Very Fine Furnishings

A stalwart on the city’s interior design scene, Altfield has been in the business of beautiful homes for 35 years. We spoke to founder AMANDA CLARK about the brand and all things Chinoiserie.

- Brooke Chenoweth

Tell us about the early days of Altfield.

It was set up 35 years ago when I came out to Hong Kong as a young designer and met my business partner David Halperin. I had grown up in HK, and our business began with a focus on antiques, however with my background in design I very soon added interior furnishings and decorative accessories to the mix. We were certainly one of the first such businesses here to offer lifestyle, interior design, antique furniture and works of art. It’s always been a mix of old and new, East and West, with fine expensive collectable pieces mixed with contemporary versions. I have clients who, like me, were in their early twenties when we began, and are still collecting and decorating with us all these years later.

And how about the business today?

Our Altfield Gallery (now in Prince’s Building) continues to flourish but our main business is Altfield Interiors, which supplies about 35 of the top international brands of interior fabrics, wall coverings, leather, lighting and accessories to the interior designer and architectural offices in HK. We opened a showroom in Macau to handle the growth of the casino market there, and then showrooms in Beijing and Shanghai followed; and last autumn we opened in Singapore. Our London showroom is now 20 years old, based in the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre.