We spend our days tapping out messages on plastic keys and reading from glass screens. But our senses were made for something better. They yearn for the cottony surface of quality paper against their fingertips and the aroma of fresh printed ink.
This sentiment is something Deborah Lau-Yu knows well. Lau-Yu is the founder of Palettera, an award-winning design studio which has built a reputation across the country for its expertise and elegance. Originally founded as a bespoke stationery company 15 years ago, Palettera is known today for designing and publishing Fête Chinoise Magazine, as well as producing the annual Fête Chinoise Signature Event.
The name Palettera blends palette, palate, letter and era—colour, taste, letterforms and time. Lau-Yu’s appreciation for handwritten correspondence was instilled by her mother, who stressed the importance of the practice.
“It’s always important to look back to the past and know where our roots are. We need to know the context in which we're creating, something I think is very important in this digital age,” she says.
Palettera’s early work attracted Canadian philanthropists and organizations as clientele, including David Foster, Gina Godfrey, Suzanne Rogers, Sylvia Mantella, the Sick Kids Hospital Foundation, Boost for Kids, the Toronto Fashion Incubator and the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards.
As the portfolio of work grew and Lau-Yu’s design voice strengthened, Palettera produced work for notable corporate clients, including Shangri-La Hotels in Canada and Hong Kong, Holt Renfrew, and The St. Regis Toronto. The company was recognized with a Canadian Marketing Award for its outstanding work with HSBC Bank Canada.
Partway through the journey, Lau-Yu realized that something was still missing—the representation of her culture. Born and raised in Scarborough, she credits her connection to her Chinese heritage and language fluency to her grandmother.
“She taught me a lot about the Cantonese language through our daily conversations, and helped me develop an appreciation for brush calligraphy and practicing characters,” she says. “These were things missing in my work, but more importantly, quality versions of culture and art felt absent in the mainstream presentation of diaspora communities. I wanted to make space for possibility and beauty of our culture to be seen and heard differently, to be relevant and better understood.”
In 2015, she launched the Fête Chinoise Signature Event in partnership with the Shangri-La Hotel Toronto and the inaugural Fête Chinoise Magazine. The platform celebrates modern Chinese culture in contemporary Canada, bridging the long-standing gap between diaspora storytelling and the highest standards of image making and visual design. The magazine has over 12 awards for its excellence in publishing and artistic quality.
In celebrating the Chinese-Canadian narrative in event design, art, and its makers, the annual gala has become a leading world-class event that puts Canada on the map, winning two awards for Best Cultural Event at the BizBash Event Experience Awards and being recognized as Best Event Design at the Canadian Event Awards. It has presented significant artists including Jameson Yap, Biu Kee Mahjong, TiKKa from East, and singers and actors Linda Chung, Tyler Shaw, Alex Porat, and Selena Lee.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, Fête Chinoise continues to pioneer innovative cultural projects, such as Love at Mid-Autumn. Its collector’s edition mooncake gift sets have supported the Markham Stouffville Hospital, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation, Scarborough Health Network, and the SickKids Foundation, with a total of $218,000 donated over the last four years.
This year, the project in support of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s youth education programme and the Chinese Canadian Museum is expanding to include a national colouring and art competition and a community event titled “A Mid-Autumn Night’s Dream” at Remington’s Downtown Markham Pride of Canada Carousel on September 27th.
Lau-Yu often asks audiences to imagine how enriching it would be if every culture that makes Canada so diverse had a beautiful platform of their own to share their untold stories. Especially in such a vibrant and multicultural city as Markham, the work of Fête Chinoise is especially poignant.
“There are many people born here like myself, people who just arrived in our country, or people who have been here for decades,,” she says. “I want Fête Chinoise to make every child of the diaspora feel proud and know they can thrive by leaning into their culture, no matter what point they are at on their personal journey.”
You can learn more about Palettera at palettera.ca and read Fête Chinoise at fetechinoise.ca.
