District Eight
District Eight is a Vietnamese furniture brand, founded in April 2010 by Darren Chew in Sài Gòn (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). The name refers to District 8 of the city, where the first factory and office were established. The founding story begins with the café L'Usine: Darren Chew opened this lifestyle café in 2010 in a historic, then-derelict ballroom from the French colonial era. The renovation project led to the idea of not only preserving and restoring such spaces, but furnishing them with a custom industrial furniture collection complementing their aesthetics. From this impulse District Eight Design emerged — initially as an interior designer and furniture creator for bars, cafés and offices in Sài Gòn, then rapidly as an internationally positioned design brand. Company structure: independent company, registered in Vietnam. Own woodwork factory, metal workshop and upholstery department. Production with European and American timber. HQ and production: E4/52, 1A Highway, Binh Tri Dong B Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City. Distribution: distributors in North America, Europe, Scandinavia; accounts in Cambodia, South Korea, India, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, UAE.
Design philosophy and collaborations: District Eight bridges Vietnamese heritage and global design through contemporary furniture — quiet strength, bold simplicity, timeless elegance. The in-house studio (D8 Studio) develops own collections; additionally collaborations exist with international designers: Michele De Lucchi, Jean-Marie Massaud, Toan Nguyen (first designer collection with European sensibility), Adam Goodrum, Monica Forster, Ina Rinderknecht, studioutte. Selected products and collections: Stilt sofa and Joss armchair (inspired by Southeast Asian stilt architecture), Games Collection / DINH Edition (inspired by Nôm calligraphy, sculptural forms), Knot Dining Chair (Design Anthology Awards 2024, Knot Table), Faifo tables (named after the city Hội An/Faifo — table as place of shared meals, wing leg system), Limen collection (studioutte — tables based on a portal shape reduced to its purest form), Dinh Foosball (sculptural foosball table). Regular participation at the Salone del Mobile, Milan.
For architects and interior designers seeking an Asian furniture label for international hospitality, residential and office projects — bridging Vietnamese craftsmanship with international designer expertise from De Lucchi to Massaud, maintaining own production capacities for wood, metal and upholstery in Vietnam, and documenting a verified design ambition with the Design Anthology Award 2024 — District Eight is the most precise address from Ho Chi Minh City: a house that reached the global design scene from inside a colonial ballroom.
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District Eight
District Eight is a Vietnamese furniture brand, founded in April 2010 by Darren Chew in Sài Gòn (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). The name refers to District 8 of the city, where the first factory and office were established. The founding story begins with the café L'Usine: Darren Chew opened this lifestyle café in 2010 in a historic, then-derelict ballroom from the French colonial era. The renovation project led to the idea of not only preserving and restoring such spaces, but furnishing them with a custom industrial furniture collection complementing their aesthetics. From this impulse District Eight Design emerged — initially as an interior designer and furniture creator for bars, cafés and offices in Sài Gòn, then rapidly as an internationally positioned design brand. Company structure: independent company, registered in Vietnam. Own woodwork factory, metal workshop and upholstery department. Production with European and American timber. HQ and production: E4/52, 1A Highway, Binh Tri Dong B Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City. Distribution: distributors in North America, Europe, Scandinavia; accounts in Cambodia, South Korea, India, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, UAE.
Design philosophy and collaborations: District Eight bridges Vietnamese heritage and global design through contemporary furniture — quiet strength, bold simplicity, timeless elegance. The in-house studio (D8 Studio) develops own collections; additionally collaborations exist with international designers: Michele De Lucchi, Jean-Marie Massaud, Toan Nguyen (first designer collection with European sensibility), Adam Goodrum, Monica Forster, Ina Rinderknecht, studioutte. Selected products and collections: Stilt sofa and Joss armchair (inspired by Southeast Asian stilt architecture), Games Collection / DINH Edition (inspired by Nôm calligraphy, sculptural forms), Knot Dining Chair (Design Anthology Awards 2024, Knot Table), Faifo tables (named after the city Hội An/Faifo — table as place of shared meals, wing leg system), Limen collection (studioutte — tables based on a portal shape reduced to its purest form), Dinh Foosball (sculptural foosball table). Regular participation at the Salone del Mobile, Milan.
For architects and interior designers seeking an Asian furniture label for international hospitality, residential and office projects — bridging Vietnamese craftsmanship with international designer expertise from De Lucchi to Massaud, maintaining own production capacities for wood, metal and upholstery in Vietnam, and documenting a verified design ambition with the Design Anthology Award 2024 — District Eight is the most precise address from Ho Chi Minh City: a house that reached the global design scene from inside a colonial ballroom.