As Singapore Design Week returns from September 11 to 21, the festival takes on special significance: celebrating the nation’s 60th year with the theme “Nation by Design”. Inspired by Singapore’s transformation into a world-leading design hub in just one lifetime, this year’s edition looks ahead—examining how design can help future-proof cities across the globe. Against a backdrop of exhibitions and ideas spanning healthcare, food security and urban resilience, bringing together leading local voices WOHA and Lekker Architects with international figures such as Aric Chen and filmmaker Liam Young, I spotlight the next generation of creative visionaries. From paper pulp turned into marshmallow-colored tables to seafood shells reborn as terrazzo and e-commerce waste woven into collectible design, these five Southeast Asian designers prove that luxury today is as much about imagination, sustainability and material innovation as it is about craft. Their work offers a glimpse into the future of design in the region and beyond.
Emeline Ong
Just a year after graduating in industrial design from the National University of Singapore in 2023, Emeline Ong was already making waves. Her debut Pastille Collection, crafted from her brother’s discarded school notes, transforms shredded paper into dreamy monolithic tables in candy hues. Their marshmallow-like shapes contrast with a raw, brutal finish, celebrating an unusual casting process that preserves traces of handwork and visible seams. Using a paper pulp mixture she created in her kitchen blender, Ong compressed layers into molds to form tables that are at once playful and sculptural. Inspired by her sweet tooth and the joy of making, Pastille earned a spot on the Dezeen Awards 2024 furniture design longlist—a remarkable feat for a first project and a sign of her rising international profile.
Alvin Tjitrowirjo
Indonesian designer Alvin Tjitrowirjo, founder of Jakarta-based alvinT, continues to refine a design language rooted in cultural preservation and contemporary sensibility. Since 2006, his brand has collaborated with local artisans to produce handmade furniture exhibited from Milan to Tokyo. His Jiwa tribute shelf reinterprets rattan—a humble, sustainable and abundant material—as a spiritual altar-like form. Supported by a solid teak structure, the shelf embodies emotional resonance in contrast to mass-produced objects. By sourcing rattan directly from farmers in Central Kalimantan, Tjitrowirjo highlights its environmental benefits and proposes it as a material solution in the climate crisis. His work straddles tradition and modernity while honoring craft as a link to community, history and nature.
THINKK Studio
Bangkok-based THINKK Studio, founded in 2008 by Ploypan Theerachai and Decha Archjananun, has become one of Thailand’s most inventive design practices. Both designers trained in Europe—Theerachai at Stockholm’s Konstfack and Archjananun at Lausanne’s ECAL, where he studied under Barber & Osgerby and Pierre Charpin. Today, their 10-strong studio operates at the crossroads of research and craft. Their SeaMix Collection is a series of tables, mirrors and trays that transform fishing and seafood waste into terrazzo-like “oyster stone”, “mussel stone” and “crab stone”. By reimagining refuse as refined material, THINKK not only elevates overlooked resources but also reinforces sustainability as integral to contemporary design.
Hana Surya
For Hana Surya, textiles are both therapy and activism. Taught to sew by her seamstress mother in Surabaya, Indonesia, she founded Threadapeutic in Jakarta in 2015 after confronting the wastefulness of fast fashion. Her studio now employs six artisans who turn fabric offcuts from garment factories, batik workshops and bridal ateliers into one-of-a-kind tapestries and architectural panels. Using faux chenille, a fabric manipulation technique that creates layered textures, Threadapeutic produces richly tactile works that can take three months to complete, such as Gather and Shore wall hangings made from lace, brocade and tulle scraps. Beyond design, Threadapeutic is a social enterprise: 100% of profits go toward fair wages and training programs for local craftspeople, inspiring others to reimagine textile waste as material for high-value art and interiors.
Karyn Lim
The works of Singaporean designer Karyn Lim bridge craft, technology and sustainability. With mentorships under Erwan Bouroullec and Sabine Marcelis and collaborations with brands like Marsotto, Zanotta and La Prairie, she has established an international presence. Alongside teaching at NTU Singapore’s School of Art, Design and Media, she continues to experiment with material reinvention. Her So Plast!c Vessels are a tableware series woven from discarded e-commerce polymailers. Cleaned, cut and spun into “plarn” (plastic yarn), the packaging is crocheted into translucent, net-like vessels marked with traces of barcodes and graphics. These irregular, geometric objects transform throwaway plastics into collectible design, sparking reflection on consumption and permanence in the digital age.