Sometimes, what starts off a side project ends up taking over your life. At least that's what happened in the instance of Chong Shop and its founder Casey Chong.
Having studied furniture design, the Melbourne-based creative began her own studio "Chong Office" in 2018, as a platform for her own practice. It was mainly resin objects to begin with – ranging from stools and side tables, to small vases. In the years since, she says, Melbourne has gone through an artistic boom of sorts – "every year there are so many new artists and designers emerging, especially in furniture, glassware and pottery," she tells Hypebeast. "A great variety of works are present, with a nice blend of understated timber craftsmanship works and bold, audacious and experimental designs."
This keen eye for design extends to the many independent cafes and restaurants in the city, (something else Melbourne is known for), where fun graphics details are seen across interiors. Being surrounded by this, Chong says, helps to push your own creativity, and inspires you to focus on experimentation across the board.
"[In Melbourne], we have seen a variety of exciting new works, with more diverse disciplines," she adds. "I wanted to explore more possibilities in new mediums — more sustainable materials, especially with common everyday objects and in a more mass production context," she explains. As such, the idea for Chong Shop was created.
For its first "official" launch, Chong Shop introduces a clothing hanger, which takes on the form of a deflated balloon. Launched in three colors, Barbie Pink, Sunny Lime and Pool Blue, each is crafted from 100% post-consumer waste plastic sourced from Defy Design (a Sydney-based plastic recycling company). The circularity aspect was hugely important to Chong, but the material also suited its eventual use from a weight and surface texture perspective.
"We started this fun passion project at the time — experimenting with different ways of casting a hanger, such as PVC tubes and hoses... but then, we came across a balloon," she says.
Intrigued by the idea of using something so seemingly fragile to hang and support other objects, they set about figuring it out.
"Starting with an inflated balloon as the initial form, the hangers were quite heavy and the outcomes were inconsistent and not fully functional due to the resin cast," Chong explains. They then reached out to Defy Design, and began prototyping with their material.
"Considering the manufacturing capabilities of injection moulding with recycled plastic, we had to reduce the weight and volume of the hanger," she adds. "Instead of shrinking it proportionally in diameters, we decided to 'deflate' it, adding layers of textures and sophistication to the initial design."
Now, it's finally time for the first project of Chong Shop to go out into the world, and the founder is suitably excited. Each of the colors are available to purchase via Chong Shop's Kickstarter, which is live until August 19th.
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