The Chinese Australian architect who fashion retailers go to for his trendy and innovative designs
When it comes to fashion retail design, Sydney architect Kelvin Ho is on speed dial for many of the industry’s biggest names, having created interiors for some 300 boutiques that run the gamut of styles
Over the past 13 years Kelvin Ho has created interiors for some 300 boutiques for 30 leading independent Australian fashion names. He has been involved with New York Fashion Week regular Dion Lee, Camilla and Marc, Willow, Lover, Sass & Bide and luxury basics line Bassike, including Bassike’s 100 sq m store in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.
Ho’s Akin Creative agency also designed the Incu Group’s chain of 12 stores, which includes four local flagships for international brands Rag & Bone and A.P.C. that are operated in Australia in partnership with the group; as well as two stores in Sydney and Melbourne for New York menswear brand Saturdays NYC.
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“I think that is been probably the strength of our business – it’s really about working with the right brands,” says Ho of his fashion work, which accounts for 50 per cent of Akin Creative’s turnover, with budgets for boutique fitouts ranging from A$200,000 (US$153,000) to A$2 million.
“There’s so many different brands we work with, it’s really about [saying] ‘OK, how do we shape each response to work for the brand?” says Ho.
His portfolio runs the gamut of styles. From the lush curves and neo-classicism of six Camilla and Marc boutiques in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, rendered in marble, French oak and velvet to seven futuristic Dion Lee boutiques fashioned from pre-cast concrete and gleaming mirror-polished stainless steel and glass in Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Brisbane – the latter is due to open in September.
