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."

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Easily the most dazzling evening of the year for fashionistas and the arbiters of style in the city, the opening gala for Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion exhibition at K11 Musea was a spectacular return to glamour. For a city that’s long been cloaked in designer masks and mostly muted celebrations for the past two years, the best-dressed stepped out in unabashed style.

K11 Musea was the place to be seen, to be heard, to be photographed in couture, and by George, the A-list pulled out all the stops and dug out their finest wears and tears. The opening night for Adrian Cheng's exhibition, with fashion editor Carine Roitfeld, provided ample reason to doll out in designer gladrags as haute couture was celebrated alongside intricate Chinese crafts. From the realms of culture, fashion and art alike, we noted several people head to toe in scintillating sartorial selects, after the drudgery of the pandemic, it was a return to life in colour, exquisite embroidery, scintillating silhouettes, sequins and feathers.

The big question that was trending on social media (and by many self-appointed fashion critics); Who was best dressed? We have our picks, of course, and as we race to print and publish, here are a few of our favourites; Anne Wang Liu in Alex Perry to Jennifer Yu Cheng in a custom pink Christian Siriano gown, the gold carpet (red carpet is ‘so’ last season) was rolled out for the dashing and the debonair.

Let’s not forget the gents, Adrian Cheng inaugurated the eventing wearing Alexander McQueen, architect Andre Fu looked faultless in a tailored suit by Yally Yan (for the pernickety fashion purveyors, in Tom Ford shoes and a Chanel brooch).

The bold and the beautiful Elly Lam in London-based label Alessandra Rich turned several heads, while Alison Chan El Azar in a feathery and sequinned little red number from 16Arlington looked ultra-glam. Veronica Chou wore Thierry Mugler and all the devilish details were in the back of her eye-catching ensemble, Colleen Yu Fung in Jenny Peckham looked fab, while Michelle Reis opted for a classic Giorgio Armani gossamer gown with intricate detailing.

A special shout out to those who opted for Asian designers such as Feiping Chang’s frothy green confection from Chinese designer Ryzyoryuan, couturier Barney Cheng and PR maven Peter Cheung who wore traditional qipaos (designed by Cheng). Calvin Wang also opted for a traditional Chinese-style men’s gown accessorised with a glittering broach.

Via livestream, fashion icon Carine Roitfeld joined the guests, the glittering skyline of Hong Kong island was the stunning background for the evening. Gala guests also participated in a silent auction powered by Open Heart featuring one-of-a-kind pieces and one-off experiences by couture houses and traditional artisans crafted in collaboration with the K11 Craft & Guild Foundation (KCG). Proceeds from successfully auctioned items benefited UNESCO and the KCG to further the global efforts in cultural preservation.

Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion officially opens to the public today (13 December, 2021), and continues on 6F, K11 Art & Cultural Centre, K11 MUSEA until 14 February, 2022.

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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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