Transboundary Thinking With Experience & Affection Design With Soul

i-baby Exclusive Interview on The Founder of Mima in Spain

前言：2009年，優(yōu)先款mima xari（寶貝行宮）童車問世，人們驚呆了，因為他們優(yōu)先次看到一款全白色的童車。很快，xari成了時尚的代名詞，受到無數(shù)辣媽追捧，風靡全球。2012年，mima品牌由i-baby引入，迅速刮起一股“白色旋風”。近日，借著xari“玫瑰金版”上市之機，mima品牌創(chuàng)始人之一Davy Kho接受了i-baby的專訪。他的回答，未必都按提問的思路來，但全是肺腑之言，充分彰顯了一名設計師的個性。

Premise: Mima xari was showed for the first time in 2009, everyone was shocked because they first saw only showed white strollers. Soon, xari became synonymous with fashion, alsogainedinpopularity by numerous hot mama and spread around the world. In 2012, theintroductionofmima brand to China by I-baby and quickly to blow a "white whirlwind".Recently, through the chance of xari "rose-golden" released, Davy Kho who is one of the founders of mima brand accepted I- baby an exclusive interview. His answer that not all according to the thinking of questions, but what he said were all words from the depths of his heart. That fully demonstrated a designer's personality.

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i-baby: Mr. Kho，經(jīng)常有人提到“前衛(wèi)”這個詞，用來形容mima xari童車。作為xari之父，您賦予這個孩子哪些特質(zhì)，讓他顯得這樣前衛(wèi)，這樣與眾不同？

i-baby: Mr. Kho, we always use the word "avant-garde" to describe Mima xari stroller. He looks so avant-garde. As the father of xari, can you tell me how did you make it, he seems so special.

Mr. Kho：在我的職業(yè)生涯中，我設計了許多不同種類的產(chǎn)品，從公用電話、廚房設備到飛機內(nèi)飾、嬰兒產(chǎn)品。對每一個新項目，我都會試著不去看競爭品牌的產(chǎn)品。當我在設計xari童車時，我就沒有關注市場上的其他嬰兒車。相反，我試圖從其他行業(yè)里找靈感，比如：汽車業(yè)、自行車業(yè)、箱包業(yè)和運動鞋業(yè)。我一直運用這種方法來實現(xiàn)創(chuàng)立的設計，與此同時，始終把消費者放在腦海中來重新思考產(chǎn)品。

Mr. Kho：During my career I have designed many different kinds of product, ranging from public telephones and kitchen gadgets to airplane interiors and baby products. For each new project I try not to look at competitive products. For example, when I was designing xari I did not pay attention that much to other strollers on the markets. Instead I tried to get inspiration by investigating other industries, like the car industry, bicycle industry, luggage industry, sports shoe industry. This is my way to come up with innovative designs, and at the same time to rethink the product, always keeping the end-user in mind.

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i-baby：您的兩個孩子給您的設計帶來哪些靈感？有沒有一些特別的故事或者細節(jié)，讓您回想起來感覺特別溫馨？

i-baby：What kind of designable inspiration is from your two children Do you have some special stories and details which are pretty sweet when you remind it

Mr. Kho：我們的兩個兒子已經(jīng)長大了，一個13歲，一個15歲，但我清楚地記得，作為年輕的父母有多么困難。缺乏照顧孩子的經(jīng)驗，身邊也沒有其他人可以幫助我們，因為太太和我都離各自父母的家庭很遠。當時困難的是，我們根本沒有足夠的錢去請一位保姆。所以，毫不夸張地說，我們自己帶大了孩子，特別是我太太。這無疑給了我們靈感去創(chuàng)建mima品牌。我記得很清楚，那時候我們的嬰兒車很容易臟，讓嬰兒車看起來特別廉價。這啟發(fā)了我去尋找其他材料，就像我們在mima座椅部分運用的人造皮革材料。這種材料非常容易清潔，而且表面光滑，看起來就像一輛真正的豪車所擁有的座椅。

Mr. Kho：Our two sons are big already (13 and 15 years old), but I remember well how difficult it was, to be young parents. Without experience in raising kids, and nobody around to help us, as both my wife and I were living far from each others families. On top of that we didnt have enough money for a babysitter. So we can genuinely say that we have raised our kids all by ourselves (especially my wife of course). This has definitely given us the inspiration to build mima to where it is today. I remember well that our stroller got dirty so incredibly easy, which made it look really cheap. This had inspired me to look for other materials, like the leatherette material, which we use for the xari seat unit. This material is so easy to clean and the smooth surface makes the stroller truly look like the seat of an expensive car.

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i-baby：您的經(jīng)歷非常特別：出生與成長在不同的國度，后來又在歐洲不同工作過。這樣的經(jīng)歷一定會對您的設計產(chǎn)生某些影響，您自己怎么看？

i-baby：Your experience is very special: you were born and grown up in different countries, and worked in different European countries later. These experiences are certainly having some impacts on your design. How do you think about it

Mr. Kho：雖然我出生在印尼，父母來自，但是我在荷蘭長大，也在那里學習了設計。在世界設計之都-意大利米蘭，我開始了作為一名設計師的工作。在荷蘭我學會了分析和理性思考，在意大利我學會了用心去思考、去設計。這些經(jīng)歷，加上在巴黎、舊金山和西班牙的多年工作，共同塑造了今天作為一名設計師的我。我覺得，我是一名全球化的設計師，能夠在設計中很好地平衡感性與理性的微妙關系。

Mr. Kho：Even though I was born in Indonesia (from Chinese parents) I grew up in Holland and had my design education there. However I started working as a designer in Milano (Italy), the design capital of the world. In Holland I was taught to analyse and think rational. In Italy I was taught to think and design with the heart. This, together with the many years of working in Paris, San Franciso and Spain, has shaped me as the designer I am today. I see myself as a global designer with a delicate balance between emotional and rational design.

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i-baby：現(xiàn)在，跨界設計是非常流行的一個趨勢。蘋果請來LV的設計師設計i-Watch。在，大明星章子怡也開始了自己的服裝設計。在您看來，您自己是否也屬于跨界設計的一員？在時尚界的經(jīng)歷，給您的設計帶來了哪些影響？

i-baby：Now, transboundary design is a very popular trend. Apple invited the LV designer to design I-Watch. In China, a famous star ZIYI ZHANG also started design her own clothing brand. In your opinion, are you one of the members of transboundary design Do you have some designable impacts by the fashionable experiences

Mr. Kho：無論你是一名建筑師，音樂家，雕塑家，時裝設計師，還是一名產(chǎn)品設計師，我相信，創(chuàng)造的過程都是相同的。我們有一個共同的使命：創(chuàng)建一座建筑，一首歌曲，一件雕塑，一件衣服，一個產(chǎn)品，以某種方式觸動人們的感情去使用它們。在我的職業(yè)生涯中，仍然有很多東西想去設計，汽車、酒店甚至火車。也許有一天，我會有機會跨越這些界限并不分明的“邊界”。

Mr. Kho：Whether you are an architect, a musician, a sculptor, a fashion designer, or a product designer, I believe the creative process is the same. We have a common mission: to create a building, a song, a sculpture, a dress or a product that somehow touches the emotions of people that use them.

I have a whole list of things I would still like to design in my career, like a car, a hotel or even a train. Lets see if I will have the opportunity one day to cross those loose “boundaries”.

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i-baby：當初，您和夫人Yolanda是怎么決定一起開創(chuàng)MIMA這個品牌的？Artofdesign和Fashiondesign是兩個領域的，你們卻能很好地合作，能不能和我們分享一下你們在合作上的故事呢？

i-baby：At the beginning, how did you decided to work with your wife to create Mima Art of design and Fashion design are two different fields, but you able to cooperate well. Can you share with us your story on cooperation it.

Mr. Kho：我和我太太合得來不僅在愛情上，還在工作上。兩個有創(chuàng)造力的人一起生活和工作，往往是一個挑戰(zhàn)，因為我們都很固執(zhí)。但是現(xiàn)在，我們知道彼此在設計方面的長處，我們也非常欣賞對方的專業(yè)技術。在嬰兒產(chǎn)品上，正確地選擇面料、顏色、材料和配件是至關重要的，沒有我太太在時尚方面的意見，xari的產(chǎn)品就不會像現(xiàn)在這樣。

Mr. Kho：Somehow my wife and I clicked not only in love but also in work. Two creative people living and working together is often a challenge, as we are both very stubborn. But now we know what each other strengths are in terms of design, and our skillsets are very complimentary. With baby products, the right choice of fabrics, colours, materials, and accessories is crucial. Without my wife as a fashion designer, xari wouldnt be the product it is now.

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i-baby：能否向我們介紹一下，歐洲的嬰童用品設計當前有哪些新的趨勢？您是否了解的嬰童市場？根據(jù)您的經(jīng)驗，對年輕的設計師，您能給他們提供一些工作上的建議嗎？

i-baby：Could you introduce the new trends of baby products design in Europe currently Do you know the baby market in China Based on your experience, could you give the young Chinese designers some advice on work

Mr. Kho：因為我不會看嬰兒行業(yè)的其他產(chǎn)品，所以老實說，我并不知道嬰兒產(chǎn)品設計的新趨勢。通常，我做我自己的設計，并試圖建立趨勢而不是跟隨趨勢。2009年，當我們的xari童車展示時，這個行業(yè)中的每一個人都為此而震驚，因為，我們展示了一款完全白色的嬰兒車。而在今天，你在街上看到一款完全白色的推車，已經(jīng)不會再感到多么奇怪了。

我給年輕的設計師兩點建議：1、當你開始一個新的設計，不要去看現(xiàn)有的產(chǎn)品，而要首先試著在概念上如何定義這個設計。例如，你要構(gòu)想如何更方便地攜帶一名嬰兒，而不是構(gòu)想如何設計一個推車。2、作為一名設計師，必須要把自己完全看作你所設計的產(chǎn)品的顧客。無論你設計的產(chǎn)品是給一個2歲的日本男孩、30歲的美國女人，還是90歲的法國人。感同身受，是一名設計師重要的品質(zhì)之一。

Mr. Kho：As explained before I tend not to look at other products within the baby industry, so honestly I dont know about new trends for baby product design. I usually do my own thing when designing products, and try to set trends instead of following them. When we showed xari for the first time in 2009, we shocked everyone in the industry because we only showed white strollers. Today its not so strange anymore to see a completely white stroller on the street.

Two pieces of advice for young Chinese designers:

1.When working on a new design project, dont look at existing products, but try to conceptualize the project first. For example, instead of designing a stroller, think of concepts on how to transport a baby easily.

2.As a designer you have to be able to put yourself exactly in the shoes of the person you are designing the product for. It does not matter, whether you are designing a product for a 2-year Japanese old boy, a 30-year old American women, or a 90-year old French man. Empathy is one of the most important qualities for a designer to develop.

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i-baby：根據(jù)較新一項數(shù)據(jù)調(diào)查顯示，在較受歡迎的排名前十的高端童車品牌中，mima目前排在第三位，上升速度非常快。優(yōu)先位是stokke，第二位是bugaboo。您能闡述一下mima和stokke、bugaboo的不同之處嗎？能否請您展望一下mima與i-baby的合作前景？在不久的將來，mima還將給大家?guī)砟男@喜？

i-baby:A recent survey data shows that Mima is ranked the third on the top ten most popular high-end stroller brands that rise very fast. In this survey data, Stokke is ranked first and Bugaboo is ranked second. Can you explain the differences of Mima, Stokke and Bugaboo Can you look into the future prospects for cooperation with I-baby In the near future, what surprise will Mima will give us

Mr. Kho：和這兩個品牌相比，mima太年輕了。我們僅僅開始了4年而已！買一臺高端嬰兒車，就像買車一樣，無論你決定購買的是Mini Cooper還是捷豹，這一切都取決于你怎么定義你自己，怎么定義它。如果你愛上這輛車，他就會成為你性格的一部分。我相信這與mima是相同的。對很多人來說，購買mima往往是一見鐘情。這就是我所說的“情感設計”的力量。

我希望mima和i-baby將有一個時間久而富爭取達成目標的合作。我期待和i-baby更密切地合作，共同在市場開發(fā)產(chǎn)品。我非常好奇地想看看，在5年之內(nèi)，mima和i-baby將共同發(fā)展到怎樣的高度。這是一件非常棒的事情!

我們正在開發(fā)一些嶄新的產(chǎn)品，遺憾的是，我還不能透露任何細節(jié)。請大家耐心期待吧…

Mr. Kho:Compared to these two other brands mima is so small. We only started 4 years ago! To me buying a high-end stroller is like buying a car. Whether you decide to buy a Mini Cooper or a Jaguar, it all depends on if you identify yourself with it. You basically fall in love with the car, and it becomes part of your personality.

I believe this to be the same with mima. For many people that have bought mima its often a case of love at first sight. This is the power of what I call “emotional design”.

Im hoping that we can have a very long and fruitful collaboration with I-baby. I am looking forward to working closer with I-baby and possibly develop products together for the Chinese market. I am very curious to see where both our companies will be within 5 years from now. It will be good!

We are currently working on some new products, but unfortunately I cant give away any details. You have to be patient…