Cover Teo Jia En wears a Gucci jacket, Max Mara turtleneck, Fendi choker. Federico Folcia wears a Brunello Cucinelli jacket, his own glasses (worn throughout), shirt
Teo Jia En wears a Gucci jacket, Max Mara turtleneck, Fendi choker. Federico Folcia wears a Brunello Cucinelli jacket, his own glasses (worn throughout), shirt
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Together, the couple have built community spaces for learning and working, a sparkling marriage and a beautiful family while having fun and taking business and personal challenges in their stride
Working with your spouse is notoriously tricky. You never know when you’re going to start bickering. Things could boil over in a team meeting or come to a head while you’re doing a magazine interview. Case in point: Federico Folcia and Teo Jia En arguing about snacks in the middle of this Tatler Singapore shoot.
“She’ll feed our kids snacks all day if it were up to her,” says Folcia, 43, an Italian who has been living in Singapore for a decade. “Asians snack a lot!” retorts Teo, 40, a Singaporean and mother to their three children. “He’s not Asian. He doesn’t understand that. I’d ask the girls, ‘You want to get 4Fingers? You want bubble tea?’ Those are the joys in life!” Folcia shoots back: “On top of meals, not in lieu of them! And stop making everything about being Asian, that is just you!”
Well, should we break up this fight or tell them to get a room? We jest, of course. The couple, who have been married for 10 years and who met 17 years ago while working for Bloomberg in New York, play up their cultural differences and mock argue for kicks, but are on exactly the same page when it comes to many things. Like how they’re both chill and hands-on parents to Ella, 8, Ines, 6, and Eva, 3, and how they’re co‑steering Crane, a social space and “ecosystem for lifelong learning and conscious living”, into relatively uncharted waters, in line with their shared vision.
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Above Teo wears a Moschino suit, Fendi choker, heels. Folcia wears a Gucci shirt, his own jacket, trousers, shoes. Ella wears a Gucci coat, dress, headband, her own trainers. Ines wears a Gucci coat, dress, her own trainers. Eva wears a Gucci coat, dress, barrette, her own trainers
Teo wears a Moschino suit, Fendi choker, heels. Folcia wears a Gucci shirt, his own jacket, trousers, shoes. Ella wears a Gucci coat, dress, headband, her own trainers. Ines wears a Gucci coat, dress, her own trainers. Eva wears a Gucci coat, dress, barrette, her own trainers
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And perhaps it’s because they’ve agreed to disagree on certain things and challenge each other that they’ve been able to build something as ambitious and unique as Crane. Folcia certainly thinks so. He tells us: “Sometimes, I think this happened because we challenged each other. As long as we can separate the professional from the personal, it’s manageable. But it doesn’t happen all the time!”
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Teo adds with a laugh: “Maybe I’m more Asian—I just do first and often, the team is like, ‘Wait, what? We’re opening a shop next month?’ On his end, he’s Italian and so he’s typically impulsive and opinionated. It’s the worst combination. I used to react to it a lot more. But after being together for so long, you know which battles to fight. He’s the guy with the vision and crazy ideas, and I’d roll my eyes and say, ‘Okay, how do we make it work?’ We’re very fortunate to have a team at Crane that understands this dynamic. They like to call us crazy and say that we’re bulldozers, but we like to move fast because we come from a tech background, where everything goes faster.”
For those unfamiliar with Crane, it’s ostensibly a sprawling and Instagram‑worthy 4,400 square feet members’ club in a building at Robertson Quay that used to be Nan Chiau Girl’s School. There’s a multipurpose event space, a co‑working area, a retail area and a cafe that is open to the public. But according to Folcia, it’s more than just those things. “I think Crane is really what you want it to be,” he says. “People come into our ecosystem in different ways—you could come because you’re looking for a co‑working space, or you’ve attended a workshop, wedding or private event. Maybe you want to hang out with friends and think we’re a social club of sorts. It really doesn’t matter what draws you to Crane—what matters is that once you’re in the Crane ecosystem, you get an opportunity to express yourself through the various dimensions that are available.”
Above Ines wears a Gucci jacket, skirt, barrette, her own trainers. Eva wears a Gucci jacket, dress, her own trainers. Ella wears a Gucci dress, headband, her own trainers
Ines wears a Gucci jacket, skirt, barrette, her own trainers. Eva wears a Gucci jacket, dress, her own trainers. Ella wears a Gucci dress, headband, her own trainers
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These dimensions could take the form of an alchemy crystal bowl meditation, a pop‑up fashion market, a female entrepreneurs’ seminar, a music improv session or a dinner with an undertaker where the topics are death and dying. In 2021, Folcia and his team organised more than a thousand happenings across Singapore. They have, since opening the first Crane in 2019, established two more spaces at Arab Street and Joo Chiat, along with a Crane Living retail store in Tanglin Shopping Centre.
“The whole idea of Crane is to instil this idea that people shouldn’t stop learning and sharing their life skills and experiences, because that’s what keeps you motivated and engaged,” he says. “We haven’t reinvented the wheel. There are social spaces, co‑working spaces and event spaces in Singapore, but we wanted to have all these offerings under one roof in an inclusive, accessible and engaging way. And that’s reflected in our [membership] pricing. Making money from these events is not the primary goal. If it were, we’d run a lot of the same events and focus on things that are popular. But we want to tackle difficult topics and bring people out of their comfort zones—we’re going to be pushing out some crazy stuff this year. By creating a lot of events, we bring a lot of people to our spaces, and the monetisation comes after. Memberships are one way, and we also have retail and F&B.”
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Above Folcia wears a Brunello Cucinelli jacket, trousers, his own shirt. Teo wears a Max Mara turtleneck, trousers, Fendi necklace
Folcia wears a Brunello Cucinelli jacket, trousers, his own shirt. Teo wears a Max Mara turtleneck, trousers, Fendi necklace
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That’s where his partner in crime comes in. Teo is in charge of the retail arm Crane Living, which hosts a curated and covetable selection of homeware, with collections available at Crane’s spaces and online. Between picking out whimsical drinking glasses, plates and vases, and delivering bubble wrap, she works with her dad at her family’s financial investment business. “Federico and I try to keep our responsibilities at Crane separate because that’s how we work best,” Teo tells us. “After so many years of working together (the duo also ran Roomorama, a now‑defunct website for the rental of mid‑range and high‑end properties), I think we figured it out. So now when he comments on the things that I do, I’m like, ‘Please, you just handle your own things.’”
That Folcia and Teo can’t stop pushing each other’s buttons is evident, as is their great chemistry with and affection for each other. He pretends to strangle her as they pose for a shot, while she ribs him endlessly. And when their three princesses arrive on the scene, there’s a flurry of hugs and cooing. “I think they make their papa melt every day,” comments the make-up artist on set. And she’s spot on.
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“He’s a really hands-on dad,” Teo tells us. “He puts the kids to bed every night. I’m just like, always lying down and watching TV. (Laughs) We have an amazing support system. I honestly cannot claim any credit for running the household. It’s really the village. Most of the time, they’re reminding me, ‘Please pick up your kids from this place’ or ‘Don’t forget to buy milk’. We’re both pretty relaxed parents. He’s a lot more particular than I am about meals and sleep ...” Folcia cuts in: “Yeah, yeah, I’m the better parent!”
Easy-going and jovial as they are, the couple does face some unique challenges with their family. Their youngest daughter, Eva, has hemiplegia, which Teo tells us is caused by her contracting a virus when she was pregnant with Eva. “Hemiplegia is basically when you have a lot less control of one side of your body and for Eva, it’s the left side,” she shares. “It’s where she’s very weak. She goes for therapy every day and that’s why I say we’re very lucky to have a big support system. She’s kind of like a normal kid, except that she wears hearing aids and her speech is a bit delayed, but hopefully she’ll catch up. Her mobility is a bit behind for her age, but it’s nothing we’re too worried about, because she can climb and swim and all that. She can do everything, except that she doesn’t use her left hand as much.”
Their second child, Ines, was diagnosed with dyslexia, and Folcia and Teo have opted to keep her in kindergarten for one more year. “It’s just because the Singapore system is so strict,” Folcia says. “At this age, kids can be quite careless when they make comments. It’s difficult to explain to them what dyslexia is and why somebody would be delayed in the learning process. It’s mostly to ensure that she’s more prepared when she goes to primary school and so she can catch up faster and enjoy learning.”
Above The February 2022 issue of Tatler Singapore
The February 2022 issue of Tatler Singapore
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To come full circle in a way, the couple is leveraging on the communities they have built with Crane to increase awareness for issues such as hemiplegia and dyslexia, and to create support groups and help other parents who may be struggling. “It’s really about the mindset and sharing with other parents that you don’t treat them differently—you treat all of them the same,” says Folcia. “It’s giving the right context and normalising things. And as such, nothing becomes taboo. But at the same time, for people to understand, even at the youngest age, what it means to not discriminate.”
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Credits
Photography: Shawn Paul Tan
Styling: Adriel Chiun
Hair: Kenneth Ong using Goldwell
Make-Up: Wee Ming using Nars
Photography Assistant: Melvin Leong
