4-day Exchange Tour Inspires Twelve Young Designersand 

Strengthens Hong Kong's Position as Asia's CreativeHub

TOKYO, JAPAN - Media OutReach - 2November 2018 - The third Design Exchange Tour (DeX Tour) organised byHong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) was successfully held from 30 October to 2November 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. Following the success of the tour in Bangkok andMelbourne earlier this year, twelve emerging Hong Kong designers were selectedto join a 4-day inspiration trip packed with cultural exchange activities andstudy visits to Tokyo's well-known design studios and projects. The tripculminated with an exhibition of the designers' works at Think Global, ThinkHong Kong (TGTHK), a mega promotion campaign hosted by the Hong Kong TradeDevelopment Council.

Sponsored by Create Hong Kongand organised by HKDC, the DeX Tour aims to reinforce HKDC's mission ofestablishing Hong Kong as a creative hub of design excellence in Asia, throughexpanding the global vision of young local designers and cultivating theiraspirations for producing designs with international impact. Two DeX Tours havebeen successfully held in the first half of 2018 in Bangkok and Melbourne, whichopened up cross-regional dialogue among the young generation of designers in thetwo cities.

"Hong Kong is a dynamicmetropolitan where designers are always looking to explore new markets such asmainland China and the rest of the world," said Prof. Eric Yim, JP, Chairman ofHKDC. "The twelve designers at DeX Tokyo represent a sliver of the vibrantspectrum of the design force in Hong Kong who, when provided with the rightexposure and networking opportunities, have enormous potential to producedesigns with a broader regional or international impact."

Like preceding DeX Tours inBangkok and Melbourne, DeX Japan hopes to position Hong Kong as one of Asia'smost dynamic and liveable creative hubs. The delegation comprises up-and-comingdesigners from various design disciplines selected among winners of the DFAHong Kong Young Design Talent Award (DFA HKYDTA), and incubatees of the DesignIncubation Programme (DIP) and Fashion Incubation Programme (FIP) organised byHKDC. The designers visited creative studios in Tokyo and learned about notabledesign projects, such as visiting the acclaimed teamLab studio and GK DesignGroup, attending the open house of Yohji Yamamoto's new SS19 collection, andtouring the Daikanyama T-SITE with world-renowned architects Mark Dytham ofKlein & Dytham architecture. They also learned from the visit to winningprojects at the Good Design Awards Exhibition, to name a few highlights.

The designers joining DeXJapan also had the opportunity to present their creative designs during asession in TGTHK themed "Design & Liveability", where five professionaldesigners from Hong Kong and Japan shared how a human-centred design approachcan offer insights for building empathy and fostering collaborative synergy,thus boosting innovation and business opportunities for today's designers. Keyspeakers at the thematic session include Kay Kwok (Founder, KAYKWOK); StanleyWong (Founder/ Creative Director, 84000 Communications Limited); EisukeTachikawa (Director and Founder, NOSIGNER); Joey Ho (Design Partner, P A LDesign Group); and Prof. Eric Yim (Chairman, Hong Kong Design Centre), with Dr.Edmund Lee (Executive Director, Hong Kong Design Centre) as the moderator for thesession.

The twelve Hong Kong designerswho participated in DeX Japan include Chan Hei Shing (Hei Shing Book Design);Woody Chau (NEVER-NEVER); Ken Hui (AIR Concepts); SoilwormLai (STICKYLINE); June Kimberly Lau (Novel Fineries); Tak Lee (Tak Lee); CommaLeung (mosi mosi); Prudence Mak (Chocolate Rain); Baldwin PUI (hoiming &Fungus Workshop); Mandy Tsang (eMotionLAB); Angus Tsui (ANGUS TSUI) and YeungChin (Yeung Chin).

Please download the pressphotos at:

https://www.hkdc.hk/download/awards/DeX-Japan_photos.zip

About Hong Kong Design Centre

https://www.hkdesigncentre.org/

HongKong Design Centre (HKDC) was founded in 2001 as a strategic partner of theHKSAR Government in establishing Hong Kong as centre of design excellence inAsia. HKDC continues its public mission to promote wider and strategic use ofdesign and design thinking to create business value and improve societalwell-being. Our initiatives are anchored by five major work directions:CONNECT, CELEBRATE, NURTURE, ADVANCE and ENGAGE.

HKDC'sflagship programmes include Business of Design Week (since 2002) -- Asia'sleading annual conference and event on Design, Innovation and Brands; DFAAwards (since 2003) -- a widely recognised design awards that celebratesoutstanding designs with Asian perspectives; Design Incubation Programme (since2012) and Fashion Incubation Programme (since 2016) -- 2-year incubation programmesto nurture future design and fashion entrepreneurs; FASHION ASIA HONGKONG(since 2016) -- a fashion initiative combining conversations, interactions andcultural exchanges to energise the city's image, and position it as an Asianhub for fashion trade and business development; Knowledge of Design Week (since2006) -- an annual thematic design knowledge sharing platform that explores howdesign can solve complex challenges of our society.