Creative Capital: They have stylish paper furniture that people can actually sit on

My wife is an interior design junkie. If you follow her feed on Instagram, you would see that she posts inspiring images on her Stories feed constantly – pictures of living rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, hotel rooms, furniture and other lifestyle products that capture her eye.

Because she is constantly checking out interesting interior brands, she also keeps quite au courant on new manufacturers and makers. One local brand she mentioned to me a while back – saying that if we had the space (which we don’t), she’d love to shop from them – is PAPERplain Market, a two-year-old company specialising in paper furniture pieces.

Yes, paper. The pieces that are sold by founders Dylan Eng and Fiona Foo, are made from paper, and yet nonetheless, have form, weight and can hold a pretty enormous amount of weight.

They are also classy and elegant. Even more impressive, most of the pieces can be folded up and put away, which makes them perfect for living in small spaces.

I caught up with 34-year-old co-founder Dylan Eng to chat about his unique company.

HI DYLAN, TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF. WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP, WERE YOU ALREADY INTERESTED IN DESIGN?

I came from a small village in Kuantan, Malaysia. Back in my younger days, I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to travel – my only “playground” would be my father's boat workshop where he built boats.

My father influenced me very much in having a heart for interiors. We made cute little stools and tables from leftover wooden planks. We even made doors sometimes.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN SINGAPORE AND WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?

Singapore has sheltered me for nine years. Not to be cliched, but it was love that brought me here to Singapore. Needless to say, better work opportunities and higher salaries have also helped keep me here.

DID YOU STUDY DESIGN?

I went into engineering instead of interior design. Yet, I am now doing something in interiors. Expect the unexpected is one of my mantras.

That said, I would love to go to a design school. I just have a heart and head for cool and current stuff.

PAPERPLAIN IS A SIDE BUSINESS, YES?

Engineering is definitely my forte and I’m still at it. PAPERplain is more of a side project to fulfil something that has been circling in me for the longest time. It is kind of like an art project but also one that has commercial potential.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR BRAND?

I would love to say that PAPERplain is a design company, but we are not there yet. At present, we are more of a B2C platform for interesting art and living products. PAPERplain hunts down and discovers products with a tale to tell.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR PAPERPLAIN?

My co-founder and I believe that true luxury lies in real comfort at home. PAPERplain yearns to create aesthetically pleasing, yet functional, home and living products.

WHO IS YOUR CO-FOUNDER?

I started the business with my dear friend, Fiona Foo. PAPERplain is, in so many ways, the apple of her eye. We met each other ages back. She is actually so much more than just a good friend and a business partner, she is my family in Singapore.

In terms of the business, Fiona is responsible for all the “headache” accounting, purchasing and taking care of inventory. I handle the marketing and creative presentation parts, and running whatever random errands the business demands.

HOW ARE YOU CREATING THESE PRODUCTS CURRENTLY?

We’re fortunate that we are currently able to tap on OEM (original equipment manufacturer) designs. The factory we work with designs and manufactures the products according to our requests.

But, in the long term, we definitely have plans to develop our own collection. We already have designs in the pipeline and are very much looking forward to sharing our very own collection soon.