How Dutch designer Danny Fang moved to Hong Kong for adventure
Fang is using Kickstarter to launch a designer dog lead with a twist.
"I'd been head of product design at Marcel Wanders, in Holland, and wanted a new adventure. It didn't feel like a real adventure to start up by myself in Holland, but here I saw a tremendous capacity for production from the availability of manual labour to hi-tech machinery. I thought, 'Maybe I should go to Asia to help companies who want to become brands develop their identity.'"
"About two to three weeks. The Dutch Chamber of Commerce was looking for a new identity and I won the pitch. They could hardly pay (the job was worth HK$5,000) but said they would spread the word about me. I applied to the Design Incubation Programme at InnoCentre [in Kowloon Tong], was accepted and got my visa."
"I came here to help Asian companies grow into more mature brands and that has been my focus. One example is my Salago lamp for Moooi: made from recycled paper and coated with paper pulp, they look heavy but are lightweight, so can hang from a ceiling without reinforcement. You can see them at The Pawn [restaurant], in Wan Chai."
