Goods of Desire Singapore

Goods of Desire, abbreviated as G.O.D., is an arbiter of modern Asian chic and it recently marked its first foray into the international market by opening its first store in Singapore at Central last week. With quirky everyday items peppering all 6,000-plus square feet of the Asian heritage-themed store, shoppers can expect to be immersed in a unique retail experience that has been highly customized to delight and surprise. I attended the store opening event recently and there were so many awesome stuff, I don’t even know where to begin.

Masterfully weaving together traditional Asian motifs with the dynamism of this modern century, Goods of Desire invites today’s increasingly well-travelled urbanites to appreciate and celebrate their roots in an upbeat, humorous and cheeky style. Located along the Singapore River which itself is rich in heritage, the brand’s first store outside Hong Kong remains true to its unique spirit of culture preservation. The Goods of Desire Singapore flagship store retails items in the homeware category, including furniture, dining, bath and bedding products; accessories, fashion for men and women, stationery, as well as products from the various Goods of Desire collections.

I was first introduced to this brand a couple years back at a small store in Holland Village that carried some merchandise (the store subsequently had closed its doors). I didn’t get a chance to buy much at the time, but it was exciting nonetheless to see contemporized versions of traditional Asian motifs, such as the Good Morning towel graphic reinterpreted as a pair of boxer shorts and tissue paper holder, for example. So it made me really happy that there is now a flagship store in Singapore loaded with the full range of G.O.D. merchandise.

Lai, lai, lemme share with you some of the things at the store which I personally find very cool.

I’ve always been fond of the Double Happiness motif as it’s associated with so much auspiciousness and joy. I have used it several times in my design work in the past and I can never get sick of it. Shown here are coin purses and photo frames (incidentally, when one of my BFFs was about to get married a couple years ago, I picked up the same exact photo frame you see above and mailed it all the way to NYC as a pre-wedding gift).

Double Happiness Plastic-coated Tote. I think one of the reasons why I love the Double Happiness motif (or word itself, actually) is the geometric symmetry. If you look closely, squint a bit and exercise some imagination, the character looks like it’s made up of two people holding hands under a roof… Yes? No? :P

We still get to see these Infinity Print around, especially in our dinnerware. I think in NY Chinatown, they still serve steamed fish or ginger scallion lobster on large oval platters bearing this motif.

I love how the Infinity Print has been reinterpreted as table cloths, placemats and even toilet roll holder!

THIS, however, is something that I am coveting. Goods of Desire has Infinity Print iPhone cover! The juxtaposition of old and new is very prominent. Super crazy mad cool ching chong-ness, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! :) :) :)

For many years, my BFFs and I share this joke about the Red White & Blue Immigrant Bag (and how I shop so much whenever I travel to and from NYC, that my suitcases often had to be supplemented by an immigrant bag so that I could stuff all my loots in). I totally swear by the red white blue immigrant bag. It’s one of the FOB-iest but most brilliant inventions everrr, because it’s indestructible, waterproof and you can pack so much into this “carry-all”. I actually feel somewhat sad that you can’t find the original authentic version anymore, they are very useful!

Goods of Desire has made these into more chic-looking bags and incidentally, way more affordable than the Louis Vuitton Tresse bags (launched in 2007) that were so obvi/usly inspired by the immigrant bag and its unmistakable red white blue plaid motif. FYI, in Cantonese these immigrant bags are called 紅白藍袋 which literally translates to “Red White Blue Bag”.

Oh, here’s the Good Morning Towel motif that we all love and adore. I have a post written on this previously, check it out. Shown here as a tissue paper holder and an updated towel version with blue piping.

If you think these are thermal flasks, then you are mistaken. They are Wine Carriers that have been fashioned after thermal flasks. :) They’re padded and all, so your wine stays chilled. Awesome or what??!?

Last but not least, I WANT these Polygon Goldfish print cushions. WANT! WANT! WANT!

Goods of Desire is SO FOB-ilicious! Just wanna clarify, I am very proud to be of Chinese descent and I celebrate these everyday household items that are so commonly found in Asian homes. To me, it’s all about embracing heritage and items like these are seriously awesome. I came across this wonderful article on the art of ordinary Chinese objects, you should readkit.

Quintessentially Hong Kong, Goods Of Desire’s brand name is originally derived from the Cantonese phrase 住好啲 which means “to live better”. In Singapore, the brand is officially represented as “Goods of Desire” to reflect its pioneering of the future lifestyle retail scene with cutting-edge designs that embody the ideal of living better. Goods of Desire is pioneering the future lifestyle retail scene with cutting-edge designs that embody the ideal of living better. And that’s all good in my books.

Cool timelapse video by Anamics Visuals Company.