Fashion designer’s Hong Kong atelier is an East-meets-West study in statement and style rich in contrast, its walls hung with art
- Fashion designer Marie France Van Damme’s elegant Kwun Tong atelier has an overhaul that reflects its industrial origins and the area’s history
- An extension of her house in Clear Water Bay, it is filled with stylish, comfortable furniture, glossy coffee table books and interesting objets d’art
To say there is a stark contrast between fashion designer Marie France Van Damme’s atelier and its location would be an understatement. Situated in the heart of Kwun Tong’s unrelenting bustle, the building housing her 22,000 sq ft (2,000 square metre) workspace is as industrial as they come. So when the no-frills lift opens onto a corridor adorned with photographic art, it comes as something of a surprise.
“What’s great about this place is that you see the building and the elevator and you think, ‘Where on Earth am I going?’,” says Canadian-born Van Damme, who has made Hong Kong her home since the 1980s. “I’ve always loved contrasts, especially going somewhere and finding something you’d least expect.”
The foyer is no ordinary commercial reception area, either. Dominated by Chinese art and calligraphy, and moodily lit, it exudes the minimal elegance and almost Zen-like ambience of an exclusive Aman resort lounge. (Van Damme has been friends with Aman Resorts founder, Adrian Zecha, for years and introduced luxurious beach clothing to his hotels with her high-end resortwear.)
The two Hermès bicycles near the entrance became hers when her husband raised his hand mistakenly at a Mother’s Choice charity auction. Looking like art pieces in their own right, they fit perfectly into their surroundings.
Before she set up her eponymous brand, in 2011, Van Damme ran a trading business, manufacturing fashion for mainstream brands, and the story of how she ended up in Kwun Tong, in Kowloon, reads like a potted history of Hong Kong retail.
