The founder of Hong Kong-based company, Vermillion, is rallying to create new icons for Asian art and design while making sure we don’t neglect the legends of our past
Back in the 2010s, Krizia Li had racked up several years of experience working at luxury brands and had noticed just how valued Western brands were among Asian consumers. In contrast, brands in Asia—where many of those same products were being made—were deemed somehow lesser. The region was seen merely as a factory.
That was when Li decided to make Asia the birthplace of the next Chanel, Louis Vuitton or Christian Dior. The region certainly had the manufacturing prowess and the technological advancements for it. So in 2019, she founded and became the CEO of Vermillion, an e-commerce platform showcasing Asian luxury home decor and lifestyle brands to the world.
Here, Li explains her goals of championing Asian creativity and innovation alongside preserving its heritage.
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We have a bit of a perception, which is quite negative, that Asian brands are cheap, low-quality and copycats. We really strongly believe this is not true—there’s actually a lot of really beautiful, very exquisite, very high-quality craftsmanship that’s created in Asia.
There’s a lack of self-confidence in a lot of Asian brands. I think Western brands coming into Asia, and their prevalence, have been going on for quite a long time. There’s a lot of desire [from consumers] for Western brands as they’re really good at marketing.
A lot of people in Hong Kong collect art because it’s got financial investment value. But in fact, design is a daily use. It’s practical and it’s probably even more affordable [than art]. So you can actually fill your life with design objects.
We search everywhere for designers and creators who have really original thinking and a very interesting personal profile. This way, we can build a story with heritage and depth [behind it]. We’re continuing our journey to find more.