Inside Singaporean brand Scene Shang’s new home at the Raffles Hotel
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Inside Singaporean brand Scene Shang'south new dwelling house at the Raffles Hotel
Scene Shang co-founders Pamela Ting and Jessica Wong have pride in the fact that theirs is the merely local retail brand among international names at the iconic landmark.
Scene Shang founders Jessica Wong (L) and Pamela Ting (R). (Photo: Alvin Teo)
10 Oct 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 10:30PM)
Step into the Scene Shang'due south new abode at Raffles Hotel Arcade and you'll experience right at home.
The space is less showroom and more apartment-like, with natural light flooding the high-ceilinged interior, enhancing the sense of spaciousness without compromising on that cosy, welcoming feel.
I could live here, I call up to myself, equally I'm introduced to the brand's co-founders, Pamela Ting and Jessica Wong.
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This lived-in ambient was the pair's initial intent for their second store, as they sought to create a infinite where visitors could peruse their laurels-winning furniture and objets d'art while absorbing a new agreement of time, history and civilisation – over dainty cups of mitt-blended tea.
To express the patina of time, Ting and Wong worked with artists who painted an aged moss relief on the walls, and added green vines and creepers inside the shop. Specially sourced vintage wood trim with Western-style leaf mouldings and geometric links allegorical of the Great Wall of People's republic of china brim the walls.
Fine art pieces by local artist Arthur P.Y. Ting, renowned for his storied Singapore streetscapes and who happens to be Ting's father, adorn the walls.
"We imagined our store as a respectful, gentle and new inhabitant of the space – where the aged walls touched our newly-laid floor, and the old and new meet," said Wong.
The duo also added personal touches, such as a tiled entrance comprised of minor hexagons – a shape valued in Asian cultures for stability and harmony – that grade abstract plum flowers, symbolising forcefulness and beauty.
The tiled threshold, reminiscent of the entrance hall of Scene Shang'southward conceptual birthplace in an art deco building where pair lived in Shanghai five years ago, serve every bit a sort of insider secret between the ii, harking back to where and when their entrepreneurial journey first began.
The pair met xv years ago, as schoolmates in Raffles Junior College, and it seems somewhat apt that their make at present calls the newly refurbished Raffles Hotel home.
"Raffles Hotel has always been quite grand in terms of architecture, and it'south almost intimidating to pace in hither. Then, when we were given the opportunity to be a part of it – knowing it's not contrived as it really gels with the brand – is quite humbling," shared Ting, a former banker. "And to be the only local retail make amongst international names here is quite an honour."
For Wong, the feeling is almost poetic.
"Earlier the renovation, there used to be an antique store at the corner that sold beautiful Chinese furniture. I stepped in once and I was very inspired. So, existence here is very meaningful in the sense that we get to continue that love for artistry and civilization, only in our own Singaporean phonation," said the trained architect.
"To exist the merely local retail brand among international names hither is quite an honour." – Pamela Ting
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A Cute NARRATIVE TOLD IN Blueprint
It's a story of classic Chinese design told through a contemporary lens. And the 132-year-quondam landmark in which information technology is now housed is indeed the perfect dais to clear this story then beautifully encapsulated in Scene Shang's tagline: "Ode to the quondam, nod to the new".
Its 1818 drove, for example, is rife with narrative. Named afterward the yr before Singapore's founding father, Sir Stamford Raffles, landed here, the drove of bluish and white porcelain plates feature paintings past Wong'southward brother, an illustrator, with famous Singapore icons like Marina Bay Sands, the Esplanade and the ArtScience Museum subconscious within the artwork.
"This series is inspired by Ming dynasty porcelain. We attempt to depict in legends from Singapore's past, only nosotros likewise attempt to include some elements from today," offered Wong.
Though almost ephemeral, these tiny details are redolent of the thoughtful and punctilious approach to design that has garnered the young brand accolades such as the prestigious Golden A' Design Award in Furniture, Decorative Items and Homeware Design in Italy three years ago.
This was for its signature SHANG System, a modular storage system featuring several hallmarks of Ming dynasty pattern but interpreted with a modernistic aesthetic, which also attained a special commendation at the President'due south Pattern Honor 2022 in Singapore.
More recently, the brand bagged silver for its XUAN Table at the Singapore Creator Awards 2019.
"Nosotros attempt to draw in legends from Singapore's past, merely nosotros also effort to include some elements from today." – Jessica Wong
While virtually of its pieces are manufactured in Malaysia, Communist china and Vietnam, just two proudly carry a Fabricated in Singapore label, which is an immense source of pride for both Ting and Wong.
The first is the Contumely Chinese Chess Set, designed by Wendy Chua and Gustavo Maggio, and manufactured by Mr Yee from Hup Yick, a 70-year-old proprietor who is ceasing his auto parts workshop in Jalan Besar due to dwindling demand.
"Through this collaboration, nosotros managed to apply his skills for an industrial production and aqueduct it towards a lifestyle production," said Ting.
The 2nd Singapore-made item is the Yan sofa.
Are in that location plans to manufacture more than furniture in their native country? "Definitely; for equally long every bit the manufacturing industry and the craftsmanship allows, as at that place are only a few such craftsmen left. And begetting in mind the price," said Ting.
COLLABORATION IS Fundamental
Such collaborations, the ladies believe, are the central to take the brand forwards.
"Working with other designers who may non be in the same field as us tin give usa a different perspective and add together more layers to the story of whatever nosotros're trying to pattern," Wong explained.
Scene Shang began roping in other design minds in its 4th year of business; first for the Contumely Chinese Chess Fix and later for the special Invisible System version of its Shang Organization.
Designed by renowned local designer Larry Peh, the limited edition in acrylic (only 10 pieces) comes with a S$two,899 price tag.
"Working with other designers who may not be in the same field as the states tin can give us a different perspective and add more layers to the story of any nosotros're trying to design. " – Jessica Wong
"That's the way forward – to work with other designers to provide a different perspective to our classic designs," Wong added.
The other, is expansion. "The challenge nosotros confront is the market size," she noted. Taking the make international is, therefore, on the cards.
"Nosotros are proud that it'southward a Singaporean brand run by Singaporeans, which speaks a lot about our culture. But we will do information technology pace-by-step," said Ting.
How do they recall their largely Asian-centric designs will fare in overseas markets?
"We practice take a lot of customers from Europe, the United states of america and Australia who observe what we are doing very interesting," Wong stated. "The voice of the brand is a bit more of a new Asian lifestyle, and we are trying to find a way to bring that voice overseas. However, nosotros need to work out what the product offerings for the unlike markets volition be."
Ultimately, the duo does not see the brand's time to come express to only furniture and homeware.
"We come across Scene Shang as fronting Asian gimmicky blueprint and a mode of life – enjoying and affectionate the beauty of Asian culture so we could grow laterally also," said Ting.
"We are proud that it's a Singaporean make run by Singaporeans, which speaks a lot about our civilization." – Pamela Ting
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/scene-shang-raffles-hotel-245866
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