Exhibitor’s Stories
TO HONOUR HISTORY WHILE BUILDING THE FUTURE
Nan Fung Cotton Mills was established in 1945, located in the industrial district of Tsuen Wan. The Mills project was inspired by the desire to reinvent the way Nan Fung thinks about development in Hong Kong. The project is a very good example of paying tribute to Hong Kong’s legacy in the textile industry while nurturing and supporting its creative future. To celebrate their sixtieth anniversary in 2014, the Nan Fung Group announced that they would transform three former cotton mills into a single complex consisting of a business incubator, experiential retail and arts and cultural centre, creating new possibilities for innovation culture and learning. In keeping with its focus on sustainability, some old features of the former factories, such as the chipped paint and the exposed beams, the original metal entrance gates, and most of the outer shell and structure, as well as the staircases, were kept not only for sentimental reasons, but to pay homage to the building’s glory days.
Thanks to the design teams, the coherent steel and glass, contiguous modern complex now showcases local design, textiles and art. The restoration intends to preserve Hong Kong’s textile and garment making traditions and foster creativity.
Every year The Mills spreads happiness and joy with a Christmas tree made from recycled materials, and in 2019, it was transformed into a romantic winter wonderland with lots of handmade pom-poms hung throughout the space. The Christmas decorations were then upcycled into pocket notebook cases by using the Garment-to-Garment (G2G) textile recycling system to promote the idea of a Green Christmas. In 2020, The Mills celebrated a truly Green Christmas with unique decorations made from different kinds of recycled wood. They invited students from Stewards, a local charity, to help create imaginative handmade Christmas decorations using reclaimed wood, which added a sustainable element to the festivities. Last year, The Mills held another Green Christmas with a tree made from upcycled denim swatches, so as to spread an eco-friendly message. Following their rebirth as festive decor, the swatches were used as raw materials in a post-Christmas workshop, and transformed into beautiful fabric vases. This shows how, with creativity and imagination, there are no limits to the life cycle of seemingly unusable, disposable items.
