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In a hyper-digital world of Taobao junk that falls apart after five uses and viral dropships that you’ll forget about in a heartbeat, consumers have been shifting back to a more analogue lifestyle, prioritising purchases with more resonance and value that are built to last. Frankenchang, a brand founded by two creatives, has just launched their first batch of products that will strike a chord with Hongkongers everywhere.
Ernest Chang, the artist and gallerist behind The Stallery, and co-founder Jacqueline Frank, have drawn inspiration from what binds all Hongkongers together – a shared love for good food. “We move food memories out of the kitchen, onto the coffee table, so the objects you live with everyday hold the same warmth as a meal made for you,” Frank expands.
And what a lovely coffee table that will be! Frankenchang’s Collection 01 includes an ashtray shaped like a pastel de nata, a chopsticks rest that’s a dumpling, a coaster set that looks like slices of lotus root, a set of cups inspired by bamboo that can be stacked, and a bottle stopper in the shape of a chicken foot. These are all immediately recognisable to those who have grown up around a Hong Kong dining table; practical, functional products that carry a strong cultural heart and more than a touch of whimsy.
If you’re anything like us and like the mid-century modern aesthetic, Wong Kar-wai movies, old Shanghai vibes, and being completely unapologetic about where you come from, then you’ll probably also fall in love with the Frankenchang brand. Their whole philosophy is making luxury products that can withstand the test of time and be handed down in families like the homeware of old, which is why they’ve chosen to work with porcelain in their debut line since this is a Chinese heirloom material. All items are handcrafted in a small workshop in Jingdezhen, a town that definitely knows their porcelain as they used to house the imperial kilns which fired pieces exclusively made for use in the Chinese palace and court.
Because of this small-scale production, all batches are kept to very limited quantities and once a run is sold out they will not be made again. So if you want to stick a chicken foot into your wine bottles, then it’s best to act fast before they sell out forever. Pieces are priced between $1,350 to $2,600 (some come as sets while others are single items) and pre-orders are currently open for Collection 01 which fully launches on August 19, with free international shipping.
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