HONG KONG.- Formerly known as the Nan Fung Textiles factory mills, the three buildings that were revitalized to become ‘The Mills’ were part of the beginning of Nan Fung’s legacy in Hong Kong. As part of Nan Fung Group’s 60th anniversary, the Group announced their plans to transform these buildings into a single coherent complex comprising a business incubator, experiential retail, and a non-profit cultural institution, together called The Mills.

The Group hopes that through this project and its associated initiatives of preserving the history of Hong Kong’s textile industry and the Group’s legacy, The Mills can create a destination where themes of textile and industry are woven into experiences of innovation, culture, and learning, to inspire the next generation.

As Nan Fung Group’s landmark revitalization project, HKD700 million was invested to transform the former Mills 4, 5 and 6. The opening of The Mills is scheduled for December 2018. The project has conserved most of the original structures, and with a total construction area of 264,000 square feet, The Mills is comprised of 3 pillars, The Mills Fabrica, CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) and The Mills Shopfloor:

I. The Mills Fabrica is a business incubator, fund and space/lab. The business incubator component of The Mills Fabrica is a customised program focused on developing techstyle startups. Currently it consists of 9 incubatees including Origami Labs, Goxip and Unspun. As part of its efforts to increase the exposure of the program as well as its incubatees, the team co-organized the Internet of Life Summit as part of StartmeupHK 2018. They will also participate in RISE this summer, Asia’s largest tech conference. The flexible workspace includes facilities such as private offices, a fabrication lab, a media studio, co-working space and shared meeting rooms.

Seeing the gap in funding for global techstyle startups, Fabrica Fund was established in December 2017 as an evergreen VC dedicated to investing in this industry. Investment amounts range from USD100K to USD2M, and priority is given to startups which are connected to Hong Kong. Three major types of businesses are evaluated for investment: 1. improvement in materials/production process/supply chains; 2. new retail models; and 3. wearable products merging technology with design. Nan Fung Group and The Mills believe that the launch of Fabrica Fund can better support and accelerate the growth of leading techstyle startups in the world.

II. Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) was announced in December 2017 by MILL6 Foundation (MILL6), a non-profit arts and cultural organization founded in 2015, with its primary mission to manage and operate CHAT. CHAT is the first art centre of its kind in Hong Kong. The D. H. Chen Foundation is the founding donor and Nan Fung Group is the main donor. Through CHAT’s own curated multi-faceted programmes that include exhibitions and co-learning programmes, it invites visitors to experience the spirit of the innovative legacy of the Hong Kong textile industry and engage in new dialogues and inspirational journeys that interweave contemporary art, design, science, heritage, community and craftsmanship. CHAT has been curating a series of textile related pre-opening programmes before its official opening in Spring 2019, including the collaboration with The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) for a project of co-creating multi-functional aprons with local grocers, which is part of a continuing community co-learning project titled ‘Project Apron’ in Tsuen Wan that has been holding for 3 consecutive years; and also hosting a series of exhibitions exploring textile arts and everyday life.

III. The Mills Shopfloor will become a landmark for hands-on learning and experiential retail. Visitors will be able to participate in various programmes to experience how products are inspired and created, and engage and explore a world of lifestyle, artisan dining, and maker culture. With shop sizes ranging from 100-3,000 square feet, The Mills Shopfloor hopes to become a platform to allow upcoming and established designers, F&B outlets and experience-makers to showcase their products.

“The project was inspired by the desire to reinvent the way we think about development in Hong Kong — to honor our history while building the future. Hong Kong’s textile industry might not boom as it did in the 60s, but the value and spirit remains, such as admiring science and technology, fostering international perspective, quality and restless exploration; these are the elements that fuel up our future.” said Ms Vanessa Cheung, the Managing Director of Nan Fung Development Ltd and the Founder of The Mills.

“In the process of revitalizing The Mills, we pay special attention to conserve meaningful objects and construction parts such as the gate at the entrance, red Chinese signage on the wall, old machines on the production line, the green paint on staircase etc., as they carry 60 years of history of the manufacturing industry in Hong Kong. While preserving the old history, The Mills is striving to become a new platform for techstyle startups, support them with our profession, accumulated experience and well-developed network in the textile industry.” said Ms Vanessa Cheung.