By Wendi Song 

Having majored in Textile Design at Central Saint Martins College in London, Macau-born art and fashion designer Sanchia Lau co-founded Yi Dian Yi Di Art & Design Company 18 months ago in Hengqin, together with her own brand “SanchiaLau”.

This month she was invited by Gree Coast Park, an art and culture fusion space designed and built by Gree Real Estate in Zhuhai, to give a one-month fashion and art themed “salon” incorporating a two-floor installation exhibition, a public talk with renowned artists from Beijing and Macau, a fashion-design crossover themed afternoon tea and a parenting arts workshop.

The partnership with Gree Real Estate is Lau’s latest attempt to seek brand development. Her products are usually based on creative printing to develop fabric derivative and related artistic crossover products including scarves, handbags, plates, wallpaper and children’s wear.

She has recently extended her crossover projects to real estate companies.

“With the deep understanding of the industry as time goes by, especially after cooperating with real estate companies by chance before, I discovered that my artistic cross-border fashion concept can also be realized through specific real estate projects,” Lau explains.

“I have always insisted that art and design aesthetics should be integrated into people’s daily life. Art should intervene in public spaces and become an experience that allows people to come close and to experience.

Sanchia revealed exclusively to Hengqin Record that she is now experimenting with a brand-new cross-border cooperation model for construction of an exciting new project – the Hengqin Ascott Hotel Apartments.

“We started to intervene back to the style orientation of the hotel, from the selection of art and outdoor public art furnishings to the design of crossover themed rooms to the selection and matching of interior accessories, including wallpapers, bedding, carpet, curtains and more,” she says.

“After the opening of the hotel, we also plan to organize art or design themed afternoon tea events and will invite top artists and designers to participate or even to create works based on each topic. Their works will be incorporated into the hotel and placed in an appropriate position to be part of the hotel.”

The Hengqin Ascott will be the first Ascott Hotel Apartments in Zhuhai.

Asked why she decided to launch her company in Hengqin, Lau explains that she has great confidence in Hengqin’s future.

“It not only possesses the geographical advantages of connecting Hong Kong and Macau on land, but it is also the pre-emptive zone for building an open economic system,” she offers. “I believe Hengqin will become a new world-class metropolitan ecosystem just like Tokyo, Paris or New York.”