Celebrity Life

Shanyan Fok Koder and Richard Bassett explain how a Hong Kong art entrepreneur joined forces with a former special-forces soldier to launch a health and mental wellbeing app, Mentor360.

"Mental health and mental fitness are universal concerns," says Shanyan Fok Koder. "And regardless of your demographic, social status, your job or your age, it’s something everyone has to deal with."

Shanyan Fok Koder & Richard Bassett on Mental Health App Mentor360

The Mentor360 app dropped on World Mental Health Day in October, the cumulation of the last 20 months of work and conversations (usually across continents over Zoom) between former military man Richard Bassett and worldly art advisor Koder. A month later, I’m sitting with both in a North London café talking over slices of pizza.

Their app, they hope, offers everyone a holistic 360 guide and framework to “finding your formula” for mental and physical wellbeing. It uses a hybrid approach, with a core layer of clinicians and professional Mentors and then celebrity Ambassadors (who’ve publicly shared meaningful life stories) critical for building noise and momentum.

"I’d been in the military for a long time. And there were a couple of incidents in my life that made me want to create something," Bassett, the CEO, explains. "Firstly, it was my father committing suicide. Then my son had a bit of misdirection. And several of my friends in the military had PTSD issues or adjustment disorders."

"The biggest issue is why people wouldn’t come forward and say they’ve got a problem?” he asks.

“Unlike some apps, we’re not trying to get people hooked. Come on to it when you need it”

— Richard Bassett

The answer often lay in culture, lack of education or concerns about privacy that prevent many from seeking help. With that came Bassett’s idea of creating an app that functions as a “non-judgmental toolkit” with content validated by experts – who include coaches, performance psychologists, mental health-specialising nurses and a clinical psychologist.

Basset’s link with Koder came when his best friend, ex-special forces colleague and TV star Jason Fox, sat next to a pregnant Koder at a charity fundraiser for Born (which researches to prevent premature birth) in late 2019. As the pair talked about their passions for mental health and children’s wellbeing, the connection to Bassett’s idea became quickly apparent.

"Foxy told me that I have to meet his friend, Richard, who’s building this app," Koder recalls. "I was always wanting to support things that are very meaningful and close to my heart … and now Jason is actually our key mentor. The partnership between Richard and I was almost like two parts of a jigsaw puzzle come together."

Although some might go to the app for help with stress, trauma or even resources to help with suicidal feelings, Mentor360 is designed specifically as a three-dimensional offering that will also encourage fitness, workouts, performance and meditation or more clinical matters.

"We wanted to maintain the human factor as a constant throughout. So it feels like somebody has given you some advice rather than some process-driven machine learning," Bassett adds.

The co-founders might come from two different worlds, but the unlikely partnership speaks to the ubiquity of the issues at hand. Bassett’s 25-year military career saw him being appointed the first ever Command Sergeant Major within the UK Special Forces military group. "It was at that stage where I was asked if I wanted to run defence,” he says. “At that point, I thought, I’ve kind of had my fill of the military now, it’s time to move on."

Koder meanwhile grew up in Hong Kong and the UK as the daughter of Li Ka-shing’s "right-hand man" Canning Fok, carving out a career in the arts and taking over her family’s impressive collection. As a female art entrepreneur and mother, her challenges would be different.

"When I had the misfortune of losing three babies to miscarriage and dealing with that emotional fallout, it led me to want to support this as a cause," Koder divulges. "If there’d been something like this app available to me, I don’t think I’d have suffered as much as I did emotionally. It’s a topic that’s still very taboo, even in this day and age … and while you eventually find your own community, at the very beginning, you do feel very alone."

Both were clearly driven towards the app through deeply personal experiences. Bassett saw first-hand how soldiers who’d done several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered – his best friend, Fox, had left the forces with PTSD. Perhaps machismo or fear of institutional repercussions meant that the issue was often ignored or hidden in the military – but he hopes that Mentor360’s holistic approach can gently lead people to explore mental fitness alongside physical performance too.

The male-female perspectives of the pair offer a well-rounded, powerful tool. And while the wellness space is already crowded, Mentor360 stands out by being so broad, human-focused and non-prescriptive.

There’s been exciting traction too. Since its launch, the app has been downloaded in more than 176 countries, with the UK, the US and Australia leading. British schools have reached out and it’s one governance board away from being trialled within the National Health Service (NHS), which means added clinical risk management in the app. That has been an important validation, says Bassett, "especially when an institution like that has picked it out from a huge spectrum of apps on the market today."

Covid-19 and lockdowns have helped throw light on mental health, taking the conversation more mainstream. The timeliness has hit home; as Bassett says, “there’s a lot of people now struggling with the transition between Covid and normality”.

Koder tells us that the plan is to serve individuals but also institutions such as the NHS and the military. There’s also the option of “white labelling” it, so the app can be packaged and tailored to certain industries or corporate employees. In the future, might they look more global, with different languages and translations? Absolutely, the pair say, but they’re taking it “slow and steady”. There’s been interest from American corporations and Koder says that she’s keen to push into Asia very soon. Although going truly global might mean translating for languages, cultures and tone, as well as working with diverse psychologists, it remains a future ambition.

Mentor360 may be extra helpful in cultures where mental health is still relatively taboo. As Koder says, "I think, coming from our Asian culture, it speaks volumes to me – so much of our culture is about still performance or hiding a lot of what you’re feeling."

"Unlike some apps,” Bassett adds, "what we’re not trying to do is create a hook or get people hooked. Come on to it when you need it, and if you don’t need it for a while because you’re good, you can just put it away … We’re starting to see those patterns in the trend analysis."

To get a little personal, I ask what works for them individually to keep a healthy mind and body. Bassett’s formula revolves around daily exercise, time with the family, dogs and good sleep – even the occasional glass of wine on the sofa in front of a crackling fireplace. Koder’s happiness hacks centre around motherhood, being content and at peace in her skin, and looking at life with a certain romanticism: "I always love to see the poetry in my day,” she says, "and I think it’s important to just pause throughout the day, check-in and acknowledge that I’ve achieved these things and I should be proud of myself, rather than just rushing on to the next thing."

The post Carine Roitfeld and Adrian Cheng on the Art of Attire appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Carine Roitfeld, the ex-Editor in Chief of French Vogue, and founder of CR Studio, is joining hands with renowned cultural entrepreneur Adrian Cheng to bring couture to Hong Kong. The exhibition, titled Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion, will include some of the most remarkable masterpieces created by Chanel, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Richard Quinn, Dior and more.

Hong Kongers will have a chance to marvel at some of the most iconic couture creations, including the specimens from Roitfeld’s personal collection, starting from the 13th of December.

For decades, Carine Roitfeld has been scouring fashion capitals for true jewels of the couture world, first as the head of Vogue Paris, then as the creative mind behind CR Fashion Book. "Throughout history, editors have used the pages of magazines as a canvas to bring to life fashion's most extraordinary ideas and creations," said Roitfeld. She believes that the exhibition would serve as an example of artistic evolution that defined fashion through the years, and, hopefully, inspire future generations to keep the traditions of high craftsmanship alive.

"Through the understanding of craftsmanship—the transmission of tradition, ideas, and techniques between societies and culture—fashion has been creating deeply collaborative relationships of connection and exchange," said Adrian Cheng, founder of K11 Group. The Savoir-Faire exhibition will not only mark the cultural rejuvenation of Hong Kong but also support the conservation on traditional craftsmanship.

To celebrate the launch of Savoir-Faire, Roitfeld and Cheng will be hosting two independent events in Hong Kong and Paris. On the 10th of December, Roitfeld will host an intimate reception within the lavish ballrooms of Hôtel de Crillon, where her close friends and designers will have a chance to commemorate the occasion. On the same night, Cheng will host a K11 Night opening event at the Victoria Dockside promenade. Connected via a virtual Livestream, both Roitfeld and Cheng will toast to the commencement of the exhibition, cultural exchange and craftsmanship. The Hong Kong event will also include a charity auction, with some of the proceeds donated to K11 Crafts & Guild Foundation and UNESCO.

Savoir-Faire is not the first time Roitfeld and Cheng collaborated. Last year, the two launched a three-part webinar series titled K11 Original Masters that brought together the brilliant minds in the realm of modern arts to showcase century-old artisanship designed for the social media generation.

(Hero image: Chanel FW 2017-18 Haute Couture)

Find out more about Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion here

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Since its opening last year, K11 Musea has transformed the harbourfront landscape and culture.

Masterminded by Adrian Cheng, in collaboration with over 100 creative forces including acclaimed local and international artists, architects, designers and environmentalists, this pioneering cultural-retail destination has fostered community and cross-cultural dialogue by bringing together creativity, culture as well as innovation.

To celebrate its first anniversary, K11 Musea has unveiled an exciting array of new art and cultural happenings over the span of October 9^th to November 8^th. These include a towering nine-metre-tall sculpture called Van Gogh’s Ear by artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, a limited-time showcase of legendary pop artist Keith Haring’s iconic artworks presented by Phillips Auction House in the new K11 Art & Cultural Centre, as well as Spanish artist Javier Calleja’s adorable sculptures and mini-figurines at a special pop-up in Muse Edition.

A special programme of multi-cultural experiences will include screenings of Cheng Ran’s latest short film starting Carina Lau titled Always I Distrust, and The Glorious Heritage, an homage to the rich traditions of Chinese Baibaoqian and Luodian craftsmanship at the Experience Chamber to provide a platform to showcase rare and fast disappearing Chinese traditional craftsmanship.

There will also be live ensemble performances featuring works by three iconic and pioneering minimalist composers Terry Riley, Philip Glass and Michael Nyman throughout four weekends in October.

Adrian Cheng, founder of K11 Group, says, “K11 Musea is a pioneering concept that integrates all forms of culture within retail. It represents a democratisation of culture and serves as a multipurpose platform for sharing valuable content, making it readily available and accessible for our local and global communities. I hope this movement will influence today’s audience to create shared value amongst one another and, together with us, build a wealth of ‘Knowledge Capital’ for the future generations.”

Cheng continues: “As K11 Musea marks its first anniversary this month, I have put together art and cultural experiences by global and local talents that we hope will continue to inspire those who live in or visit Hong Kong. My vision is for K11 Musea to be this city’s art and cultural landmark – as the Silicon Valley of Culture of today and generations to come.”

Throughout the Anniversary month, shoppers can also enjoy an incredible range of fabulous K11 Exclusives rewards. These exciting art and cultural experiences are curated to enrich customers’ daily lives through creativity, culture and innovation.

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CEO of New World Development Adrian Cheng has announced plans to support the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to aid vulnerable children and young people around the world to fight against COVID-19.

Through this charitable initiative, Cheng will donate 500,000 masks to UNICEF that will be distributed to children who are most in need, including those in refugee camps and communities, as well as underequipped medical workers. “With this donation, it is my sincere hope that we will help to galvanise global efforts to protect children and youth, especially those residing in the world’s most vulnerable zones, from COVID-19,” said Cheng. With a presence in 190 countries, UNICEF is committed to delivering assistance to children across the areas affected by COVID-19 and is working with governments, implementing partners and donors to find solutions to logistical and operational constraints to ensure children in need continue to receive humanitarian assistance. By providing a half million medical masks to vulnerable children and young people, Cheng’s contribution looks not only to save lives, but also to support the global containment of the virus and safeguard against its possible resurgence.

"Our ecosystem at New World Development places a great emphasis on education and healthcare, bringing to the forefront the importance of creating shared value across communities worldwide. I hope this donation will play a role in giving youth refugees the health protection they desperately need at this challenging time." - Adrian Cheng

[caption id="attachment_206793" align="alignnone" width="1139"] Adrian Cheng, CEO of New World Development[/caption]

This initiative is the latest of Cheng’s efforts to combat COVID-19 worldwide. Driven by New World Development’s vision to contribute innovative and sustainable solutions to today's most pressing problems, the group created a US$7 million fund and made a donation of more than three million medical face masks to fight the spread across Greater China in January 2020.

Shortly after, in February 2020, New World Development donated over US$1.2 million to establish a “community anti-epidemic fund” in Hong Kong. Presently, the donation has generated more than two million masks and 10,000 preventative kits which include medical face masks, hand sanitiser gels and sanitising wipes, all of which have been distributed to low-income families within Hong Kong.

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Covering 1.2 million sq ft, K11 Musea presents dazzling new possibilities for the future of retail – spanning fashion, design, dining and modern art.

The post K11 Musea rises as art powerhouse in Hong Kong appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Covering 1.2 million sq ft, K11 Musea presents dazzling new possibilities for the future of retail – spanning fashion, design, dining and modern art.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

From its arresting facade to its originally commissioned art works, creativity and culture are central to Artisan House.

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