiple perspectives, you can better understand and balance the needs of all parties, which is the ultimate purpose of good design,” he says. 

For Mak, changes can often be seen as opportunities for new ideas. In the time of Covid-19, he has been spending more quality time to draw out business plans and marketing mapping for his firm.

Ellie Bradley, founder and creative director of Atelier Lane Interior Design

Named after her small Victorian cottage on a tiny laneway in Sydney, Ellie Bradley founded Atelier Lane Interior Design in 2008 and has designed residential and commercial spaces ever since. After opening the Hong Kong office three years ago, Bradley and her team had to refine their focus to also accommodate smaller spaces and have expanded their product range to include furniture designs.

“Hong Kong is a small city, space is at a premium so maximising the space you have and ensuring it delivers to your lifestyle needs is at the top of our list. Hongkongers are well educated and well travelled, so they are open to being pushed out of their comfort zone and embracing diverse influences,” she says. 

This year has been especially tough on Bradley, as she tries to navigate a new normal after losing her father in 2019. “My dad ran his own successful company for over 30 years and was one of the reasons why I started my business. He would mentor me and share his advice, he taught me to trust my gut and never chase the money.” “Do it for love and do it because it’s right for the business.” 

But the past 10 months have been some of the busiest in the history of the company and brought some positive lessons, namely keeping a positive attitude and a passion for her work. “I am always designing, planning, researching so whilst it has been a very difficult year emotionally, I did take a little time early on to calm myself, reflect and take some time to breathe. Resulting in an increased creative energy that has blossomed along with the business this year.”

Gary Cai, co-founder of Miyagawa Mina Limited

Gary Cai knows what it is like to start from scratch. Moving from Guangzhou to Hong Kong at just 13 years old, Cai lived alone and started his first job in a restaurant the day after his 15th birthday. Having worked as a waiter, app developer, hardware engineer and filmmaker, Cai found himself trying all sorts of disciplines in order to find his true calling.

Today, he is the co-founder of Miyagawa Mina, a jewellery company that specialises in custom-made pieces. He takes inspiration from his business partner, Miyagawa Mina, starting “my life was so unstable before I met her, under her lead we were able to create the brand we have today.”

With the global pandemic, Cai has had to adapt the business model online, focusing on social media promotion to get their name out. “The most important lesson I’ve learned is, be brave and don’t confine yourself,” he says. “This applies to business and personal life, be open to every possibility and don’t be scared about starting a new journey,” says Cai.

Yin Lee Chan, co-founder and designer of Movo Limited and Volo Design Limited

For Yin Lee Chan, co-founder of Movo Limited and Volo Design Limited, being a designer and being an entrepreneur are two different things. Schooled in design, her first startup was a bumpy road. Encountering challenge after challenge, she realised she needed to step up her business skills in order to survive in the competitive world of design.

“You might be great at something, but you have to be prepared and ready to do what you need to do – even when that something is not your expertise,” says Chan. Another important lesson she learned is being able to separate friends and business partners. “A business partner can be your friend, but you must know when and where to separate the two.”

Having finally found her footing in the industry, Chan has some advice for aspiring designers. “One must know how to see beyond just the physical design and find a story behind it,” she says. “Your story will create your own design language.”

Elaine Shiu, executive director of Ejj Jewellery

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Elaine Shiu has always been business savvy, starting her first business, trading red coral for luxury jewellery, during her second year of university. 

Shiu’s parents and professors didn’t believe she could handle the pressure but she proved them wrong in 2017 after being nominated as a coral expert. After graduating Shiu decided to establish her own brand, Ejj Jewellery, noticing a gap in the market for affordable fashion jewellery. “I decided to fill that gap and design my own jewellery with high quality pieces without a huge price tag.” she says. 

Ejj Jewellery went on to become the first Hong Kong-based jewellery brand to 3D-print products and received both a MUSE Design Award and an A’ Design Award earlier this year. While 2020 started on a high the ongoing pandemic has been hard for the startup business. “There is a saying in Chinese which translates to crisis creates opportunities and I feel that there are still opportunities out there, I just needed to adjust my business plan,” she says.

By improving Ejj Jewellery’s online platform, Shiu has been able to  connect with customers virtually and showcase her designs online. She believes that business owners should always be prepared for the best and worst situations in order to keep up with changing times.