The leather goods shop ‘selling a memory’ with accessories inspired by Hong Kong icons
- Handbags, passport holders, luggage tags and more are handmade at Nardos Vintage and feature designs inspired by old Hong Kong postboxes and shopfront gates
- Its sales are fuelled by nostalgia, and the founder of the business says the folding cast iron gates symbolise the strength and resilience of Hong Kong people
A rich mix of coffee and leather hits as soon as you enter Nardos Vintage, in a modern building in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong neighbourhood.
In one way that’s not surprising – the company hand crafts leather goods inspired by Hong Kong icons such as carved shopfront gates and traditional metal postboxes. But the strong smell of coffee?
“We share the office with a friend who sells coffee beans and hosts workshops,” says Heison Kwok, Nardos Vintage’s founder.
Kwok’s wife, Violet, is there as well. She works in the hospitality industry but occasionally helps out at the studio which, on a recent afternoon in November, is bathed in warm sunlight.
Stealing the show in this creative hub is Kwok’s workbench. Cluttered with tools of his trade, from knives and mallets to chunky brass stamps used to emboss personalised names and messages, it screams organised chaos. Spools of thread hang in neat rows on a wall.
