Hasta La Ideas

It’s taken a summer’s worth of exploring the Chinese design scene, but BUNDSHOP, a new online platform that will bring Chinese design to the rest of the world, is nearly set to launch next month. We recently had a chance to stop by their Shanghai office to meet their core team: Founder Diana Tsai, Marketing/PR Lead Stephanie Zoo, Operations Manager Donnie Yu and Designer Michael Cignarale. The binational team hails from both sides of the Pacific, as the Chinese-Americans boast Shanghainese heritage—an advantage for navigating the rapidly-changing city—while longtime friend Yu is a savvy local.

Earlier this year, Tsai was inspired to see China’s burgeoning design culture yet frustrated to learn that most Chinese designers have few opportunities to exhibit or sell their work at home or abroad. But beyond the simple retail proposition, BUNDSHOP is also delivers exclusive editorial content as well, sharing the stories behind the products and the individuals who create them. Their mission statement is a good place to start:

There is serious interest around the world in creativity and design from China. We’re at a cross-section of history. We are marking the transition of one of the world’s fastest growing countries from industrial to creative, from producing to innovating… from Made in China to Designed in China.

We’ve watched this trend for the last decade as we visited family, studied, and worked in China. With our eclectic backgrounds in social enterprise, logistics, exports, marketing, philosophy, diplomacy, we have all united around a single vision, we stormed straight into the frontlines to create a platform to showcase something the world had never seen before: emerging design and independent brands, Designed in China.

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