Our regular Interiors features take a look through the keyhole into the homes and businesses of some of Shanghai's well known faces.
She’s from Austria, and he’s from northern China. A serendipitous encounter in Shanghai brought these two fashion industry professionals together.
“I traveled a lot as a child because my father is a writer, and my parents always took us along on their trips,” says Kira Tegetthoff. “So, I’ve always wanted to study and work in a field that has an international focus.” Besides her home country, she’s also lived in Argentina, Spain, Germany and the US, and Shanghai has been the well-traveled young woman’s home since 2014 – the year she met her fiancé Rock Liu.
Having spent a year in Shanghai as part of her university’s study abroad program Tegetthoff fell in love with the city and had always wanted to return. After two years working in Berlin for a company that organizes Fashion Weeks around the globe, she did just that. She purchased a one-way ticket to Shanghai and didn’t look back.
“It was a life-changing moment,” she says, recalling the day she met Liu – who also works in the fashion industry – just a few months after she landed. “It became clear to me that I wanted to stay.” Things moved really fast for the couple. They moved in together two months after their first date, and it’s been almost a year since they’ve been in their current flat.
They’re also avid readers of That’s Shanghai, and the winners of a contest we ran with air purifier company Mila (WeChat ID: Milaliving), where the prize was a two-year subscription plan. Here’s a look inside the couple’s love nest.
Engaged last year, Liu and Tegetthoff are now busy making preparations for their wedding ceremonies in both Austria and Beijing next year.
When Liu and Tegetthoff first moved in, the only piece of furniture in the apartment was the white couch. Over the past year, the couple have slowly decorated their place with things they found in antique shops in Shanghai and Beijing, Taobao, IKEA and second hand items from expats who are moving away. Liu says, “It was mostly Kira [who did the decorations]; we now have more stuff than the previous tenants with three kids!
Tegetthoff’s love of travel is prominently displayed at her home. Mementos from her trips to Indonesia, Brazil and Africa share space with photos of loved ones on a small shelf in the living room.
Compared to their previous apartment on Yongjia Lu, the couple prefers their current neighborhood near Jiaotong University for how quiet it is. “When it’s not too hot, we can sleep with the windows open and we don’t hear anything except for the sounds of birds chirping in the morning,” Tegetthoff tells us.
On the second floor of the apartment is a guestroom, and the couple uses it as a TV room when they don’t have visitors.
The spacious rooftop terrace is their favorite spot in the house, where they often host barbecue parties with friends. It also holds a special meaning for them, as this is the place where Liu proposed to Tegetthoff last year. “The entire terrace was covered with candles, and Brad Turley from Goga came over to cook us a 12-course dinner,” Tegetthoff says. “I’m always going to be attached to this apartment because of that.”
Photos by Mario Grey
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