New World heir Adrian Cheng wants to leave an indelible mark by applying his special gift to a large-scale art/consumer experiment.

There is a lot more to Adrian Cheng Chi-kong than his calling as executive director of New World Development -- and much of it meets the eye, literally. Just ask his mother.

She was on a visit to her son's Beijing home when she was drawn to a painted canvas on a wall. Adrian was not home at the time, so it was to his personal assistant that Mrs Cheng turned. Who was the master who produced such a work, she wanted to know.

The answer was enlightening.

Why, it was her son, revealed the PA -- a response that had Mrs Cheng shaking her head in disbelief and accusing the assistant of trying to play a trick.

The 30-year-old heir to the New World fortune now shares the story amid animated talk and lots of laughter as he tries some mimicry: “My mom was like, really, who drew this? Don't lie to me, okay? Don't lie to me.”

Text: Adele Wong
Photo: Jimmy Luk

Adrian Cheng wants more in malls

The space is large and open, its centre dominated by a stainless steel tree rising from a basement for 8.5 metres. Below it are clouds like silver seats.

But this isn't the MOMA in New York or the Tate Modern in London. This is a piece by Hong Kong artist Danny Lee Chin Fai, and it's in the shrine of our times -- the mall.

While some may mock Adrian Cheng's vision of the new-look mall with his K11, he maintains that people are ready for the art-commerce mix in a way not seen in Asia previously.

Not that this is a new movement.

Pop Art icons like Andy Warhol were long inspired by the graphics, logos and celebrities ruling popular culture. Cosmetics giant MAC just recently turned to artists to bring its make-up palettes to life and the results were seen in its stores. Shoe designer Christian Louboutin hired a fine-art photographer to insert his footwear into works by great masters, shot as if painted.

Elle Kwan

Olivier Coquerel whose latest collection pays tribute to Shanghai, transforms his enduring fascination with sculpture and radical architecture into luxury men’s accessories for S.T. Dupont.

Olivier Coquerel, artistic director at S. T. Dupont Paris, was born in the historic French town of Nevers, home of the 15th Century Ducal Palace, with its commanding view of the Loire Valley, the cathedral of Saint Cyr-Sainte-Jullite and the pilgrim church of St Etienne. He was re-born 18 years later in Paris.

“Nevers was a nice city, and its heart was very mediaeval, but it had no creative influence on me,” Coquerel says. “I’m more attracted to modern architecture and Art Deco, the ’40s and ’50s, and the international style.”

Coming from a designer of men’s fashion accessories, that might sound strange, but Coquerel – who started his career as a designer of women’s accessories before switching to men’s – draws his inspiration from architecture, which he had not really paid much attention to until he arrived in Paris to continue his education after leaving secondary school.

Text: Michael Taylore
Photos: Jimmy Luk