Issue 55

KK Chin, the design director of tête-à-tête talks to Horizon about his inspiration and how he expresses different types of love through his jewelry collections.

Could you tell us something about tête-à-tête?
Every single detail of our brand has a story behind it starting with the brand name ‘tête-à-tête’ which means intimacy or heart-to-heart. All designs are created under the core concept of ‘Live for Love’, they simply tell stories of loves which are not only limited to love between couples, but also include other types of love, such as love between parents and their children, and love between friends. Most of the design ideas have come from my daily conversations with my wife, who is also a jewelry designer.

What is your best-selling collection?
The Dim Sum collection is the best seller and it won the Design Excellence Award (DEmark) in 2008. The collection consists of oversized gems on colourful hand-knotted polyester-silk rings. The idea behind this design emerged over a dim sum lunch when my wife and I discussed the meaning of the Chinese ‘dim sum’, which means ‘touch of heart’. In the past, Chinese wives had to prepare dim sum as snacks for their husbands, and it was the way of showing their love and caring.

Where do you sell your jewelry and to whom?
As I mentioned earlier, tête-à-tête’s key concept is ‘Live for Love’, therefore, you can find and purchase tête-à-tête jewelry collections at romantic places such as … the Rayavadee Hotel in Krabi, Six Senses Hotels & Resorts Maldives and other boutiques and galleries worldwide. However, as e-commerce is playing a vital role in this digital era, it has become the best platform for me to deliver my messages to customers from around the world, who are individuals with romantic hearts and are looking for creative and unique jewelry for themselves and their loved ones.

How can you create designs that reflect your ideas and also embrace customers’ hearts?
As a small jewelry brand, tête-à-tête must be unique and have a clear idea about what we do, including our brand identity, our target customers and design. I apply an ‘inside-out’ strategy for my design and my business. First of all, I know my strengths and limitations, my expertise and what I want to sell to my customers. Moreover, I learn about the needs of my target customers. To get this information, such as their tastes, lifestyle, and reasons for buying jewelry, I like to talk to my potential customers and listen to their feedback at trade fairs, at my showroom and through other distribution channels.

How do you see the future of tête-à-tête?
I wish to see tête-à-tête become a Thai brand that is widely recognised in the global market. Thainess is charming and I will continue to promote this value through my jewelry and would like to do a better job. I want to create unconventional jewelry and focus more on B2C marketing.

For more information, please visit www.tetejewellers.com or follow FB:tete-a-tete and twitter: teteatetedesign

Photo courtesy of tête-à-tête