Adam Huxley-Khng & Jimin Jeon
Purse (18th century) from the V&A collections, T.267-1968, courtesy of V&A East.
Adam Huxley-Khng and Jimin Jeon’s fellowship project centres on research into garment fasteners such as buttons, frog closures, and zips, with a curiosity about their future innovation and development. The fellows see fasteners as technologies that are more than just functional mechanisms or decorative details – they have defined the architecture and form of clothing from pre-history to the present. Their origin can be traced across continents, and their materiality a reflection of cultural origin, from carved horn buttons to die-cast stainless steel zips. Through visit Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and China more widely, the fellowship research delves into China’s key role in the early development of distinct typologies of fastener such as frog closures and knot buttons, the mass-manufacture of standardised fasteners, and recently in the technologies behind distinctly fastener-less clothing.
Adam Huxley-Khng and Jimin Jeon’s fellowship project centres on research into garment fasteners such as buttons, frog closures, and zips, with a curiosity about their future innovation and development. The fellows see fasteners as technologies that are more than just functional mechanisms or decorative details – they have defined the architecture and form of clothing from pre-history to the present. Their origin can be traced across continents, and their materiality a reflection of cultural origin, from carved horn buttons to die-cast stainless steel zips. Through visit Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and China more widely, the fellowship research delves into China’s key role in the early development of distinct typologies of fastener such as frog closures and knot buttons, the mass-manufacture of standardised fasteners, and recently in the technologies behind distinctly fastener-less clothing.
- 2025
- Grantee: Adam Huxley-Khng and Jimin Jeon
Adam Huxley-Khng and Jimin Jeon’s collaborative and emerging practice centres on industrial design, driven by a shared interest in contemporary material culture and changing technological landscapes. They first worked together in Tokyo in 2019. Prior to working together Jimin was a designer and researcher at Sony. She studied industrial design in Korea, the UK, and Switzerland, and has worked at studios in Tokyo and London. Adam was previously an industrial design consultant at Pentagram, and has worked at design offices in London, Stockholm, and Tokyo. Their current projects focus on industrial design and development, based on cultural and technological research, with projects in the UK and East Asia.
Design Trust Fellowship at V&A East awards creative practitioners funding to engage in research at V&A East Storehouse, fieldwork in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area and China where appropriate, and to produce a new creative work, which will be displayed at V&A East for a six-month duration. The inaugural V&A East Design Trust Fellowship will begin in Autumn 2025, culminating in a commissioned work on display in Autumn 2026 through Spring 2027.