Tai Ping’s New Showroom is a Striking Collaboration with Stanley Wong

Heritage craft rug brand Tai Ping has collaborated with acclaimed artist and designer Stanley Wong, aka anothermountainman, on a new showroom that brings together the functional and emotional

Tai Ping and Stanley Wong are Hong Kong institutions in their own rights, so it may seem surprising that the heritage rug studio and the acclaimed visual communicator hadn’t collaborated until 2022. But when Wong, aka anothermountainman, received a message from Tai Ping about working together, he jumped at the opportunity. ‘Tai Ping is one of the Hong Kong brands I’ve appreciated and respected all these years,’ he says. ‘This is a dream situation, to work with an international Hong Kong brand, and one of such high quality.’

That initial collaboration resulted in Hong Kong Walk On, a large-scale installation that saw Wong’s iconic Red White Blue series translated onto a bespoke carpet for Art Basel in 2022.

Now the two have collaborated once more, this time on Tai Ping’s new showroom in Hong Kong’s Central district. Tai Ping’s brief for Wong was to create a distinctive and engaging environment that would highlight its exceptional craft while telling visitors a story through the design elements.

Designed by Wong, the strikingly moody space incorporates heritage brand stories and Tai Ping’s vast collection within the showroom’s contemporary gallery aesthetic. The carpet display is meticulously crafted to convey compelling narratives, with each design evoking a specific mood and emotion. And Wong’s integration of traditional and modern design elements throughout highlights the brand’s commitment to both heritage and innovation. 

But it’s not only about the aesthetic, says Wong. ‘As my starting point, I wanted to convert the retail space into something more like a workplace or atelier, because people see the end product, but they might not understand what’s behind it,’ he says. ‘I thought that the process needed to be more transparent, to illustrate how passionate they are about the end product. That’s why we’ve got the window displays at the entrance.’

At this display area, a mini workshop — complete with original materials and tools — gives customers a better understanding of the brand’s artisan-led process, which has been preserved for almost 70 years. Designers will also be pleased to know that the showroom has a dedicated workspace for them to consult with their clients and the Tai Ping team about designs. There’s also a carpet visualiser that allows customers to view larger rugs through the projection of actual rug images on the floor.

Wong has woven these functional and emotional elements into a cohesive and pleasing whole. And the artist in him also comes out, with a centrepiece project entitled 天下太平 (World Peace). ‘The work is based on a childhood game but also the sound of the name Tai Ping, which can also be translated as “peace”,’ he says.

The stunning centrepiece was created by inviting Tai Ping staff from around the world to handwrite the Chinese characters, and Wong then blended the individual expressions into a meaningful work of art that stands as testament to the power of collective expression and the shared desire for a harmonious world.

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