1. Laura Cheung
For the founder of colourful home decor and interior design brand Lala Curio, perseverance and focus are key to running and growing a business.
Laura Cheung marches to the beat of her own, beautifully designed, drum—as can be seen in the whimsical, eclectic style that has come to be associated with Lala Curio, her home decor and interior design services brand. Among the treasure trove of items that Lala Curio produces and that are available online and at the Colourliving furniture store in Wan Chai are tiles decorated with the traditional art of cloisonné and exquisite hand-painted wallpaper.
“I was designing for different brands and saw their success but found limitations in having to follow their brand guidelines or market trends,” says Cheung. “I was yearning for the opportunity to create what speaks to me, to find purpose in my creations. I wanted to embrace lost crafts and reinvent them to make them fashionable again.”
Everything at Lala Curio is bright and colourful—the polar opposite of the minimalist Scandinavian style—and that is the only way Cheung wants it. “The whimsical spirit has been inherent since the early days when I was visualising the brand; it’s all about taking very serious craftsmanship and making it fun and attractive for a larger audience.”
That audience includes shoppers at Pacific Place, where Lala Curio was commissioned to create Chinese New Year installation A Voyage to the Prosperous Splendour. It featured lanterns of all sizes, and panels decorated with intricate embroidery and embellishments, all in bright shades of red, pink, fuchsia, gold and more—very much an embodiment of Lala Curio’s style.
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