Creative Capital: The Singaporean who puts luxurious finishing touches to homes
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Creative Upper-case letter: The Singaporean who puts luxurious finishing touches to homes
Kenneth Fung of Lux & Beyond is the human being to become to if yous desire fine, handcrafted Italian wood flooring, or bespoke door handles to match your chandelier.
Kenneth Fung. (Photo: Lux & Beyond)
13 Dec 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 05:36PM)
Nosotros're all spending more than time at home these days, myself included. Whenever I accept to jump on a Zoom call, which is a few times a day, I cringe when I look at my properties – a set of steel shelves piled with a random assortment of books, bags, files and other stuff that end up in our pocket-size domicile-office-cum-TV-room. I shudder to call up what the people I am on the telephone call think – that I probably live like a messy hobo.
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It'southward no surprise then that many Singaporeans accept started paying more attending to beautifying their interiors. Non only do nosotros need to nowadays ourselves better while working from home, we are besides spending and then much more than time there than ever before.
1 business that has benefitted from this upswing in interior finishing is Lux & Beyond, co-founded 2 years agone past 33-twelvemonth-old Singaporean Kenneth Fung.
WHAT DOES LUX & Beyond SPECIALISE IN?
Lux & Beyond specialises in feature interior effects and finishes. Our in-business firm make is Javier – a bespoke, fine interior furnishing manufacturer specialising in woods marquetry and hand-carved finishes. Javier'south workshops are all based in Indonesia.
We are too the sole sectional distributor of 2 other brands: Serip – decorative lighting famous for their organic light sculptures from Portugal; and Foglie d'Oro – handcrafted Italian wooden floor.
HOW DID You lot Become INTO THIS FIELD?
10 years ago, my maternal uncle Raymond Tan engaged our current partners Andi and Martin Lim to replenish his newly built house in Singapore. Raymond was impressed with their creativity and attention to detail.
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After many years of hard work and success, the immature, entrepreneurial Lim brothers decided to expand beyond Indonesia. When the opportunity for expansion presented itself, Raymond and I decided to join them in their venture into Singapore. This was in January 2022 and we've never looked back.
WHERE DID You GROW UP? WHAT WERE YOU LIKE Every bit A KID?
My dad is Macanese from Hong Kong. He moved to Singapore in the 80's and settled down in Singapore with my Singaporean Teochew female parent. I was built-in in Singapore and my childhood was split between Singapore for study, and Hong Kong for the holidays. I moved to Vancouver for simple and loftier school, just came back to Singapore for the "O" and "A" Levels.
Travelling and living in different countries have allowed me to apace become comfy in new communities. I believe I brand new friends quickly.
DID You E'er Take AN INTEREST IN INTERIORS?
My paternal family unit ran a structure business in Macau and Hong Kong, and my grandad was a fanatic when it came to finding and keeping Chinese wooden antique furniture and art pieces.
In Singapore, my maternal Teochew family as well has great appreciation for Chinese furniture and art. So, intricate woods carvings and art accept ever been a huge part of my childhood memories.
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I started my interior design journey in Singapore in an office design and build visitor. Over fourth dimension, I realised that there were items that had to have the homo touch to measure and finish by hand, like carpentry or specialty wall finishes.
Unfortunately, the trend for hand-made features has been on the decline over the years and there are few skilled artists in Singapore to provide such services.
In one case I was introduced to the modern designs and intricate finishes that Javier was producing, my interest in this area was kindled and I saw a smashing opportunity for them to be marketed in Singapore.
DOES LUX & BEYOND Take COMPETITORS?
Yes, Lux & Beyond does have a number of competitors in the luxury interior feature furnishing scene. However, each company specialises in its ain niche design and style, so information technology is rare to take immediately like products that are in competition with each other.
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In this day and age of mass production and the "buy and throw away" civilisation of symmetric, standardised design items, we differentiate ourselves by focusing on furnishings that are bespoke, handmade, unique, and organic.
HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY THE BRANDS TO Piece of work WITH?
We find agreeing partners who are highly specialised in their fields, and with a strong company history. It is important to have brand partners that are forward thinking, constantly looking for new ways to evolve their products, and willing to explore new designs and techniques with their brand partners internationally.
I Beloved THAT YOU SUPPORT Family-RUN BUSINESSES.
That's great! We are very supportive of family-run businesses. The companies we work with are family unit owned and operated. That ways we are in directly advice with the cardinal stakeholders who are extremely dedicated to the visitor, and take slap-up personal pride in each and every product they complete.
Non but do we end up with cute products that are of loftier quality, nosotros are likewise entrusted with the accolade of customisation for each projection.
For example, Serip traditionally specialises in low-cal sculptures made out of bronze and hand-pulled glass. For a customised projection, we worked closely with the designer to create customised bronze door handles for the entire house that exactly match the characteristic chandelier.
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Following the success of this project, Serip at present has a new drove of door handles and staircase guardrails that are designed to complement their different chandelier collections.
HOW Practice THE SERVICES OFFERED IN YOUR TWO SHOWROOMS DIFFER?
Yeah, we have two separate showrooms that are connected on location. Our first exhibit is Serip's mono-make showroom, the third in the earth. Information technology showcases Serip's different collections in a showroom gallery concept.
Our second showroom is a fusion of our three brands in diverse room settings to showcase what an entire room of customised finishes tin can expect like: Javier's ceiling, wall panels, cabinets and furnishings to prepare the tone for luxury; Serip'due south feature lighting to accentuate the room'south ambience; and Folgie d'Oro'due south wood flooring for the finishing touch.
The services offered across the showrooms are similar. Potential customers should come up by for inspiration and see the finishes in person. From there, outset the customisation process from our assortment of finishing options and develop the perfect feature for your home – be information technology a feature chandelier, a feature wall for a special space, or a characteristic room for that special someone.
HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC Affected YOUR Business?
The most axiomatic result of the pandemic has been the filibuster of structure projects during the circuit billow period. This has caused a chain effect on many projects being either delayed by months or completely put on concord.
The pandemic has as well adapted our customer profiles. Nosotros experienced a decrease in the number of internationally based customers, only at the same time, local demand spiked.
Many people are spending more fourth dimension at home, for piece of work and leisure, and are taking their habitation-upgrading projects extremely seriously, focusing on quality and bespoke feature pieces that they tin can exist proud of.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT ARE AFFECTING YOUR SECTOR THIS YEAR AND IN THE NEAR Hereafter?
The pandemic has had a large affect on the manufacturing capabilities of our partners internationally. Many factories are working at a lower capacity to comply with COVID-19 safety measures and to maintain the quality of the product.
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Our supply chain has also been impacted with fewer options for freight routes, and an overall increase in freight prices. On the sales front end, many clients are more cautious with their spending.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE Best SURPRISE THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU WHILE RUNNING LUX & Beyond?
So far, the biggest surprise to me is the reaction of the local market to our brands and products. Traditionally, one would assume chandeliers and handmade, customised furnishings to be bars to the realm of stuffy bungalows.
Nevertheless, nosotros have many discerning clients who are young, beginning-time property owners who have travelled the earth and are looking for inventive, luxurious furnishings and finishes to add that "oomph" to their homes.
This has been extremely positive for me as it reinforces our value proposition and shows how daring, design-wise at to the lowest degree, we Singaporeans really are.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE HARDEST PART OF THE Journeying OF BUILDING AND RUNNING THIS Company?
The hardest part of this has been the fact that the visitor is relatively new in the manufacture and information technology takes fourth dimension to build trust from the market place. This is especially apparent in the industry of luxury furnishings as nosotros deal with objects that are personal to the clients.
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The brands we correspond are family owned and operated, so even though they are well recognised in their domestic markets, they have not made their mark in Singapore yet. This issue is endemic and over fourth dimension, I am confident that we will win over the hearts and minds of the people.
IS THERE A Project THAT YOU ARE ESPECIALLY PROUD OF?
My proudest projection to date is a customised wall console that is role of a high-terminate entertainment centre in a house. The entire wall panel design is 4m in length and 3m in superlative, and was delivered in two massive sections.
The designer of the wall console customised our signature Javier peacock stop for this. It is fabricated up of tiny veneer strips individually painted in bronze glitter pigment and installed onto the solid teak base strand past strand.
Information technology took 6 months for two artists to consummate the entire wall panel piece. The console'south completed design, with its 2 curved wings on both ends, feels similar a peacock's tail hugging the viewer.
IS WHAT Y'all DO SOMETHING THAT ONLY THE HIGH NET WORTH Tin GET ACCESS TO? CAN "ORDINARY" SINGAPOREANS BE ABLE TO ENGAGE ITS SERVICES?
The "ordinary" Singaporean definitely can! Our products and services are not exclusive to the well off, and are designed for home-owners who wish to give their homes unique personalities. Nosotros have products ranging from a unmarried table lamp to a gorgeous feature dining room with exotic wooden wall panels and tables in ornate shells.
WHAT'South Side by side? WHAT Exercise YOU Take PLANNED FOR THE COMING YEAR?
Side by side yr will be an heady one every bit we have various programmes lined up. We will be focusing on reaching out to agreeing young architects and designers for collaborations to integrate cute, customised design features into local projects. In addition, we will be rolling out our reseller programme to build a stronger marketing presence locally.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/creative-capital-lux-and-beyond-kenneth-fung-235946
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