Latest news with #LaneCrawford
South China Morning Post
18-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- South China Morning Post
How to make your home bloom, plus 5 tips for the perfect floral display: from choosing seasonal blossoms and the best vase, to creating stunning arrangements and ensuring sustainability
Flowers have always been considered an important element in interior design and continue to bloom in various forms across the home, from prints and patterns on furniture and textiles to art on the wall. Whether you want to create a look that's cool and contemporary or traditional and elegant, florals lend themselves to a multitude of different styles and tastes, making them the ultimate design tool. Incorporating fresh blooms inside the home is also one of the easiest and simplest ways to showcase the transformative power of flowers in interiors. The Violette arrangement from Libertine Flowers at Lane Crawford. Photo: Handout Advertisement 'Flowers, like the way you dress, can make a personal style statement. They're also an accessible way to update an interior space or bring newness,' says Alison Whittle, founder and director of Libertine Flowers at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong. 'In addition to their aesthetic appearance, the aromas they release can completely change the ambience of a room. Flowers can elevate our mood, reduce stress and even allow us to sleep better,' she says. Creating a floral display in your home can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. Over the years, florists have offered up a plethora of unique styles to emulate, from the avant-garde to the extravagant. Modernists will love the centuries-old Japanese art of ikebana, which prizes aesthetics along with balance, harmony and understated elegance. A striking display of phalaenopsis (moth orchids) and snake grass by Armani Fiori. Photo: Handout Single-stem arrangements are making a comeback and are the epitome of minimalist chic. Foraged florals have also been trending in celebrity homes, highlighting wild seasonal varieties that look as though they've been plucked from your back garden. Identifying the perfect space for your blooms is the first step, as this can affect the size and type of arrangement. Basics such as natural lighting should also be considered to ensure that your flowers look vibrant and stay fresh for as long as possible. 'It's best to identify what you want in the size and shape of the flower arrangement. Where is it going in the space? Do you have a vase you want to use? What will fit best in that vase? And is there a colour palette you want to use to highlight that space?' says Michael Woodcock, co-founder of Pretend Plants & Flowers in Los Angeles, whose celebrity clients include Chloë Sevigny.
South China Morning Post
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Quiet luxury, but make it Asian: Lam Gia Khang on founding Gia Studios as a fourth-generation tailor and Project Runway Vietnam alum
Based in Ho Chi Minh City , Gia Studios, now stocked at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, is truly a family business unlike any other. Founded by fourth-generation tailor Lam Gia Khang of Project Runway Vietnam fame, the brand blends Lam's unique take on quiet luxury with a distinctly Asian design sensibility that has taken the world by storm. We caught up with Lam during his recent visit to Hong Kong to learn more about how this powerhouse's designs have taken off globally and why his home country of Vietnam is quickly becoming a creative force to be reckoned with. Your designs blend minimalist aesthetics with Vietnamese heritage, giving an Asian spin on quiet luxury – a trend more often associated with high-end Western brands. What makes your brand of quiet luxury so special? Lam Gia Khang's mother and grandmother learned their skills from foreign tailors. Photo: Handout Advertisement In Vietnam we have a long colonial history – a lot of cultures mixed. That's why my grandmother learned tailoring from the French, my mother from the Americans. But we are still Vietnamese. I have to explain my clothes like this – your spirit is Asian, but the way you explore is Western. Your mother helped run the brand before her retirement, and family is even encoded in the brand name – 'Gia' meaning family in Vietnamese. How do family values play out in your work? Gia means ''connection' or 'belonging' in Vietnamese. Photo: Handout I'm lucky because I always have my family's support. When I was young, I watched my mum do her job. I didn't know what a designer was. When I grew up and knew more about fashion, I wanted to take her career to the next level. But I still keep my mum's attitude – I don't do collections, I do garments. When you focus on the details, you up the quality of [every] single garment – beautiful collections will come naturally. My mum's still supporting me – she comes to the workshop every day for quality control. We care about my workers. When you do garments like us, emotions are important. One day they make one garment, but if they're not happy, the garment's not good. I want to build my workshop like a family. Everyone takes care of each other, helps one another out. Maybe today you don't finish the garment, people will help you finish it. Gia is my middle name also – in Vietnamese it means 'connection, belonging'. Why do you think the rest of the world – especially K-pop – has started paying attention to Vietnamese brands? Gia Studios stresses craftsmanship, no matter what the garment. Photo: Handout Before, the only thing [others] know about Vietnamese fashion is the ao dai (traditional Vietnamese tunic dress). But we have a lot of things to share, and now I can feel the rise of the new designers in Vietnam. We're not a country with strength in high fashion, but we have strength in tailoring, craftsmanship. When we're talking about Vietnam, people just know big fast fashion brands. But to me, craftsmanship in Vietnam is very interesting and varied. I'm so proud because I was born in a tailor shop – and when I saw my mum and grandmother do garments for the customers, the way they cared for every single detail meant a lot to me. That's the reason I do my job now.
