Qiong Er Jiang
Qiong Er Jiang, founder of lifestyle brand SHANG XIA, is an internationally renowned designer. After many years studying in Europe, she brings a cosmopolitan approach and multi-cultural experience to her designs.
As artistic director and CEO of SHANG XIA, she combines traditional crafts with contemporary design. Her works received wide acclaim and distinguished design awards at national and international level, being collected by world-class museums like British Museum, Musée Guimet and Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In 2011, Forbes named Qiong Er Jiang as one of the 25 most influential Chinese in “Global Fashion and Lifestyle”. Furthermore, she was honoured several times in recognition of her contribution to the cultural exchange between China and France.
Red Dot in an interview with Qiong Er Jiang
Red Dot: What does a product have to offer in order to surprise you?
Qiong Er Jiang: Emotion, emotion and emotion. Of course, the emotion can come from the material of the product, craftsmanship, design concept, or cultural background story. And it may even come from all of these things combined!
What distinguishes your design “signature”?
My design encapsulates an encounter, or a dialogue, between: tradition and modernity, craft and technology, functionality and emotion, past and future. There is true emotion put into and captured through my designs.
Why is the cultural exchange between different nations valuable?
From my understanding, though the nations are different, the culture is fundamentally the same: it’s about love and beauty. The cultural exchange can be conveyed through expression and style to portray “beauty”, while feeling and understanding this allows for deeper “emotion”. The diversity of these translations enriches our lives and makes it meaningful.