Four years after his move to Hong Kong Sean Dix’s design studio is thriving. Habitusliving editor Lorenzo Logi met with him on a recent trip to Australia to hear his thoughts on the rise of Chinese design.
July 2nd, 2012
“The idea that Chinese quality is bad is absolutely comical” says Dix, speaking of his experiences with Chinese manufacturers. “It’s not that Chinese quality is bad, it’s that the retailer, the distributor who wants cheap stuff – their quality is bad. You pay a nickel you get a nickel, you get what you pay for.”
Dix’s entry into China has been a learning experience, not just navigating the expected obstacles of language and bureaucracy but adjusting to the Chinese business culture; “it does get a little bit easier but its always complicated” he says, “also culturally it’s difficult, not just practically, because you can’t get mad – you’re not allowed – you get mad and everything falls apart. So you have to be pretty calm and tolerate a lot of irritation that you wouldn’t tolerate anywhere else and slowly things start to go in the direction you want. You can’t force anything; you force it and it falls apart.”
In this regard the Kansas-born, Pacific-island raised designer benefits from his somewhat itinerant upbringing; with a father who worked in the US Peace Corps the family moved frequently and Dix learned to adapt quickly to new environments. And especially for somewhere like China, being on the ground is paramount: ”People aren’t willing to make the commitment and they tend to really underestimate how difficult it is”, comments Dix, ”you can’t really work in China unless you’re there”.
As much as his own studio has enjoyed a relatively unique position of combining international design expertise with an almost native relationship with the manufacturing process, Dix predicts that before long the Chinese themselves will be exporting high quality, Chinese-designed products to the rest of the world. “Chinese manufacturers have been quietly producing OEM stuff for big western brands for 20 years, and what’s really interesting is that they’ve gained a lot of skills and they understand very, very well the production, the logistics, even the distribution”, he points out. “All these guys almost with out exception are thinking ‘hey wait a minute, why are we doing this when we could be developing our own brands and building our own empires?’… and so you’re going to see in the next five or ten years an explosion of very, very strong Chinese brands”.
Sean Dix’s latest range of furniture includes the Sprint chair, Sprint stool, and Dowel Loveseat sofa.
The Sean Dix brand is available in Australia exclusively from Zenith Interiors.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
Suitable for applications ranging from schools and retail outlets to computer rooms and X-ray suites, Palettone comes in two varieties and a choice of more than fifty colours.
The Sub-Zero Wolf showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne provide a creative experience unlike any other. Now showcasing all-new product ranges, the showrooms present a unique perspective on the future of kitchens, homes and lifestyles.
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
Iconic Italian furniture designer Gufram has arrived in Australia, bringing their blend of pop and conceptual art to furniture.
Project Team: Rebecca Vulic, Robbie Robertson, Cynthia Emon, Toni Petrovski Square Metres: 100Location: Chadstone, VIC Type of development: Retail Completed: Aug 2009 “Tarocash has been leading the men’s fashion industry within Australian & New Zealand for many years, however the client felt it was time to refresh the store design, marketing and communications. “Over the […]
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
What’s in a name? At Wardle, a new name marks the next progression in the architecturally designed road for this outstanding practice.