Hongkongers may be more circumspect about flipping flats these days but, judging by the number of new furniture shops in town, they still want handsome kit to help create striking interiors.
One store that allows the house-proud to achieve shelter-magazine style at prices that should not cause the sweats is the eponymously named Marc James Design. Having moved recently from Peel Street, Central, to Horizon Plaza, in Ap Lei Chau, the now-expanded outlet continues to attract buyers who covet mid-century modern classics but who aren't prepared to pay for the real thing.
'Depending on the product and specifications, our reproductions are one-third or less the price of originals,' says proprietor Marc James.
Among the most popular pieces is the chair inspired by a well-used baseball glove: the Eames lounge chair and ottoman. The original sells for about HK$42,000 elsewhere but a Singaporean-made copy, in walnut, costs HK$15,300 at James' store. The 1,400 sq ft space is packed with other desirables, such as the Noguchi-style coffee table (which comes in two sizes, the smaller of which costs HK$4,080) and the Barcelona chair (pictured, in white; HK$7,920) of modern architecture pioneer Mies 'less is more' van der Rohe.
'We make it very clear if it's not an original piece,' says James, who can source the genuine article. The company also exports and rents furniture.
Amid reproductions of furniture by other design greats, such as George Nelson, Verner Panton and Le Corbusier, are seemingly incongruous products that somehow suit the setting. An Asian-looking sculpture of a hand in meditation pose, for instance, looks at home beside a copy of a curvy Arne Jacobsen Swan sofa (pictured, in black; HK$16,500).
