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'Level of British-ness' is Established in Pacific Place

Are coffee tables the new couture? Lane Crawford has bet on it by recently turning Pacific Place's food court into a home store. On Thursday it hosted a meet and greet for top English design firm Established & Sons. Five of the company's top people - (from left) development and marketing director Tamara Caspersz, operations director Sebastian Wrong, Hong Kong-based designer Michael Young, chairman Angad Paul and CEO Alasdhair Willis - arrived en masse with the air of the latest Britpop sensation.

'We're not necessarily about focusing on British design. Our idea was to evoke a level of British-ness,' was how chairman Paul explained their mission. 'The fact is that British design has always been eclectic and quirky, and it takes risks. Michael is the perfect example. Here's someone who's from the UK, made a massive name for himself in Asia and his work reflects his adopted home.'

Another part of the company's quirk is the name itself. 'British craftsmanship firms were always either something and sons, or something brothers, and it always mentioned it was established in year whenever. What we did was to put them together like a play on words.'

With more than 22 designers under its umbrella, Established & Sons is definitely not your average design shop. 'We're not afraid to have a significant repertoire of products. It's eclectic but it all co-exists,' Paul said, using the analogy of a movie studio with lots of directors under one roof. 'It's like United Artists. I know because I'm in the film business as well.'

Paul produced the movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Sounds like a mogul in the making.

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