Singapore furniture and lifestyle brand Scene Shang has teamed with a tattoo artist, an indie design studio and a fashion label to develop new ranges.

The first creation from the new outside-the-box approach is a Koi Gate Bench made from elmwood and featuring images of a lotus leaf and koi on leather upholstery.

The pattern was designed by tattooist Joseph Siow of Visual Orgasm in Haji Lane and the bench made its debut at last week’s SingaPlural.

It is not the first collaboration for Siow, who has worked with Fred Perry in the past, and advertising agencies. But it is the first furniture design he has worked on – something he describes as “rare and challenging”.

“Over the years, tattoos have gained popularity. People now see it as an art form and big brands, especially fashion ones, want to collaborate with tattoo artists,” he said in an interview.

Scene Shang also worked with fashion brand In Good Company on a range of porcelain rice bowls and with design house Forest & Whale which created a Chinese chess set with brass pieces.