nana & bird

Tucked away down one of Huaihai Lu's discrete, hidden lanes, a new and utterly charming store has just set up shop. Both unexpected and tiny, what it lacks by way of space it more than makes up for with a veritable treasure trove of gorgeous – not to mention affordable – accessories, trinkets and other creative offerings. To take home any of these delightful pieces, though, you'll have to be quick: building on the pop-up model so successful in the brand's native Singapore, nana & bird is flying into Shanghai for just six, short months.

Sandwiched between collections by designers He Yan and Rachelle Jim, nana & bird's space is minuscule, feeling more akin to a porch than a shop. Co-founder Chiewling Tan explains the thinking behind the trio, collectively calling themselves GOODS: "Rachelle found the space, and the plan is that the middle part be dedicated to pop ups and really quite organic in approach. We'll be here for 6 months or so, not long, and after that the plan is they get new designers to come in – whether to turn it into a gallery, another shop... anything – it's kind of an experiment!"





With nana & bird, the space is starting strongly. Set up by Chiewling and business partner, Georgina Koh a little over a year ago, the pop-up represents something of a lifelong dream for the childhood friends. "We met when we were 16 and both loved shopping as well as making things", recalls Chiewling. "Throughout university and college we'd make stuff to sell at flea markets: jewelery and also some clothes. We've always felt that we should do something together, and I suppose always known that we have the capacity to do it – but I've been in Shanghai for the past six years and she's in Singapore. Early last year when I went back I just said, why don't we do something about it? Let's start something! The name we chose actually comes from our high school nicknames – I was bird, she's nana!"

From its early days, nana & bird has gone about its business that little bit differently: itinerant, it has no fixed abode and instead pops up monthly at different locations in Tiong Bahru, Singapore – shopping malls, beauticians, even Koh's home have all hosted the brand. The pair clearly enjoy what they do – all the more so, perhaps, because it's not either of their full-time jobs; rather, it's a sort of creative outlet, a very successful craftsy hobby, if you will – although plans are afoot for a permanent base soon.





"nana & bird is about two friends sharing their passion with like-minded souls", Georgina explains. "We believe in carefully curating what we stock, and we will never sell anything that we would not otherwise buy ourselves. At the same time, we wanted to experiment with a different retail concept, rather than a brick and mortar business from the beginning, as it gives us the flexibility of time and lends an interesting 'always new' angle to our shoppers. Popping up in different locations allows us to play around with different product mix, themes each month, also expanding our clientele base as we 'travel' around"

Perhaps the most striking pieces currently in store are Georgina and Chiewling's 'Made by hand' series – all hand-crafted by the dynamic duo and gloriously unique, these one-off gems make quite the statement. "The range is a lot about finding interesting pieces and putting them together", explains Chiewling. "Lots of the objects are from markets – there's some great ones in Singapore and I love London's Portobello. We always have new stock coming in because we're always making... we're like little elves!"





A particularly dazzling selection of necklaces is made from pieces of 1940s and 50s costume jewelery, transformed through unexpected settings: a pair of otherwise gaudy clip-on earrings gets a new lease of life as a necklace, for example, whilst bow ties get dressed up with lace overlays and semi-precious stones. "We test drive the pieces first on ourselves" explains Georgina. "We knew we have something good going when our friends got very excited about the necklaces when we wore them!"

Other ranges include beautiful pieces of silver – all organic shapes, whispering natural forms of coral and lily pads, the series is the result of a collaboration with a Thailand-based artist. Another features gorgeously quirky teapot necklaces, silhouette rings and winged torques, their material – brass – as unusual as their delightfully playful subject matter.

Artists are carefully selected, almost curated, by Georgina and Chiewling, with a strong emphasis on both quality and uniqueness: "We're always on the look out for collaborators", enthuses Georgina. "One important criteria is we share the same aesthetics with the designers and directions of how we want the collaboration to evolve. I'd love to work with craftsman. Being in Singapore, where its tough to find specialized leather smiths, shoe markers, and so on, I value the pleasure of learning how something is made from scratch, by hand, instead of cookie cutter production lines."





Looking to the future, the pair have plans for permanent Singapore space, slated to open in the next few week and appropriately named casa di nana & bird. "We're incredibly lucky to have found the Singapore space, and great partners to share it with to create a co-op concept combining design, fashion and art, explains Georgina. "Everything will be modular so we can switch out themes, or feature different designers each time, such that we still continue to stay true to our 'never the same, always something fresh' approach of our pop-ups".

"We'll still maintain the idea of popping up in different spaces in different countries, including Singapore", assures Chiewling. "Shanghai is one of those – a pop up, just one of slightly longer duration than normal perhaps. This is the first time we've popped up internationally, and it's something we really want to do more. We have connections with both New York and London, so we'll see..!"

As if the concept and content weren't creative enough, wall space of the Shanghai shop is being used to showcase works by local artists – this month, it's photographer Matthieu Belin, adding another layer of talent to this gem of a store. Be sure to pop by the pop-up soon – not only are there some beautiful, not to mention dangerously tempting, accessories on offer; it's also an interesting model and one with exciting potential. For more details, check SmartShanghai's listing here.

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nana & bird, 1417 Huaihai Lu, near Fuxing Lu
Open weekends only; 12pm-7pm