Noted HK designer architect with new ideas for fur

A man who has put his aesthetic fingerprint on a range of projects in Hong Kong visited Saga Design Center in early September. Noted for his alluring balance of the traditional and the contemporary, Steve Leung arrived with a hunger to explore the world of fur.

Steve Leung’s interiors make you take a deep breath and simply admire what he has accomplished with space. It may be an oxymoron, but his work has an air of dynamic serenity as he deftly blends traditional Chinese lines with contemporary form.
When he stepped into Saga Design Center he had in mind, ”things we have already seen, and things we can imagine.” Leung was looking to find new applications for fur in his work, and was impressed with possibilities offered by blue fox from Saga Furs.

”I’m here to explore,” he says. ”To know more about technique. I’m sure it will help me a lot when I go back to work with furs.” Saga Furs creative director Dorte Lenau Klint was happy to hear Leung’s words: ”You’ve got the right spirit,” she told him.

Based in Hong Kong, Steve Leung Designers Ltd. Has 200 employees. Interior design is the mainstay of the company, but Leung also works with furniture manufacturers and has launched three furnishing collections of his own: i-chi, CUBE and linglong. Each different, but each bearing his trademark of tradition and contemporary, though CUBE had an international scope.

Some of his interiors include: the residential complex Mandarin Palace; the eatery Maxim’s MX; the Mence health and grooming salons for men; The Eight in Macau; and not least, Inagitu Japanese Restaurant at the majestic hotel Four Seasons Hong Kong, the most exclusive spot in the city. Each interior seems to have a latent energy bubbling beneath the stunning surfaces, yet a calming effect on visitors. ”I want people to fully experience my design,” he says.

Leung’s next venture is a hotel company called 1957 & Co. Plans are tentative about whether he will open his own, invest in existing spots, or revamp an older hotel.

No matter what type of a project he puts his mind to, the use of colour and material is always stunning—and different. He has used cut metal like a traditional paper clipping, and also designed a wooden chandelier. Novel thinking to generate full effect.

Fur is already a material Leung has used to a limited degree. ”We use fur cushions and throws, but we don’t design our own,” he says. ”When I learn new techniques, I can further apply the material.”