Trailing spouses make up a significant part of Hong Kong’s social scene. A rather successful lot too, may I add, as they bring with them widespread wisdom from their home country, and adapting it with Hong Kong’s unique environment. Look at Christina with Beau Peep Boutique, and then glimpse upon Maura and Hester with Sassy Hong Kong! My mom and I were rather fortunate to have been introduced to Makaron, an online home linen store, by none other than their Director Jenny van der Straten, who flaunted her favourite items to us, as well as clued us in on how she and her business partner, Catherine, started with the entire concept. Have you got some young cousins who you just can’t figure out what you should buy for? Or an old auntie who is very peculiar about how she sets her table? Christmas shopping solved!
How did you and Catherine come up with the idea of starting your own business in home linen products?
Well, I am a Belgium luxury brand marketer, while Catherine is a French airline crew, and we met in Hong Kong where our husbands’ jobs took us. As we started building our homes in Hong Kong, a few handy items from home seem to have been missing. Home décor and baby items are either cheap and cheerful with tacky cartoon patterns on it, or they are chic but bloody expensive from designer stores. There just isn’t anything in between which is classy yet affordable.
Usually at this stage people would write home and beg friends and family at home to send some of the items over, but we decided to go one step further, and generate our own brand of products that are both elegant and unique. The name Makaron was inspired by macaroons, which are sweet and colourful, representing happy moments in life. When we first started, we sold handy items based on our personal experiences in private sales, and then we moved onto soliciting online sales and distribution points, where we groomed a list of products that are adjusted based on customers’ feedback. So far this has been working rather well!
What are you focused in producing?
We are focused upon offering Western home linen items that aren’t typically sold around the region, such as table cloth, runners, cushion covers, girl pockets, single bed and baby bed duvet covers, baby outdoor changing mat, baby play mat, baby changing mat cover, and small quilted quilt.
In our contemporary classic designs, we combine colourful vintage patterns with a single coloured cloth, as well as mixing different fabrics in a single product, to make sure that our pieces are both practical and trendy. Just because a baby is young doesn’t mean you can put them in dull, ugly duvets! Colour blocking plays a huge role in our products, but we are keen on the quality as well, so each of our items are hand-made and produced in a limited quantity to ensure that they are all up to standard.
Any tips on choosing quality linen products? Where can I find out more about Makaron?
The way we test our fabric is first by touching it to see whether it is soft and comfortable. After all, baby products make up a prominent part of our business, so how it rubs onto their skin matters a lot to us. We would buy samples of the fabric and test it in the washing machine to check how well it wears and tears. We also double check the linen or cotton fabric to make sure our products are of good quality, as well as giving particular attention to details, so that product finishing must be perfect before we put it to sale. We currently have a mix of Western, Japanese, and expat Chinese mothers stocking up our products, and we are planning to develop the local market as well as expanding across Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and China. Our proudest moments must be when we see familiar faces coming back for more, or when someone comes up to us and tells us that she was referred by a satisfied customer.
If you want to have a look at how we are doing with colour combinations, check out our website, which has been shipping consistently to across France, Belgium, Singapore, and of course, Hong Kong. We are currently offering HK$110 off on your first purchase! Our pieces can also be found on Baby Central’s website, but if you are the kind of person who likes to touch the real thing first before buying, come to Petit Bazaar for our baby products, Sidewalk for our home products, or book an appointment with us to visit our showroom and ogle through all our pieces at one go! Our new collections will be launched at our private sale on 6 October 2011 at Jardine's Lookout, and 11 October 2011 at Pokfulam, so follow us on our website and Facebook fan page for further details.
Makaron
Email: info@makaron-home.com
Website: www.makaron-home.com