Design Shanghai connects with Chinese middle class eager for high-end interiors

Design is fast becoming big business in China as increasingly affluent middle-class consumers discover an interest in high-end interiors and collectable products.

The first signs of this emerging market came last year when 47,000 people queued in the rain outside Shanghai's neoclassical-style Exhibition Centre for a glimpse of the inaugural Design Shanghai, a four-day exhibition, by Essex-based Media 10 events group, that promised a taste of some of the most famous European brands.

The show, in its second appearance, in late March, doubled in size to 300 exhibitors, with a significantly expanded offering of local designers, up from seven to 30, showing a range of luxury products that more than matched the aesthetic standards set by their international counterparts.

One of the highlights of the show was a collection of ultra-contemporary furniture by Design MVW, a Shanghai-based design studio co-founded by Chinese designer Xu Ming and his partner, French architect Virginie Moriette. The duo's refined works included several contemporary wall lamps inspired by an art deco building on the Bund, and a striking jade-green geometric bronze- and glass-top desk, referencing traditional Chinese style but sans cliché.

Frank Chou's Beijing-based design studio also stood out for its highly original furniture, including a striking steel frame chair that wouldn't look out of place in a chic Parisian home.

Shanghai-based dynamo team neri&hu, renowned for their modern Chinese aesthetic and focus on artisanal skills, unveiled a sleek new light design for Parachilna (shown ahead of the Milan design fairs this year) and their contemporary interpretation of the traditional Chinese sedan chair for ClassiCon.