HONG KONG DESIGNER Kelvin Ng (吳紹棠) and his wife Jane Tong (唐慕貞) never imagined that their sofa business Giormani (茲曼尼) would be such a big success when they started it about 25 years ago. Their tailor-made sofas are now sold in the city and over 40 markets worldwide.
Rather than just selling a piece of household furniture, Kelvin and Jane have an embedded philosophy that a great sofa should be the centerpiece of a home – an item on which family members gather.
When the couple started their business in 1999, Kelvin’s father – who operated furniture manufacturing business for decades – had been worried whether their company would make profit by selling sofa products solely without other furniture.
Still, Kelvin’s father gave them strong support to establish their own sofa business and build up their company’s brand.
At that time, sofas were generally sold in furniture retail outlets in Hong Kong and they were not tailor-made. Kelvin and Jane run their business by providing high-quality and stylish sofas which can be individually tailored for the buyer.
Kelvin focused on design and Jane worked on daily business operation and marketing, and soon found their products were sought-after in local, Mainland China and overseas markets.
TAILOR-MADE SOFAS
With entrepreneurship and an agile business mindset, the couple realized some Hong Kong customers want their sofas to be individually-made with slim designs and diverse functionalities – since living space in the vast majority of households is small. Giormani has designed a plethora of sofa products to fit customers’ needs.
The company has established their manufacturing line in Mainland China and imported superb materials from European leather tannery factories, thereby ensuring customers that their products are of top-notch quality.
Customers can select sizes, colours, materials, embroidery and stitching styles of sofas. They can choose their desired leather or fabric colour and pattern from various choices for different portions of sofas. The softness of the seat can be adjusted to suit customers’ individual needs.
There are a wide variety of sofa legs, including automated ones, available for mixing and matching with different styles of sofas.
With tailor-made design and quality production, Giormani has tapped into markets including Mainland China, Europe, the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries.
In an interview with local media earlier, Kelvin said the sofa was part of a family’s lifestyle, stressing that Giormani is keen to bring further development of the sofa business.
GIORMANI ACCENTUATES CREATIVITY
Also, Kelvin says Giormani’s original design in products and design team’s creativity are crucial to distinguish the company from the intense competition in the sofa market.
Kelvin had previously worked with foreign designers from German brand Weco and the collaboration enabled him to learn how to design versatile sofas and keep up with the latest trends, ensuring fresh and innovative designs.
Since 2011, he has won several awards in the “Oscars” of international home furnishing designs, known as the Pinnacle Design Achievement Awards, from the American Society of Furniture Designers.
To inject new creative elements into sofa designs and cultivate a wider range of stylish home accessories, Kelvin has also worked with some local creative artists in different fields.
For instance, one of the popular crossover series has been co-designed by Giormani and Chocolate Rain brand founder Prudence Mak (麥雅端).
As a local fashion and accessories designer, Prudence studied a master’s degree in Design Studies at prestigious Central Saint Martin in London and she previously won the Ten Outstanding Designers Award in Hong Kong.
Mak loves to mix and match different fabrics and materials in her works.
The furniture series is inspired by childhood dreams to bring joyful moments to parents and children. The products include the coffee cup swivel chair and stool, and the candy and birdie cushion – which have become sought-after in the local market.
Giormani has worked with renowned local designers, artists and creative talent to bring in different design concepts and elements and develop more innovative sofas and home accessories.
TAP INTO YOUNG DESIGNERS’ TALENT
Meanwhile, Giormani has been dedicated to grooming Hong Kong’s young people and helped them identify their career aspiration. The company has joined commerce chambers’ programmes to share their business experience with university students and offered intern positions for students in the past few years.
Jane said they want to entice more youth to work in sofa and furniture manufacturing industry – as more young people are reluctant to work in the sector nowadays. She said that manufacturing sector is one of the important pillars to contribute to Hong Kong’s economic development.
Kelvin stressed Giormani will step up tapping into young designers’ talent and come up with new ideas to sustain the company’s business.
Several months ago, Giormani has opened a 15,000 square feet-sized brand-new flagship store in Mong Kok and made sofa experience to new sensory heights.
Showcasing over 100 sofa collections, the flagship store strives to enhance customers’ shopping experience. Giormani has invited locally-renowned coffee brand Ideaology to serve coffee to deliver a broader shopping experience.
Over the past 25 years, Giormani has embraced tradition and innovative designs to create tailor-made sofas. Kelvin and Jane Tong are upbeat on the company’s business development and will continue to carve out their new niche in local and overseas sofa retail markets in the future.
All images are from Giormani.