Empowering women, preserving craft
"Through UNFOLD project, we provide a new vision for the next generation of villagers; helping them to gain pride in their own heritage, also having the potential to increase the village population."
Elaine Ng, GGEF 2017 Eco Innovator Award Winner
Founder, Fabrick Lab
Elaine Yan Ling Ng, also known as the ‘techno fairy’ by Elle Deco, is the founder of THE FABRICK LAB bringing together textiles, electronics, biomimicry, interiors and installations. Elaine is a British Chinese materialologist and a graduate of Central Saint Martins in London where she earned her MA Design in Textile Futures with distinction. She is a TED fellow and is globally recognized, having worked with international design
companies such as Nissan Design Europe and Nokia Design Beijing with multi design awards. Her magical approach towards materials is recognised by some of the best in the field and has proved inspirational to many. ‘The Chinese designer creates materials that move and grow like trees – but faster.’ - Wired UK
Her work has been exhibited at V&A and Science Museum in London, and Textiel Museum, Tilburg, Harbour Front Centre in Toronto, Espace EDF Art Foundation in Paris and Wuhao, Beijing, and Moleskine global galleries.
Her art and design research has been widely featured internationally including Wired UK, Elle Decoration China, Surface Asia, AD Italia, AD China, China Daily, Yazter and Core 77 and many more. Elaine has as well been invited to present at some of the world’s most prestigious conferences including TED, DOIT (Delivering Innovation for Tomorrow) Taiwan, Shape Shifting in New Zealand, as well as Nature Now Symposium, Ctanz, TePaPa Museum 2016.
Her distinctive design approach is continuously being documented in various books including Digital Jacquard Design, Material exploration and Fashion Processes. After achieving her MA in Textiles Futures at Central Saint Martins in London, Elaine went on to work as an Automotive Interior Designer at Nissan Design Europe. Elaine then went on to work in consumer electronics at Nokia Design Beijing where she was a Colour Material Specialist.
Whilst in Beijing she was invited to give a TED Talk, where she spoke about much of innovative material design work. The overwhelmingly positive
response inspired her to develop her own practice further. Thus, founding The Fabrick Lab.
Since founding The Fabrick Lab her greatest achievements have included collaborations and commissions with Studio Arts, Swarvoski, Lane Crawford. The UN/Fold project has been the only ongoing project that started before the conception of The Fabrick Lab. Therefore, to see the transformation from research to product to business and see continuous growth of the project for over four years, remains one of Elaine’s greatest accomplishments. Elaine’s work at The Fabrick Lab has been recognized globally; receiving the Gold Award by Design for Asia, Feature Grant Recipient by Design Trust, Designer of the Future Award by Swarvoski and The Artisan Award by The Mills.
