With the trend towards dressing down, less conspicuous consumption and a more down-to-earth attitude, it was only a matter of time before this was translated into home interiors.
Douglas Young, a 31-year-old architect, hopes to tap into this market with an accessible lifestyle store filled with 'the sort of things I would buy myself', where shoppers can cruise the aisles and make their selection at leisure. His idea is to bring shopping back to basics.
Tucked away in Ap Lei Chau on the south side of Hong Kong Island, Young's warehouse is well off the habitual shopper's map.
Its rough wooden doors have nothing in common with the kind of glossy shop fronts that most Hong Kong residents are used to, and no big-name designer has been allowed to disguise the seven-metre ceilings and warehouse origins of the shop.
Inside is an eclectic collection of objects from around the world. There are pottery mugs from England, tea cups with tactile encrusted surfaces from Japan, bean bag chairs in funky colours from Hong Kong, raffia sofas (very trendy in Britain), tiny nesting tables with removable legs, and Chinese dining sets without the 'really horrific' dragon or fish design ubiquitous in Hong Kong.
There is nothing new about the concept of G.O.D. (the initials sound like 'better living' in Cantonese). The concept dates back 30 years to the Habitat stores, through to IKEA and then to the truly modern Conran shop in London. In fact, Young's idol is Sir Terence Conran, the man who brought design to the British high street in the 1960s.
