As a teenager in the 1980s, Ross Urwin dressed in classic 1940s British suits, sported Dr Marten boots and wore a little cap on his shaved head. He hung out with 'all the cool kids' on London's fashion-obsessed King's Road and worked at a stall on Notting Hill's Portobello Road, famous then as now for its antiques market.
'I was 16 and I was selling all kinds of vintage items, clothing, shoes and cases like that ...' he says, pointing to a nest of bank trunks at the foot of his bed.
Such hands-on experience and love of things vintage (typically dating from the 1920s to 80s) have stood him in good stead. Urwin may have put away his outlandish outfits but he continues to nurture his long-standing aesthetic sense when it comes to homeware and interior design. Now, as creative director, home and lifestyle, at Lane Crawford's central buying office, he sources merchandise worldwide and is involved in product development. Which means he not only moulds tastes but also caters to them.
It's little wonder then that his home, by the water in Sai Kung, is a charming reflection of the look he loves and one he predicts Hongkongers will increasingly embrace: vintage and mid-20th-century style combined with contemporary design. A three-storey, 2,700 sq ft house with picture windows that make the most of pretty water views, his rented abode is a charming repository of desirable items, some of them once-in-a-lifetime finds made during vintage-fair trawls around the world.
The best seat in the house, accorded prime position, facing the water on the first floor, is a 50s easy chair. He discovered it on a wet winter's morning in 2003 at a market in Newark, northern England. Apart from being 'the most comfortable chair in the world', Urwin says, 'I just fell in love with the shape.'
Another keepsake is a gaudy ottoman he received as a gift from Australian designer Suzie Stanford, famous for her kitsch-but-covetable furniture upholstered in vintage tea towels.