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Design Milk’s Friday Five profile features San Francisco-based designer Jiun Ho and three objects he created for Unbound, a limited-edition capsule collection that debuted in September 2026. Ho says the designs draw on the Yuanyang rice terraces, Japanese kintsugi and the symbolism of the number eight.
Design Milk’s Friday Five profile features San Francisco-based designer Jiun Ho discussing three objects he made for Unbound, a limited-edition collection that debuted in September 2026. Ho links the YuanYang side table, Whisper pendant and Forma pendant to experiences and ideas drawn from his travels and cultural references.
Ho invited four designers to take part in Unbound: Francis Nicdao of Pembrooke & Ives, James Hunter of The Wiseman Group, Jamie Drake and Nicole Fuller. The brief limited each one-of-a-kind object to 36 inches in each dimension and asked designers to incorporate a specialty, such as furniture, lighting or textiles, alongside either hand-painted wallpaper or cloisonné by creative partner Lala Curio.
Ho made three objects for the collection. The YuanYang side table takes its stepped form from the rice terraces of Yuanyang County in China’s Yunnan province. Ho describes its cinnamon-bronze metal finish and cloisonné-covered steps as references to the terraces and the patterns of fields catching light.
The Whisper pendant draws on the shape of a silkworm cocoon and the Japanese repair art of kintsugi. Ho says handmade washi paper was torn, reassembled and traced with gold leaf to evoke repaired pottery. The Forma pendant uses the number eight as its starting point: Ho connects its associations with good fortune in Chinese culture to the infinity symbol formed when the number is turned sideways. Its shade is painted with gold and silver leaf.
How Travel Shapes Ho’s Objects
The profile shows how Ho translates specific references into materials, form and decoration, rather than treating travel as a general source of inspiration. The terraces inform the YuanYang table’s stepped edges; the cocoon and kintsugi inform the Whisper pendant’s shape and surface; and the number eight informs Forma’s concept.
That approach also helps explain the collection’s focus on customization and craft. Ho said the project was intended to show what the designers could make and how far they could take customization when collaborators supported one another’s ideas. For readers interested in design, the examples provide a direct account of how a designer’s reference points become finished objects.
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From Kuala Lumpur to Global Design
Ho recalls growing up in a lower-middle-class family in rural Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s, with limited exposure to art and architecture. His first trip outside Malaysia was to Japan at age nine. He told Design Milk that the buildings, craftsmanship and sense of history made a lasting impression. He says he has since visited 135 countries and continues to find ideas in travel.
His career has included work across residential, hospitality and restaurant interiors, as well as furniture, lighting and textiles. Ho identifies the interiors of Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Twin Towers, designed by architect César Pelli, as a major project with personal significance. A Taipei apartment project about 26 years ago led to furniture design: after the client requested original pieces, Ho presented 35 watercolor sketches, and the client asked for every design to be produced.
Unbound continues that mix of interiors and product design through a small collaborative collection. The source describes the objects as one-of-a-kind and the capsule as limited edition, but does not provide production quantities or sales details.
“I’d rather design something I’ve actually lived than something I saw in a magazine.”
— Jiun Ho, speaking to Design Milk
Collection Details Not Provided
The supplied profile does not state how many pieces will be made, where the objects can be purchased, their prices or whether they will be available beyond the initial release. It also does not specify the profile’s publication date, although it says the collection debuted in September 2026. The article presents Ho’s explanations of his designs; it does not report independent assessments of the objects or sales results.
Availability and Release Information
The collection’s stated debut was September 2026. The source gives no further release schedule or sales information, so availability, pricing and any later exhibitions or production plans remain unreported. Readers seeking purchase details would need information from Ho’s studio or the collection’s retail partners; no such details are included in the profile.
Key Questions
What is Unbound?
Unbound is a limited-edition capsule collection that debuted in September 2026. It brought together Jiun Ho and four invited designers to create one-of-a-kind objects under a shared size limit and craft brief.
Which designers collaborated with Jiun Ho?
The profile names Francis Nicdao of Pembrooke & Ives, James Hunter of The Wiseman Group, Jamie Drake and Nicole Fuller.
What inspired Ho’s three objects?
The YuanYang side table references China’s Yuanyang rice terraces. The Whisper pendant draws on a silkworm cocoon and kintsugi, while the Forma pendant refers to the number eight and its associations with good fortune and infinity.
Where can readers buy the collection, and what does it cost?
The profile does not provide retail locations, availability or prices. It describes the collection as limited edition but gives no production quantities or purchasing information.
Source: design-milk.com
