If all the world’s a stage, Dr. Thomas Middelhoff has certainly set the stage for his employees—and now, business people and managers, fashion designers and consumers, scientists and artists, and you—to be part of a grand performance with the privileged view of what goes on behind the scenes; an insight into innovative business.



Title: The Language of Fashion & Design: Creative, Multifarious, Global
Publisher: red dot edition
Editors: Helmut Merkel, Alexandra Hildebrandt, and Annett Koeman

The curtain call lines up a stellar cast of distinguished industry professionals: Annett Koeman, Dr. Alexandra Hildebrandt, Dr. Emmanuel Siregar, Peter Prix Prof. Dr. Peter Zec and of course, Dr. Thomas Middelhoff.

But the spotlight falls on another talented set of six: Adams Cheung Wan-Ho, Angel Wong Pui Shan, Barbara Skuczik, Pamela Wu Chui Pik, Jeff Wu Koon Hoo and Kevin Ng Wai Lok.

Who are they?

They are young designers who work for the Norintra design center in Hong Kong.

Just as much as their backgrounds embody globalization, they probably represent—and relate to—aspiring designers, you and me.








The Language of Fashion & Design: Creative, Multifarious, Global champions creativity as the living heartbeat of human existence. Without the tool of feeling, there are no emotions. Without emotions, there is no passion. Without passion, there is no creativity.

“To be creative is to be human. Creativity is the future capital of a company.” Surely a quote—from Dr. Emmanuel Siregar—to embrace, especially for those struggling between pushing the creative and commercial envelop?

Yet there is no pricetag to creativity. The wise Sir Siregar possesses a noble belief that further inspires one and all to understand what this intangible object of desire truly is: “Creativity is a talent, a gift given without having earned or paid for it. Being able to communicate my creativity is therefore, also a gift to others again not earned or paid for.”

Certainly, value these days is no longer a direct connection to the greenbacks. This is the economy of ideas. But before you start milking for ideas, the book urges you to think about creating an environment to nurture creativity and diversity.

A look into the inner workings of Norintra design center provides the insight for building a hotbed of idea generation, articulated through images of the designers at work, the photos of a model seemed much ado about nothing.






Turns out she is actually modeling Angel Wong Pui Shan’s award-winning eveningwear collection.

Why stop at one?

After all, when each of the six is posed with similar questions, it is imaginable that their lengthy interviews would demand extensive attention, though it would certainly be very interesting how each individual reply stands next to their peers.

Unquestionably, the gems of wisdom that punctuate the book are thought-provoking and will hold young aspiring designers in good stead, if you paid due attention. This fulfills the authors’ unifying hope of this publication being a source of the inspiration, where readers can pick up their own answers, echoing the concept behind Norintra’s press kit shaped as a complex, fold-out Rubik’s cube.



Six designers. Six authors. They form this multi-faceted cube. Depending on the user, the surfaces interchange like the waves of globalization, providing answers to the seeker, either by reinforcing opinions or changing viewpoints, before you solve the puzzle and see the complete picture.

Take a bow.

You have become part of the show.


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