A fashion masterclass in dressing up and down from Mytheresa’s Tiffany Hsu, Taiwan-born woman about town
- Buyer for luxury online retailer who grew up a tomboy is ‘really into’ vivid colour, loving the ’80s silhouette, and obsessed with high-waisted pants
- ‘I always mix more formal pieces with a casual element,’ says Hsu, one of the most influential people in fashion, who splits her time between London and Munich
Growing up in Taiwan, Tiffany Hsu was a tomboy who wore boy’s clothes – “chinos and dungarees with Converse”. It was only when she moved to the UK aged 15 that she began taking an interest in fashion. Today, with her distinctive, razor-sharp bob and enviable style, she is one of the most influential people in fashion.
Describing her teenage years, Hsu says: “I started hanging out with British girls who were really into their make-up and fashion magazines. It inspired me to start experimenting with make-up and clothes.”
In turn, Hsu’s aspirations for a career in fashion were ignited while flicking through the pages of Vogue as a teen. “The first time I remember thinking this is what I want to do for the rest of my life is when I saw a picture of John Galliano’s Chinese collection that he created for Dior. I started researching Galliano and I found it he went to St Martins.
“I called my parents and told them, ‘I know which school I want to go to now!’ So, when I was 17 I went to London for the interview and I was offered a place to study fashion at Central St Martins.”
As a student of the leading fashion college, she worked on a stall on London’s famous Portobello Market, as well as on the shop floor in fashion boutiques, before securing her first buying job at Feathers boutique in London. She went on to work as a buyer for Lane Crawford in Hong Kong and for London department store Selfridges, before joining Mytheresa, a luxury online retailer, in 2017.
Hsu now splits her time between Mytheresa’s headquarters in Munich, Germany, and her office in London, and manages a bulging calendar of buying appointments, fashion shows and events. She opened the doors of her wardrobe to the Post.
“This dress is from Alessandra Rich. I’m really into vivid colour at the moment. It’s an easy dress to travel with because it’s just a wrap, and you really don’t need to think about what to wear it with. I love the fact I can also wear it open as a jacket with jeans.
“I don’t accessorise all that much, I like to keep things quite simple. If I was to wear any jewellery with this outfit, it would probably be a pair of pearl hoop earrings from Lele Sadoughi. For evening, I’ll add heels and red lipstick along with the earrings.
“I don’t generally like to be super dressed up so I always mix more formal pieces with a casual element.”
“I love the combination of this Balenciaga hourglass jacket with these Tibi check pattern shorts. Shorts are such a big trend right now and I like to wear mine with a suit jacket to make a serious look more playful.
“I’ve paired this with my Balenciaga green pumps – I have a serious weakness for Balenciaga’s knife heels.
“Balenciaga is one of my favourite brands, along with Maison Margiela because I’m still a big John Galliano fan. I’m also very excited by new brands like Marine Serre. It’s always a thrill to see what up-and-coming designers do next.”
“Again for me, it’s all about striking a balance between dressing up and dressing down. I love to wear jackets as a dress, so I have this jacket from Attico which I’m wearing as a dress today.
“Like a lot of my favourite pieces at the moment, it has quite a dramatic shoulder. I am currently loving the ’80s silhouette, which is a huge trend next season, so I’ve been gravitating towards a lot of power shoulders and dramatic sleeves.
“I like to keep everything else really simple, which means minimal accessories and very simple make-up.”
“I’m currently obsessed with high-waisted pants, I like to wear these Acne linen ones rolled up with a ripped tank for daytime or, as seen here, with my Jacquemus shirt.
“This is a perfect holiday look for me when worn with sandals and a straw hat, but I’d also wear it to go out by switching up the shoes for a pair of Balenciaga pumps.
“I like to tread a line between not too dressy and dressy enough with the way I dress so I don’t like to have glam everything, I always mix it up a little bit.”
“For me, high-waisted pants are some of the most easy and versatile pieces in my wardrobe, so I have quite a few pairs. Here, I’m wearing a pale pink pair by Isabel Marant with a puff sleeve jacket, also from Isabel Marant, which I’ve tucked in to create a jump suit silhouette.
“I would say that my personal style is eclectic. I don’t have set rules, I’ll try everything and wear anything and I always like to add my own twist. I also like being quite androgynous, so I do dress quite like a tomboy most of the time.”
