Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia — May 2017

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF VERY TROUBLED CHILD (2); COURTESY OF NAP LOUNGE (2)

GOODS

Packing

Plumage

Italian style meets

Hong Kong savvy in

Very Troubled Child,

a handmade luxury

luggage brand.

BY SAMANTHA LEESE

THIS FLIGHT OF FANCY

began with a wager. Alberto

Favaretto, a Hong Kong-

based finance lawyer turned

entrepreneur, founded Very

Troubled Child in 2013 after

betting a friend that he could

start a creative business with

as little as HK$10.

He won the gamble by

starting small, making

notebooks and phone covers

to order and leveraging his

access to local factories and

inexpensive materials. Soon

he moved on to bags with a

simple goal: to create “the

best luggage in the world.”

When Very Troubled Child

introduced its signature No. 4

weekender duffel in a tropical

Birds of Feathers pattern

(left) last winter, it sold out in

48 hours. Besides Birds, two

ranges are on sale now—a set

of versatile solids; plus the

Seafarer (right), launched this

March—and all include a

clutch and soft suitcases.

The brand’s charm and

top quality has spread by

word of mouth. “I’m selling a

little dream,” Favaretto says

in an apt description for a

company named after an

invention of the master of

whimsy, Wes Anderson,

whose aesthetic informs

many of the bags’ designs.

The book Coping with the Very

Troubled Child features in

Moonrise Kingdom, one of

Favaretto’s favorite films. The

energetic Italian has quit his

job in derivatives to keep up

with the demand for bespoke

style and handcraftsmanship.

Each product is made to

order with Argentinian

leather and has an emerald

green cotton lining. The bags

are hand-painted by master

artisans in Hong Kong, and

new designs are due later this

year. verytroubledchild.com;

signature weekenders from

US$499, ships worldwide.

SAVE THE AFTER-DARK hours in Hong Kong for

drinking and dancing; it is the hot midday that’s perfect

for snoozing. Enter Nap Lounge, a new concept with

outlets in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai that

offer serious solace from a city that doesn’t know the

meaning of winding down. Taking inspiration from

airport lounges, spas and hotels, the concept was

dreamed up by local hotelier David Lau, who runs Popway Hotel, with

lounges broken into business and first class cabins.

Each pod has space for one guest, and the slightly roomier first-class

cabins have on-call refreshments. Available in 15-minute slots, all cabins

have ergonomically designed nap chairs draped with sheets and blankets

to snuggle under, relaxing music, free Wi-Fi, magazines, newspapers,

chargers, slippers and a toothbrush.

While you lounge about or grab some shut-eye, staff can screen your

calls before you’re ready to emerge from your private pod, refreshed and

ready to take on the city’s teeming streets once more. naplounge.com.hk;

from HK$40 for 15 minutes.

NOTICED

Sleep and the City

Expert napper Helen Dalley uncovers Hong

Kong’s dreamiest new trend.

Nap Lounge.

TOP RIGHT: David Lau.

TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM / MAY 2017 11