ESCAPING URBAN CHAOS in the
SERENE & INTIMATE WOOL STORE
Vivian Hung, founder of WOOL, chats about Scandinavian designs and brands, the importance of retail, and tips on creating a stylish, contemporary home.
Words by Alison Choi
Photography by New Norm Magazine
In this interview, Vivian Hung, the founder of WOOL, chats with us about Scandinavian designs and brands, the importance of retail, and tips on creating a stylish, contemporary home.
Photography Credit:
Natalie Lam
WOOL (an honest, durable, natural material commonly found in furniture, and wù : meaning object in Chinese) is an interior sales agency warmly representing up-and-coming nordic brands — MENU, FRAMA, TEKLA, ST LEO, and KRISTINA DAM STUDIO in Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asia for their retail and interior project markets, with a studio store located in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong and a new online store built by Alex Hunting Studio (Kinfolk’s Design Director) coming soon next year.
Living with Nature
“Scandinavian design is well known for their minimal, straightforward, timeless designs and I think that echoes with my personal belief a lot - to ‘buy less but better’, where I like to invest in quiet, classic design pieces that transcends time and trends.”
What is the story behind WOOL? Why Scandinavian brands?
Vivian: I was doing buying for lifestyle category at Kapok previously and was lucky to get in touch with a wonderful Scandinavian brand selection that they have, such as HAY (when they first entered the Hong Kong market), MENU and made some Danish friends along the way. One thing led to another, and eventually I started my own company WOOL, acting as the sales representative for up-and-coming Scandinavian interior brands in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan to introduce and develop the brands in Hong Kong for retail and project markets.
Also, I was sold on their holistic lifestyle - slow-living with great work life balance following my first trip to Copenhagen and I believe this is something that we need in a busy city like Hong Kong. It opened my eyes on how good design was deeply embedded in their daily lives, and much attention was paid down to the smallest details - stools in cafes, tableware in restaurants, their amazing lighting for good ambience (because of their long dark winters), in contrast to our Hong Kong ‘efficiency’ that we often tend to forgo quality in all these things in exchange for convenience or lower cost.
And of course, the main perk for working with Scandinavian brands would be to spend a lot of time there for my work and leisure-fused trips!
Read the full interview in
New Norm Magazine Issue 03
In this issue we unfold a thread of personal thoughts and memories, streams of consciousness that influence their identities and narratives.
Featured interviews include Agnes Jonas, Barber & Osgerby, Instrmnt Applied Design, Gris, Klara Leidl, Koto Design, homework, WatchHouse, Ziu I. A , Onoko.
More from Issue 03
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