Celebrity Life

Meet five inspiring women leading Palm Beach County to new heights

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Local sustainability-minded brand Wear Earthero launches two signature capsules this month with a focus on bringing new life to vintage designer goods, and upcycling locally sourced deadstock fabrics into wearable art. 

Wear Earthero (pronounced “Earth-hero") is a subsidiary of Earthero Project, an eco-community with a focus on providing sustainable services and education to schools and corporations. This year, the group launched two capsules to promote local artistic talent, and to bring more awareness to sustainability and heritage. 

About the brand

Founder Bertha Shum explains, “I never planned to start a clothing line, but, while writing and reading more about sustainability, I often come across various concepts about how polluting and environmentally unfriendly the fashion industry is. That’s when I started thinking about upcycling deadstock fabrics locally. 

“By chance, really, I came across this Facebook post a friend shared about a huge sale on deadstock fabric. I decided to pay a visit to Sham Shui Po to check it out. Chatting with the owner, I found out that it’s very common for fabric sellers to have just a few yards or scraps of fabric left after designers purchased enough. Often, those fabrics are hard to sell as it’s not scalable. The leftover will usually be disposed.” 

Working intimately with a team of seamstresses in a small studio in Sham Shui Po, Shum designs each piece of her collection in small matches, creating illustrations, patterns and labels using silkscreen printing to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible. This process ensures that there’s minimal waste, and that all pieces are indeed, limited edition.  

The exhibition

The first capsule by Wear Earthero is titled “Classics Reimagined” — a collection of vintage wearables freshly embellished with incredibly detailed art by local artist Viki Chan.  

Their second, “Wear Earthero Art-isan Collective”, was a platform that gathered young artists in the city to express their interpretations of local culture and conscious living. Each artist was given a piece of deadstock fabric to paint on; the pieces were then assembled by the seamstresses in Sham Shui Po into stylish kimono jackets to be auctioned off with a respective NFT. 

Bids ended in mid-January with all jackets successfully auctioned off. A portion of each sale was donated to charities J Life Foundation and Green Sense. 

Learn more about Wear Earthero here.

The post Wear Earthero Launches Exhibition Featuring Upcycled, Wearable Art appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Charlz Ng is an entrepreneur with a heart of gold. Having spent years cultivating a community within the fitness and wellness space with the launch of the IRIS Festival, he's now made his mark in F&B with the opening of a new venture called CARBON.

"Sustainability is one of my main ethos in life," he says. Running a restaurant sustainably is expensive and challenging, but Ng, his co-founders and the team all believe that it's the future of operations and that it's up to this generation to protect the environment.

Ng is conscious about how his choices affect the planet – from choosing to drive BMW's all-electric iX, purchasing clothes and brands that are sustainably manufactured, to implementing food waste initiatives at CARBON.

We follow Ng around for a day to see how he finds an escape through sports, and how sustainability plays a major role in every aspect of his life.

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Beijing is all geared up to host the 2022 Winter Olympics from 4 February to 20 February. This time, the host country has high hopes from 18-year-old freeskiing champion Eileen Gu. And that’s not all. She is one of the most accomplished teenagers in the game out there.

Born in the US to a Chinese mother and American father, Gu decided to swap her American team to represent China at 15.

From breaking records on the slopes to starring in many international modelling campaigns and even getting offers from top global universities, she has several golden feathers in her hat.

From the Chinaese contingent, Gu is the sportsperson to look out for in big air, halfpipe and slopestyle competitions.

Here’s all you must know about this rising Olympic star

Representing China

 

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A post shared by Eileen Gu 🖤🌈🧊🐲 (@eileen_gu_)

Gu announced the major news, in 2019, on her Instagram when she changed her teams for the 2022 Games. Having found her love and passion for freeskiing, Gu decided to represent her mother’s native place.

In her post, she explains, “The opportunity to help inspire millions of young people during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, my mother's birthplace, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to promote the sport I love.”

Freeskiing accolades

Right from the beginning, Gu has proved to be the freeskiing prodigy that she is. Her recent achievement was when she bagged two golds and one bronze at the Winter X Games. She made a record with her unmatched form by becoming the first female rookie to participate and win in three disciplines.

The winning streak continued when she entered the 2021 FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Championships in Aspen to become the first Chinese woman to win multiple golds.

That is not all. Gu wrapped up the year with many records, which include becoming the first woman to stand a Double Cork 1440 on the Stubai Glacier in Austria.

Her winning repertoire is quite long and illustrious. In 2020, she emerged as the freeskiing star in the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) at Lausanne, Switzerland. Gu grabbed golds in halfpipe and big air events, as well as a silver in slopestyle.

Inspired by the 2008 Olympics and her love for promoting this rather male-dominated winter sport, Gu is focused on taking on the slopes for the 2022 biggie. Her mother, an avid skier herself, had taken her on her first ski adventure at the tender age of just three months.

Academic brilliance

 

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A post shared by Eileen Gu 🖤🌈🧊🐲 (@eileen_gu_)

Shining not just in sports, Gu excels in academics as well. She has received an offer from the globally renowned Stanford University, her mother’s alma mater. However, the plans of starting school have to wait for the upcoming 2022 Olympic Games.

Having faced negative comments for her American upbringing from the Asian community and championing a male-dominated sport, Gu is a strong advocate of gender equality and representation of women in sports.

Modelling campaigns

Besides dedicating her heart and soul to freeskiing, Gu is also quite the fashionista and has several brand endorsements and modelling assignments to her credit. Already featured in Forbes ‘30 under 30’ in 2020, Gu became the youngest athlete to make it to the list at 17.

Representing several international brands, like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, Gucci and Fendi, this athlete is setting major fashion goals with her jaw-dropping style statements. She has contracts with the model agency IMG Models Worldwide and has already graced the cover of Vogue and Chinese Elle. Gu has been invited to the Met Gala and Paris Fashion Week and has her hands full with many new interesting projects in the pipeline.

She also has a strong presence on Instagram with over 215k followers.

(Main and featured image credit: Eileen Gu/ @eileen_gu_/ Instagram)

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From fashion and jewellery, to frontline medical care and now ... Chinese sausages? It would seem there's nothing Kimmy Lai can't do. We speak to the stylish entrepreneur to find out what brought her full circle back to her family's famous lap cheong business, and why after years of closure, she's decided to revive the brand as Kim Cook Yuen, now under her own terms.

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Kimmy Lai has always had her fingers in numerous pies – she's been in fashion and jewellery for most of her life, and since the start of the pandemic, has also become deeply involved in the medical sector, running a business of mobile testing centres to provide Covid testing and care to the city's most vulnerable and needy.

I met Lai at the Artisan Lounge at K11 Musea, where the café had partnered with Kim Cook Yuen to launch an exclusive Artisan Turnip Cake with French Foie Gras Preserved Meat, where Kim Cook Yuen's cured sausage is paired with fresh Japanese radishes from Kagoshima. When I arrive, Lai was busy fielding calls left and right from doctors, drivers and more – the latest Covid variant had just hit Hong Kong and with sudden restrictions placed by the government, Lai's medical service coaches were needed more than ever.

Despite it all, Lai is extremely warm and enthusiastic about being able to share her family's heritage and reminisce about the good old days spent in her grandfather's kitchen. She tells us why she took it upon herself to revive her family's brand, why she renamed it from Kam Kook Yuen to Kim Cook Yuen, and how her dad's foresight and good relations made it all possible.

Do you have any fond memories of your grandfather?

My grandfather had Alzheimer's disease. When I was young, I remember seeing him in the kitchen stealing my father's Chinese sausages and he looked so happy. I haven't seen him smile like that for a long time. He was stealing and eating it and he said, "Don't tell anyone" and he gave me a piece to try. At that time I was so young that I didn't know how to appreciate the sausage, but later on I realised that this is the heritage that his father – which is my great-grandfather – passed down to my grandfather, and my grandfather passed down to my father. That kitchen held so many memories of my father and my grandfather. We're from the province of Shunde and we're very famous for cooking. A lot of famous chefs came from that province so it's in our blood. We love to eat and enjoy great food.

Kam Kook Yuen was such an established brand in Hong Kong's past. How much were you aware of your family's business while growing up?

That's such a great question because when I was growing up, I didn't like to tell people that I'm from this family because as a girl, you like fashion and jewellery that kind of stuff, but not to be known for lap cheong. But all my teachers knew, and my primary school principal loved my family's brand. Even today, she's still one of our biggest clients. So growing up, I didn't know how to appreciate the heritage. It wasn't until last year during Covid, I was gifting these Chinese sausage gift boxes to my connections in the travel industry during mid-autumn festival. The person I gifted it to didn't know the brand but she passed it to her father and he said, "This brand is such a renowned brand in Hong Kong, how did you find it?" They had an online shop where they sold Japanese goods and other things that people couldn't get during this time, and they put my Chinese sausages on their website. Within a few days, they were all sold out.

When you relaunched the brand you renamed it Kim Cook Yuen. Can you tell us the story behind the change?

I changed the last Chinese character of the name from "garden" to "fate". The reason I did it is because I always tell my staff, we're not selling lap cheong. What we're selling is the memory that has stayed in people's mind in the old days of Hong Kong. You know, when people loved to help each other and you knew and cared about your neighbours. It was that specific feeling that I wanted to bring society now, especially since it became so difficult in the last two years for people to just enjoy a meal together. I just wanted people to remember that we used to have the good old days and we can have it again. That's why I relaunched it with the new name.

I'm also so grateful to K11 Musea. When I created the brand they just immediately said to come and open this pop-up at their shopping mall. I wasn't prepared for it but the team put it together. And then they said, "Why don't we create an exclusive turnip cake?" I didn't know how to make a turnip cake, but they said not to worry. They had a master chef who used to cook for the Japanese emperor. They imported the turnip from Japan and the goose liver we used in our sausage came from France.

At the time, I didn't know where to find a large supply of goose liver but I thought of an uncle who supplied to us in the old days. He was already retired but he helped me make the connections. He told me he was so touched that 50 years ago he supplied it to my dad and now he's able to supply it to us again. I realised how precious this brand was, that my family had created. People I meet will come and tell me about their memories of the old shop in Central, or what it meant for them to get our products.

How did you manage to find the same recipes from the past?

It's again because of the relationship we've kept with the old masters. My father left a small factory running and supported the family thet supplied our sausages and for the 24 years after we closed shop, we continued to give away the sausages as gifts during mid-autumn and Chinese New Year. The old master is already 90 years old but his family picked up the whole business and he would taste the lap cheong and tell us if it's good enough.

A lot of the new generation who've bought our lap cheong say they've never tasted Chinese sausage like this. Nowadays, lap cheong is always made in China by machines and they're all uniform size. Our sausages are made with all-natural ingredients and we use the pigs' intestine to form the natural casing. So they're all different shapes and sizes. It's all hand-crafted lap cheong.

Another thing is that our lap cheong cannot be preserved for too long because we didn't put any preservatives in them. Another thing is that you'll normally find lap cheong from other chains lasting more than two years. But remember, it's fresh raw meat, just dry. How can it last for two years out of the fridge?

Is lap cheong something that's always on the table during Chinese New Year? Or even at home?

Absolutely. During Chinese New Year, we'll make our own turnip cake. But for me, it's something I always have in the fridge. It's food for lazy people because you could just wash it and throw it into your rice cooker. I love it with my Japanese rice, it's my comfort food.

You come from a family of entrepreneurs and you're running a lot of businesses these days. Did your father or grandfather ever give you any business advice?

Yes. It's funny because my great-grandfather, when he started Kam Kook Yuen, he also ran a fashion business. So I say, fashion is in my blood! When I was still in primary school, my father would put me in charge of getting change for the customers. So I'm very good at calculations. But one lesson my father taught me was to be humble. My dad was so humble. One time, a waiter broke a bowl of noodles at our restaurant. And my dad said, "Do you mind cleaning it up? Please? Thank you so much." I didn't understand why he did that because in my heart, I thought as a boss, you should be bossy. When we went home, I asked my dad why he apologised when it was the waiter's fault and my dad said, these people work for your company and on the frontline, you need to make them feel like home. They need to be happy so when they serve your customers, they're happy. That really stuck with me, and for all my businesses I really try to take care of all my staff.

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After sleeping on the streets as a teen, a local man uses his second chance to care for neighbors in need

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There's no better way to mark the occasion than with good food — and lots of it. Here's our pick of the best Chinese New Year luxury puddings and treats.

With the start of the new lunar year just around the corner, stock up on the best desserts on offer. Turnip puddings (also called radish cakes) are traditional Chinese dim sum snacks, commonly served in Cantonese yum cha. Don't underestimate the small dish — in Cantonese, its name “leen goh” or “loh bak goh” is a homophone for “year higher”, ushering in new heights of prosperity for the coming year.

And we adore the Chinese New Year chuen hup, or traditional candy box, portion of the holiday. A bright red circular box set enticingly open upon coffee tables, filled with all kinds of sweet and savoury treats — it's a time-honoured custom, along with the coconut and turnip puddings. Each neat little segment houses a treat with an auspicious meaning of its own: lotus seeds are symbolic signs of improved fertility; lotus root, of love; tangerines and kumquats sound phonetically similar to "gold"; melon seeds to money and wealth. Chocolate coins, well, are coins.

To celebrate new beginnings and the new year, we've compiled the best Chinese New Year luxury puddings and treats for you and your loved ones to welcome the Year of the Tiger with.

The Best Chinese New Year Luxury Puddings and Treats

China Tang

China Tang's artisan Chinese New Year puddings are a modern take on the classic recipe, serving up two whole new flavours to welcome the Year of the Tiger: a turnip pudding with dried tiger prawn and local preserved meat and a handmade rice pudding with Taiwanese brown sugar and purple rice. Both are crafted by executive chef Menex Cheung and dim sum chef Mok Wing Kwai, and come in these stunning gift boxes decorated with China Tang’s signature Narcissus pattern — symbolizing grace and fortune. You can order the puddings and pick them up from the restaurant.

China Tang Landmark, Shop 411-413, 4/F, LANDMARK ATRIUM, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Central; +852 2522 2148

Duddell’s

Michelin-starred Duddell's selection of Chinese New Year puddings is a trio of classic favourite flavours: turnip (HK$348), taro (HK$348) and a "New Year" Pudding (HK$298). Pick up one, all three, or a gift set including the restaurant's signature X.O. Sauce. It's all packaged in a specially designed gift box created in collaboration with G.O.D. (Goods of Desire), with an ornate hand-drawn pattern typical of the embellishments found on Chinese teacups and soup bowls, a nod to its Hong Kong heritage. You can purchase at the restaurant or order online for delivery — find out more here.

We also love the look of the "Prosperous New Year Hamper", stocked with six traditional delicacies: a new year pudding; braised South African 5 head abalone with Duddell’s Abalone Sauce; a signature X.O. Sauce; homemade walnut cookies; Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Yellow Label Brut, Champagne; and Fook Ming Tong Fuding Jasmine Mao Feng Tea.

Duddell’s, 1 Duddell Street, Central; +852 2525 9191

Godiva

To no one's surprise, it's all about the chocolates at Godiva. The Belgian chocolatier has drawn up a new motif for the Year of the Tiger, auspicious red and gold packaging printed with swimming koi and a tiger portrait set amongst crackling fireworks as a symbolic image of wealth. For the chocolates, the bijou creations feature the same lucky tiger motif over the surface and are packed in three distinct flavours: Raspberry Orange White chocolate, Pecan Praliné Milk chocolate and 85% Dark Ganache chocolate. Order before 31 January to enjoy special offers including free gifts, including a complimentary box of chocolates, or 10% off any purchase of HK$688. Find out more and order here.

Godiva, various locations across Hong Kong

Little Bao

Little Bao is paying tribute to lucky colour red with a beetroot turnip cake, replacing turnip with fresh beetroot for a natural bold red cake. Ingredients include Sam Hing Lung rose wine sausages, Thai dried shrimp and natural seasoning for extra-healthy eating. You can also opt for the taro cake, made with Okinawan sweet potato and fresh taro for an extra soft and pillowy texture, and also to help boost the immune system. You can order them and more here.

Little Bao, 1-3 Shin Hing Street, Central; +852 6794 8414

Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel

Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel is celebrating the new lunar year with traditional Chinese recipes, serving up three classic puddings — a savoury Chinese Turnip Cake with Conpoy made from Chinese sausage and Jinhua ham; a sweet Coconut Pudding with Gold Leaf decorated with golden leaf glutinous rice and coconut milk; and a Water Chestnut Cake filled with crunchy water chestnut pieces. Bottles of homemade XO Chilli Sauce are also available to order. You can find out more here.

Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel, No. 3 Canton Road, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; +852 2118 7283

Ming Court

Located inside Cordis, Michelin-starred Ming Court is offering an array of festive treats to ring in the Lunar New Year. Executive Chef Li Yuet Faat has prepared three auspicious puddings: a coconut Chinese New Year Pudding; an abalone, conpoy, and air-dried preserved meat and turnip pudding; and a red date and coconut pudding. Go for the deluxe Chinese New Year hamper, with a coconut pudding, homemade XO sauce, South African premium 12 head abalone and more. You can order it here.

Ming Court, Level 6, 555 Shanghai Street, Cordis, Mong Kok, Kowloon; +852 3552 3301 

Rosewood Hong Kong

Rosewood Hong Kong is offering an array of Chinese New Year sets for gifting, featuring everything from traditional puddings to homemade XO sauce, festive candies, afternoon tea sets and more. Don't miss the well-wishes themed hampers: Harvest (HK$9,988), Fortune (HK$3,388), and Joy (HK$2,288) — for every CNY hamper purchased, Rosewood will donate 5% of the proceeds to support ImpactHK and their work to support those experiencing homelessness in Hong Kong. Find out more here.

We also love the clever Chinese New Year advent calendar from Rosewood — rather than counting down, you count on from the first day of the lunar calendar into the new Year of the Tiger. The whole set holds 15 special treats from the hotel, one for each day of the Chinese traditional holiday that lasts for two weeks. Tug open the jewel-toned drawers to discover a selection of delicious snacks from fortune cookies and egg rolls to XO sauce, palmiers, nougats, ginger candies and crunchy peanut bites. Much better than your usual melon seeds. You can order it here.

Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, +852 3891 8732

Paul Lafayet

No crème brulée from Paul Lafayet this Chinese New Year. What you can get, though, is the patisserie's Lucky Tiger Gift Box with French illustrator Emilie Sarnel's hand drawing of two dancing tigers. The gift box set pulls open to reveal three different tiers featuring a whole afternoon experience: “Cookirons" — a cookie-based iteration of the brand's famous macaron; jasmine and hojicha tea tins with pots of honey in the second and a special fine bone china porcelain dish at the base to hold it all. The plate is specially tailored to the Year of the Tiger, featuring a sketch of two smiling tigers amongst a flowery meadow filled with macarons. You can order it online here.

Paul Lafayet, various locations across Hong Kong

Saicho

So this might not fit into traditional Chinese candy boxes, but it will still sit very prettily amongst red-adorned decor around the home. For the Year of the Tiger, Saicho has launched a very special creation of only 900 bottles — Eight Immortals — featuring the special Dan Cong Oolong tea grown atop Phoenix Mountain's Tian Liao village in Guangdong. From harvest to roast and rolling, the Dan Cong Oolong leaves are looked after by a qualified tea master. The result is a fragrant blend that adheres to the leaves' distinct complexity: bright notes of ginger mango and tangerine that rounds into a bitterness, then herbal, the likes of anise, fennel and tarragon. With Eight Immortals' earthy savouriness, Saicho recommends pairing with traditional Chinese New Year dishes including Chinese steamed fish and tang yang (glutinous rice dumplings). You can shop Saicho's Chinese New Year selection here.

Smith & Sinclair

Candy box fillings will be extra exciting with the addition of Smith & Sinclair treats, they're made after your favourite tipples! The UK-based brand crafts vegan-friendly gummies — or "Edible Cocktails" — from anything, including classic Gin & Tonic to special concoctions like Passionfruit Mojito. For the Year of the Tiger, the brand has designed a special red, tiger-printed sleeve as a symbol of good luck and fortune. These can be fitted over any of Smith & Sinclair's nine signature sets, from spirit-based "Gin Obsessed" or "Tequila Time" to themed "Love Box" or "Night In". You can order and find out more here.

Sugarfina

Sugarfina's candy cubes are a delight, both to give and receive. For this Chinese New Year, the confectioner has crafted a series of Candy Bento Boxes for easy gifting (and enjoying!) — with anything from a single cube to a lucky set of eight, featuring the brand's sweet creations in fun, auspicious names. There's the Lotus Flowers flavoured with lychee, Tangerine Bears, berried-flavoured Royal Roses and Golden Pearls. If not for the sweets within, get this set for the beautifully artistic packaging: a hand-crafted shadow box of red and gold decor motifs of lanterns, flowers and a temple to mark new beginnings.

Sugarfina, various locations across Hong Kong

The Peninsula Boutique & Café

One of the traditional elements of the Year of the Tiger is the big cat's head, symbolising strength and good health. Inspired by traditional Chinese "tiger head shoes" worn by children, the Peninsula Boutique & Café is celebrating the new year with plenty of tiger head-decorated gift sets — you can hang the box up as a Chinese New Year decoration! Pick up the festive "Robust Tiger Gift Set" (with cookies, candies, chocolate, tea and more), and any of the Chinese New Year puddings. You can find out more here.

The Peninsula Boutique & Café, The Peninsula Arcade, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; +852 2696 6969

Venchi

You may be spoilt for choice with Venchi's range of Chinese New Year gift boxes, but one thing's for sure: the range of lucky red and gold packaging all feature the Italian brand's signature 140-years, Piedmont Master Chocolatiers-approved sweets. Pick up The Chinese New Year Double Layer Hexagon Gift Box, an extensive collection of the brand's favourite chocolates: Cremini, Chocoviar, Truffles, and Dubledoni. Or consider the Chinese New Year Round Hamper, which features Venchi's latest creation Gianduja N.3 with Hazelnut, and is a close replica of the traditional chuen hup with the rounded exterior and organised sections within.

Venchi, various locations across Hong Kong

Yat Tung Heen

Led by celebrated chef Tam Tung, Michelin-starred Yat Tung Heen is celebrating the new year by bringing back its highly sought-after turnip pudding, classic Chinese New Year pudding and the restaurant's signature gift box (which includes housemade premium XO sauce, candied walnuts and hand-selected Ginseng Oolong tea leaves). And to minimise the environmental impact of the gifting season, each pudding is thoughtfully packaged in a 100% recyclable eco-friendly paper box. You can find out more here.

Yat Tung Heen, Level B2, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, +852 2710 1093

Ying Jee Club

Two Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Ying Jee Club is serving the finest delectable pastry duo, a savoury turnip pudding with conpoy and air-dried meat and a sweet coconut milk pudding with red bean and Ceylon tea. Both are handcrafted daily by executive chef Siu Hin-Chi, who has amassed 20 Michelin stars over the past decade alone — rest assured, the preservative-free puddings epitomise the highest standard of Cantonese cuisine in both texture and flavour. You can order in-person at the restaurant, or by calling 2801 6882 or emailing reservation@yingjeeclub.hk — find out more here.

Ying Jee Club, Shop G05, 107 & 108, Nexxus Building, 41 Connaught Road Central; +852 2801 6882

(Hero image courtesy of Yat Tung Heen, featured image courtesy of Duddell's, image 1 courtesy of China Tang)

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A wine critic and now restaurant owner, James Suckling explains why he gave up one of the most enviable jobs in the world to set up on his own and move to Hong Kong.

Wine Critic James Suckling

Seated comfortably in his Soho wine bar and restaurant, which has been pretty much the centre of his world since the early months of 2020, James Suckling looks like an extremely happy man.

One of the world’s most respected and influential wine critics, he has the privilege of doing a job that he absolutely loves and seems delighted to share his great good fortune with everyone around him.

In almost 40 years in the industry, he thinks he must have tasted and rated a quarter of a million vintages; his JamesSuckling.com website gets around 600,000 unique visitors each year; he holds decorations from both the French and Italian governments, as well as honorary citizenship of the Italian wine-making town of Montalcino in Brunello; and he’s the only wine expert offering classes on Masterclass.com.

Appearances to the contrary, though, Suckling’s professional journey has been neither straightforward nor smooth. He readily admits his Staunton Street establishment, James Suckling Wine Central, which he and his Korean wife and business partner Marie opened in October 2018, almost went under before it was rescued, bizarrely, by the Covid pandemic.

And why he decided to throw in what must have been one of the most envied positions in the world of wine, as senior editor and European bureau chief of the oenophiles’ bible, the Wine Spectator, to move to a part of the world he hardly knew, is another story entirely. The way he tells it, though – accompanied by self-deprecating smiles and laughs – you’d think it had all been plain sailing.

Back at the beginning in 1981, when Suckling returned home to Los Angeles after taking a post-graduate degree in journalism at the University of Wisconsin, he’d found himself jobless until he answered an advertisement “for position at a tiny magazine called the Wine Spectator, run out of a garage in San Diego”. Not only did he get the job, but within four years he found himself in Paris, remaining in Europe for the next decade and a half, “learning on the job, travelling around and meeting producers”.

For a young man whose own wine epiphany began while at university (he’d shared a bottle of 1966 Château Lafite with his lawyer father and declared, “Wow, this wine stuff’s amazing”) it was, he says, “an amazing start to my career, and I learned so much”.

“I lived in Paris for three years and then moved to the UK. I was there for 10 years, then moved to Italy and then I came here. During that time the Wine Spectator had grown to become the biggest wine magazine in the world, and all that time I was tasting, travelling and building the magazine.” It was then, too, that Suckling first met Marie, who worked at the venerable London wine merchant Corney & Barrow, though the romance didn’t blossom till later.

The idea of upping sticks and moving to Hong Kong came shortly after the difficult decision to leave his comfortable and highly influential position at the Wine Spectator. “I’d been there for 29 years, and I just decided it was now or never. It was a crazy move – I was 50 and it probably was foolhardy in a way, because I had this really cushy job and was living in Italy. But then I was thinking, do I want to spend the rest of my life working for the same company? And I’d always thought it would be amazing to do my own thing. So I just did it.”

The following year, Suckling attended the 2011 Wine & Dine Festival in this city, alongside other noted experts from around the world. By that time, Hong Kong had already removed all government duties on wine, a move that almost overnight had turned the city into the region’s premier wine-trading hub.

“And that,” says Suckling, “was the main reason I moved.” Coincidentally, Marie had also left London for Hong Kong, where, she says, “We met at the Wine & Dine Festival’s big event at the Grand Hyatt. After two years, we got married in Korea.”

Suckling had decided that video was the way to go for his website, which would be the centrepiece of his solo operation. “My partner, James Orr, was a really close friend who was into wine and cigars; he still owns a small part of the company. He was a film director, producer and writer – he did Three Men and a Baby and Sister Act 2. We had this idea that the site would be just video – we were way ahead of our time because now everyone’s doing streaming video … And so he and I travelled around wine regions, and did videos of tastings with wine producers. And for about six months, it was going OK, though not as well as I’d hoped."

“I realised that I had to get back and start tasting wines, but also that people didn’t want to pay for video. I was running out of money. But then I happened to be with a friend of mine, Mike Diamond from the Beastie Boys, at his house in Malibu, and I told him, ‘Dude, I’m running out of money.’ And he just goes, ‘And why did you think people would ever want to pay for your videos? It’s like people wanting to pay for my music. You’re gonna have to do events, you should do wine events, just like years ago we’d go on tour to sell CDs.’

“So I started doing wine events. And the first place I did wine events – profitable wine events – was in Hong Kong. At the time, it was just me and an assistant. I knew collectors like Henry Tang, Peter Lam and George Wong, and a few wine merchants, but I wasn’t really that connected – though one of my best friends, Patricio de la Fuente, who own Links Concept, was really helpful. But I could see that with no taxes and [the proximity to] China – even though the market hadn’t really developed to what it is today – this was the international wine hub for Asia. And then I met Marie – and she took pity on me!”

The business, says Suckling, really didn’t start making sense financially until around five years ago. “It took a while – it was really touch and go, and pretty scary, to be honest. But now, as you can see, we have 15 employees and a restaurant, which has been a lot of work but now is really successful.

“We opened the restaurant in October 2018, and now it’s doing really well. It never did so well – last month was our biggest, 500 wines by the glass and we have a really cool local chef who studied in Paris. But it took a long time – and it’s interesting because if it hadn’t been for Covid, we probably would have closed. The demonstrations were very difficult and while Marie and I were away in Napa Valley a lot of people were leaving. When we came back in March 2020, it was on its knees, so Marie actually went into the kitchen and started cooking Korean food. [Asked whether Korean food goes with wine, Suckling says, “Of course it does. I eat Korean food every day and I drink wine every day.”] And in the first few months, I was even on the floor serving wine – well, I had nothing else to do!"

“During Covid, website subscriptions actually went up 50 percent, and people weren’t travelling. So ironically, Covid was better for our business. I remember talking to a friend from Boston Consulting Group, who said, “James, you’re OK, but you have to focus on the local economy. And that’s what we did with the restaurant – and we did events. So it actually worked out well, though it would be nice to travel again and do events around the world.”

The outcome is that Suckling now finds himself in the paradoxical position of running both a locally focused wine bar and restaurant, and an internationally oriented wine website, 50 percent of whose visitors are based in North America. “I was recently named one of the 100 most important members of the US wine industry. I’m not sure they know I’m a Permanent Resident of Hong Kong,” he says with a laugh. “Most people think I live in New York.”

Thanks to Hong Kong’s duty-free regime, running a wine-tasting operation here is simplicity itself, he says. “Because there’s no tax, people just ship the wines here. In Hong Kong this year, we’ve tasted about 18,000 wines. The logistics have been great – a producer in Bordeaux just gives his wine to DHL and it’s here in two days. It’s just like door-to-door. And that was one reason I thought that if one day I didn’t want to travel as much, Hong Kong would be great because there are none of these logistical problems."

“If you’re in the US, each state has different laws on shipping wine, and to import wine you need licences and all sorts – and I just thought this could be so easy. And it’s turned out to be a godsend, and wine producers are fine with it. We just tasted 1,500 wines from all over Spain … even barrel samples: this year I tasted 1,500 barrel samples. People pull a sample from a barrel, bottle it, cork it and then they ship it over. Isn’t that cool?”

Indeed, though they’d like to be able to travel for, say, a month to Italy or California, he and Marie have no desire to return to the old regime of being away for 225 days in a year, flying to San Francisco or Burgundy just for dinner. “What’s been exciting about this place was that being stuck here almost two years, I’ve really had the chance to see people and talk to them, see what they drink and what they’re interested in with wine,” Suckling says.

“And I realised that for years, as a journalist or with the internet, you don’t really get the chance to talk to people and understand what they enjoy, whether it’s food or wine. I’ve really enjoyed getting back to, you know, grassroots or basics. Because sometimes you get detached – ‘Oh, I’m this wine critic or I’m that important journalist or whatever.’ I read The New York Times, and sometimes I find the writing can be a bit elitist. And I think that’s just because, as journalists, you get detached from your readers sometimes.

“It’s been a lot of work, though. I think you’ve probably heard people saying, ‘Never, never start your own restaurant. Because you don’t make any money and it’s a lot of work.’ Well, everything they tell you about restaurants is true, but at the same time, it’s been really fun. And now it’s working well. So I’m pretty proud of that. It’s worked out.”

The post Critic James Suckling on a Lifetime in the Wine Industry appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

In this instalment of Startup Life, we speak to Jason Yau of Zyphr about activewear, the power of sport and the importance of mental health.

A young brand rooted in innovation, Zyphr was founded with the intention of combining science and high performance fabrics. Most importantly, millennial founder Yau is committed to building a local community that fosters social change and inclusion through sports.

Name: Jason Yau
Profession: Founder of Zyphr
Industry: Sportswear
Company Size:  10 people
Startup Since: January 2018

When did you launch your company and why?

I launched Zyphr in January 2018. Being a sports fanatic myself, I've always felt that in Hong Kong, we never had a sportswear brand that was truly born and breed locally. This inspired me to be the first one to try and make that dream a reality.

We are currently working with over 100 professional athletes in 12 different sports. They help us to test our materials and push our fabric quality to the next level. I wanted to create a brand that allows our professional athletes to have a voice and showcase who they are as people, while inspiring others.

What's Zyphr position in the activewear and wellness industry?

We are a life-performance wear brand. The concept is to blend lifestyle with high performance fabrics that excel in sweat-wicking and breathability. Hong Kong’s weather is extremely humid and hot, especially in spring and summer, and this is why using excellent sweat-wicking and breathable materials is key to our product development. Making it accessible to everyone is also important for us.

What were your main goals when you first started?

To develop products that I love and finding materials that are extremely comfortable to wear casually or during training. At the time, I felt that there were not many sportswear brands to choose from in Hong Kong and the quality was often compromised. I wanted to create my own version of life-performance wear and to build a community around the brand.

What's the inspiration behind your company's name?

Zyphr comes from Zephyr, the name of the Greek god of the west wind. He represents freedom, which aligns with our slogan, #DreamFearlessly. We believe that each human being is unique and special. Being fearless doesn’t mean that you are not afraid; it simply means that you are accepting that fear but you keep pursuing your dreams because nothing can, or should, stop you.

Have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?

To be honest, I’ve always wanted to become a professional footballer growing up. I had the opportunity to study abroad in England and the United States and within those ten years, I’ve played high level rugby and football for my school and university. But while I was working for Reebok at their headquarter in Boston back in 2016, I had this inner feeling that starting my own company was the right step for my career... I was 23 and the rest is history!

Tell us about the main milestones and challenges of your startup journey.

We came a long way since we started back in 2018. From reaching out to the fitness trainers and gyms to promote our products to working with over 100 professional athletes across the world including Olympians and some of the top Hong Kong athletes, like Sasha Palatnikov in the UFC, Russell Webb and Max Denmark in Rugby 7’s and Dudu Klein and Wai Wong in Football.

Opening our own popup store this year was also a massive step forward for us to engage and speak with our customers directly. The next step is to expand globally and our team is working hard to make that goal a reality this year.

Starting a company is the hardest thing I’ve done in my life and It doesn’t get any easier, but you just get more experienced with time. Mental health is a key topic these days and I think it is very important to talk about it as you will definitely experience a roller-coaster of emotions and struggles as an entrepreneur because of the uncertain nature of the business. You must build a strong support system around you and have close friends and family to talk about the issues you are facing. It is ok to admit you need help and have the right people to guide you through the right path.

What are some dos and don’ts of starting your own company?

When you are starting a company, you have to develop the skills and the ability to read situations on a macro-level. You have to have your own vision, be honest and be direct with the people you are working with. We tend to run away from uncomfortable conversations, but that's not possible in business.

Good things do take time. It is important that you test your idea out on a small scale to then develop something bigger. Do not dwell on your failures because failures are the key lessons for you to be mentally stronger.

What's next for Zyphr?

2021 was a great year for us. We learned a lot in terms of how to deal with the changes brought by the pandemic and to adapt to a new life. We opened five popup stores across Hong Kong and that was very helpful as a learning process as well.

The next step is to continue to push the brand to the next level by expanding our offerings, working on our online store and building an even stronger community and set of resources for youth in Sport. We are currently working with Nation Soccer, a Brazilian Football School in Hong Kong, AS Football Centre and Azzurri Football Club in the Yau Yee Division 1 League. The goal is to help kids and amateur football players to gain new skills to support their future career endeavours.

The post Startup Life: Jason Yau of Zyphr on the Unifying Power of Sport appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Back in July 2021, Dior named actress, model, and activist Yara Shahidi as its global ambassador for beauty and fashion. Recently, the French House has finally unveiled Shahidi's first images as part of the 'Forever Sisterhood' beauty campaign. 

All you Need to Know about the Dior 'Forever Sisterhood' Campaign

Yara Shahidi in the Campaign

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Dior Beauty Official (@diorbeauty)

Dior Beauty announced the news in an Instagram post, saying: “A NEW GENERATION FOREVER IS COMING…Dior Global Brand Ambassador @YaraShahidi, award-winning actress, producer, and inspiring change agent, is now part of the Forever sisterhood movement as a new face alongside @NataliePortman.” Shahidi too shared the development with her followers on Instagram.

Shahidi will join many other eminent Dior ambassadors, including Natalie Portman, Cara Delevingne, Golshifteh Farahani and Li Bingbing, for the campaign.

This isn’t her First Collaboration with Dior

Even though the Dior Forever Sisterhood campaign will be the star’s first-ever with the brand as global ambassador, this isn’t the first time she has collaborated with Dior.

In 2021, she was brought onboard for the Dior Stands with Women — a special campaign created by Charlize Theron, comprising series and videos, to mark International Women’s Day.

Natalie Portman, Li Bingbing, Dilone, Kim Yuna, India Mahdavi and Leila Slimani were also part of this campaign.

Shahidi wearing Dior at Various Events

In the past, Shahidi has never failed to stun us whenever she has adorned a Dior gown at events. At the 2021 Met Gala, she painted a pretty picture in a heavily beaded tan Dior gown, complete with a trained veil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Jason Bolden (@jasonbolden)

At the 2021 Emmy Awards, she looked nothing less than a goddess in an electric green off-the-shoulder gown by Dior. The actress has never failed to make a statement with her looks and continues to do with her sartorial choices.

(Main and Featured image: @yarashahidi/Instagram)

The post Dior Unveils First Images of Yara Shahidi as Global Brand Ambassador appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Jacqueline Chak's passion for architecture and design led her to co-found EDIT, EDITECTURE, and EDIT Academy alongside business partner Genevieve Chew, where sustainable design is at the heart of their work, be it in fashion, architecture, interior design, or nurturing the young.

Sustainability has always been important to Chak, who strives to give a second life to objects and materials in her work. Marrying fashion and architecture together to create something sustainable drives many of her projects – from an EDIT Mahjong set that celebrates traditional culture using modern sustainable materials; to HOMEDIT, which educates the younger generation to create a home using sustainable methods.

Her determination and drive to do what's right and good for the environment aligns perfectly with BMW's values. The luxury car brand has long explored ways to cut CO2 emissions to build a better future.

Here, we spend a day with Chak as she manoeuvres through her day with BMW's all-electric iX and runs us through her sustainable habits.

The post A Day in the Life of Jacqueline Chak appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Start 2022 as you mean to carry on – holistically. Here are four wellness programmes and overnight stays that should give you an edge when it comes to sticking to New Year resolutions.

We might not know what resolutions you’ve been making, but prioritising and focusing on mental and physical wellbeing is something everyone can benefit from. Here are four wellness programmes worth looking into that should enable you to feel your feelings, pick up healthy habits and start the year right.

Wellness Programmes & Overnight Stays to Book Now

"Empower from Within" at The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Rooted in healing, mindfulness practices and nutrition, The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong’s "Empower from Within" holistic wellness initiative comprises three objective-focused wellness programmes that include consultations, kinesiology therapy, yoga, detox, breathwork, sleep meditation and sound therapy.

• The one-and-a-half-day "Deep Sleep" programme is designed to improve the quality of your slumber, with experts identifying your sleep needs and empowering you with sleep-promoting habits. The HK$6,500 package includes a wellness consultation, kinesiology therapy, Abhyanga and Shirodhara massage treatment, breathwork and guided sleep meditation.
• Also lasting a day and a half, the "Restore and Realign" programme is ideal for those who feel sluggish and tired, and who seek a fresh start. It works by kickstarting fatigued adrenal glands, helping you manage stress and anxiety, detoxifying the body and fortifying it with powerful antioxidants. Also priced at HK$6,500, it includes a wellness consultation, spa treatments, meditation and breathwork, vibrational sound therapy and detox yoga.
• And at HK$5,500, the "Journey of Motherhood" programme is tailored for expectant and new mothers, helping them prepare for pregnancy and post-partum discomfort. It includes cranial sacral therapy, spa rituals and pre-natal or for-women yoga with an Ikigai practitioner.

All programmes include a wellness lunch and relaxation in the spa’s facilities. They can also be combined with an overnight stay. Find out more by emailing or calling The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance Street, Central; spa.hkg@fourseasons.com; +852 3196 8900

Sensational Mindfulness Retreat at WM Hotel Sai Kung

Held on January 9-10, the two-day one-night Sensational Mindfulness Retreat promises to enhance your wellbeing and set you up for the rest of 2022. Hosted by a team of wellness experts including Jasmine Liu of HyggeWellbeing, Simon Hui of Mindful Studio HK, Raymond Mak of FarmacyHK, Terence Lee of GITONE, sound alchemist Malbert Lee and Dr Emilie Berthet Clairet, the programme is designed to reconnect you with your senses and surroundings, and provide inspiration on living a more conscious life.

The Sensational Mindfulness Retreat includes a tea ceremony, meditation practice, principles of mindful farming classes, a gut health talk, a gong bath, sunrise yoga and mindful calligraphy. Priced at HK$3,800 (per person in a shared room) or HK$4,800 (for a single room), it includes one night of hotel accommodation, dinner and breakfast.

You can find out more by calling 5668 9008, or emailing hello@hyggewellbeing.co or mailbox@mindfulstuiohk.com

WM Hotel Sai Kung, 28 Wai Man Road, Sai Kung; hello@hyggewellbeing.co, mailbox@mindfulstuiohk.com, +852 5668 9008

"Asaya Hybrid 360", Asaya at Rosewood Hong Kong x Hybrid Gym Group

Rosewood Hong Kong’s pioneering wellness centre is partnering with Hybrid Gym Group Hong Kong in the immersive Asaya Hybrid 360 programme, a bespoke, 18-week approach to wellness supported by coaches at every step of the way: assessment, goal setting, roadmap, therapies and personalised treatments, and rehabilitation plans, as well as skin health, body nutrition and naturopathic remedy.

Each customised experience begins with a series of consultations. Hybrid will analyse body composition, joint range of motion, body imbalance or instability, and nutrition, physical activity, stress levels and other potentially negative factors. Asaya, on the other hand, kicks off with a facial skin-health analysis, rehab/posture-correction assessments, and naturopathy and mental-wellness consultations.

Priced at HK$80,000, each Asaya Hybrid 360 programme includes a personalised food and supplement plan and 36 training sessions with Hybrid Gym Group, 10 tailored sessions with Asaya Wellness Practitioners and complimentary access to Asaya classes, fitness centre and swimming pool. Find out more by contacting Asaya.

Alternatively, you can book into an Asaya Daycation or Wellcation (a daycation plus a night's stay at Asaya Lodge or at Rosewood), that include one 60-minute session of your choice from options including singing bowl therapy, mindfulness meditation, expressive arts therapy, functional insight training, active isolated stretching, sports therapy, and one 60-minute treatment. You can find out more here.

Asaya at Rosewood Hong Kong, Rosewood Hong Kong, K11 MUSEA, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui; hongkong.asaya@rosewoodhotels.com, +852 3891 8588

The Mandarin Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

To help you achieve greater wellbeing through the power of the mind and start your journey to self-improvement, certified hypnotherapist Christine Deschemin is running a series of group and one-on-one hypnosis workshops at The Mandarin Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

• The hour-long Hypno-relaxation Workshop puts the body into a deep state of relaxation in which the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, decreasing heart rate, respiration and blood pressure while boosting the immune system and digestion. It’s priced at HK$1,500.
• At HK$1,750, The 75-minute Slimming Hypnosis Workshop works on the mind-body connection to healthy eating habits, focusing on improving your relationship with food.
• And in the hour-long one-on-one Bespoke Hypnotherapy Workshop, Deschemin helps you to help you to conquer personal struggles, from sleep deprivation to general stress and anxiety – and even phobias. This tailor-made session costs HK$2,550

The Mandarin Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 5 Connaught Road Central, Central; mohkg-spa@mohg.com; +852 2825 4888

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