https://www.scmp.com/rss/325573/feed Born in Hong Kong, lifestyle journalist Theresa Harold has worked for numerous print and online publications including The Independent, The Telegraph, and Prestige Hong Kong. Currently based in London, Theresa freelances for various international titles on the topics of travel and fashion. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com There are a few words that seem to accompany every article about British fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner: quiet; thoughtful; understated. Whether describing her outfits or her elocution, the consensus seems to be that Wales Bonner is a woman of composure, but on the day of our Zoom chat, she seems distracted. Maybe it’s because she is going on holiday the next day, or maybe it has to do with this interminable pandemic. Plus her patchy internet has reduced us to audio-only, which means there... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3149648/british-designer-worn-meghan-mentored-lvmh-meet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/fashion/article/3149648/british-designer-worn-meghan-mentored-lvmh-meet?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Sep 2021 08:15:20 +0000 What role can fashion play in tackling climate change? A slogan T-shirt here, a recycled swimsuit there? How about harnessing biotechnology to create clothes that suck in carbon dioxide and release oxygen? That’s the big idea behind Post Carbon Lab, an East London design research studio founded by Dian-Jen Lin and Hannes Hulstaert. Alongside their sustainability consultancy, they provide piloting services of microbial dyeing and a process they call photosynthetic coating, which uses algae and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3129298/tackle-climate-change-fashion-and-biotech-are-combining?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3129298/tackle-climate-change-fashion-and-biotech-are-combining?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Apr 2021 06:15:17 +0000 For British-born Chinese editor Helena Lee, her come-to-Jesus moment happened in a cinema. “I was watching Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and really enjoying the film, until that scene with Bruce Lee played by Mike Moh appeared.” It’s the scene in which Brad Pitt’s character Cliff Booth mercilessly mocks the martial arts legend. The humiliation is thorough, deliberate, and Lee recalls the entire cinema erupting into laughter. “It was just devastating to watch,” she says. “I... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3112901/she-saw-cinema-laugh-bruce-lees-humiliation-tarantinos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3112901/she-saw-cinema-laugh-bruce-lees-humiliation-tarantinos?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Dec 2020 18:30:07 +0000 When someone has been in business for 50 years like Sir Paul Smith has, it is easy to assume that they might have run out of “firsts”. The first shop, the first collection, the first award – all those milestone are decades behind them. But in 2020, the 74-year-old British designer is living through his first pandemic. As is customary in England now, our Zoom call begins with: “So how’s lockdown been for you?” “For me, it’s been at this table for weeks on end – 16 weeks alone – because the whole... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3101935/fashions-sir-paul-smith-pandemic-has-been-good-kick-bottom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3101935/fashions-sir-paul-smith-pandemic-has-been-good-kick-bottom?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2020 07:15:12 +0000 When was the last time you were excited to go to the dry cleaners? That right there – the resounding silence of trying to associate dry cleaning with excitement – is why The Steam Room in East London is such a rarity. Run by Tony Chung and his wife Fran Lieu, The Steam Room is a dry cleaners combined with a lifestyle shop and an underground events space. Arguably London’s coolest dry cleaners, it recently hosted an exhibition by the artist Xi Jianjun, and its clientele includes designers... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3048177/henry-holland-roksanda-ilincic-do-dry-cleaning-here?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3048177/henry-holland-roksanda-ilincic-do-dry-cleaning-here?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Feb 2020 07:00:14 +0000 The term “athleisure” might be in common use now, but back in 1998 when a 26-year-old Tamara Hill-Norton launched Sweaty Betty, the landscape was very different. It was the era of workout videos and home gym equipment. As for activewear, women’s options weren’t much of an upgrade from their old P.E. kits. They certainly weren’t something you wore out and about, let alone to trendy cocktail bars. Fast-forward to 2019 and you’d struggle to find a coffee shop in any cosmopolitan city without a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3035469/activewear-and-athleisure-pioneer-sweaty-bettys-founder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3035469/activewear-and-athleisure-pioneer-sweaty-bettys-founder?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Oct 2019 12:00:15 +0000 If, lately, you’ve found yourself hitting the ‘unfollow’ button on social media to improve your mental health, then welcome to life in 2019. “Oh, we all have!” says Naomi Shimada over the phone from her home in East London. “It’s unhealthy. There comes a point when you have to recognise what is triggering you and you have to separate yourself from that.” And while it might seem counter-intuitive for someone with 76k+ Instagram followers to advocate for a social media detox, that’s exactly what... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3027395/why-online-influencer-and-model-encourages-us-unplug?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3027395/why-online-influencer-and-model-encourages-us-unplug?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Sep 2019 04:35:39 +0000 “Although Asian is one of the largest ethnicities in the world, diverse images of Asian women are rarely included in Western mainstream magazines,” writes Wei Liu in his editor’s letter for the newly launched The Wow magazine. “Hollywood waited for 25 years to see another all-Asian cast in the film Crazy Rich Asians, so how long should we keep waiting to see a magazine for them? It’s about time, so here we are.” Liu is exhausted when I meet him in a cafe in London’s Victoria district. “I’m... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3013805/new-uk-fashion-magazine-asian-women-wow-and-man-behind-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3013805/new-uk-fashion-magazine-asian-women-wow-and-man-behind-it?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Jun 2019 07:00:19 +0000 There’s no mistaking Katie Ruensumran when she walks into the cafe of Ace Hotel London. Even in Shoreditch – home of the hipster – she stands out as a Frida Kahlo-esque figure, with her scarlet floral headband and billowing white dress. But unlike Khalo, Ruensumran is all smiles and hugs. Better known as Katie Monster on Instagram (@katieismonster), Ruensumran has become something of a street style sensation since being snapped by Vogue at London Fashion Week two years ago. Nowadays, her... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3010160/plus-size-trailblazer-katie-monster-not-your-average?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3010160/plus-size-trailblazer-katie-monster-not-your-average?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 May 2019 23:45:05 +0000 Renowned for its Scandinavian aesthetic, COS is the grown-up in the H&M group – the sophisticated sister that somehow always knows what to wear. But there are a few things that the casual COS shopper might not know. One, that the brand’s name is an acronym for Collection of Style; and two, that it is based in London, not Stockholm. It might also come as a surprise to learn that the brand is heavily involved in supporting the arts. Not only has COS hosted an exhibition at Milan Design Week for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3008971/cos-what-it-stands-and-how-coco-chanel-surprising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3008971/cos-what-it-stands-and-how-coco-chanel-surprising?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2019 10:30:06 +0000 It would be hard to have a conversation with Louis Sarkozy without politics coming up, not least because he is the youngest son of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But Louis – or @sarko_junior as he is known on Instagram to his 27k followers – is also a philosophy student, and they’re not known for being reticent. In fact, as a regular contributor to the Washington Examiner, Sarkozy has written lengthy articles ranging from ‘Why I won’t vote for Trump in 2020, even though I would have in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3007271/jefferson-shakespeare-louis-sarkozy-talks-about-making?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3007271/jefferson-shakespeare-louis-sarkozy-talks-about-making?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2019 05:00:20 +0000 “Our internal motto is ‘In Hobbs she trusts’,” says CEO Meg Lustman over the phone. She’s talking about the Hobbs shopper, who tends to be between 35 and 55, affluent, and urban (but with rural leanings). “We must never do anything that misleads our customer. We don’t want to put ourselves in a situation where the customer might be disappointed with us.” When you consider that Hobbs’ client base includes the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa Middleton, this makes sense. The Meghan... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2184993/how-kate-middleton-fashion-favourite-hobbs-coats-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2184993/how-kate-middleton-fashion-favourite-hobbs-coats-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Feb 2019 13:15:30 +0000 Theresa Harold Theresa Harold “[Lifestyle guru] Estee Lalonde wore a pink jumper that looked a lot like our Riley [knit] and we saw comments [on social media] saying, ‘Is that the Riley?’,” recounts Kawai Cheng, co-founder of cashmere brand Common Thread. That’s the moment when 28-year-old Cheng realised the brand had made it on Instagram. “We were like, ‘What?!’ It’s such a little thing, but it’s so exciting for us.” His tagline is ‘I make glamorous clothes out of trash’. Hong Kong trash Cheng launched the online label with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2177269/millennial-fashion-brand-uses-hong-kong-textile-traditions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2177269/millennial-fashion-brand-uses-hong-kong-textile-traditions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:15:45 +0000 Many people won’t understand Threads Styling. Is it an app? No. Is it an online store? Not really. The London-based fashion start-up, which sells to 100 countries, is the pioneer of chat commerce in the luxury retail space. What that means is that, instead of browsing a website, adding your chosen items to a basket, and then going through the process of typing in your card details before checking out, you simply … talk to someone. Hong Kong money to help fashion e-tailer Moda Operandi crack... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2176199/chat-commerce-pioneer-luxury-threads-styling-personalises?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2176199/chat-commerce-pioneer-luxury-threads-styling-personalises?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Dec 2018 00:15:00 +0000 There is an episode of Doraemon where the robotic cat uses a wand to get products shown on the TV. The latest toy, that new dress – anything a person wanted could be obtained by pointing the wand at the object displayed on the screen. New York-based retailer Choosy is like Doraemon’s gadget for womenswear. Why fast-fashion brands like H&M are losing millennial customers in Malaysia and Singapore Imagine scrolling through Instagram and seeing an outfit that you like. Up until now, you tap the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2157800/how-ai-start-choosy-speeds-fast-fashion-while-cutting-waste?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/2157800/how-ai-start-choosy-speeds-fast-fashion-while-cutting-waste?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Aug 2018 23:15:30 +0000 Like a Chinese version of Quintessentially – the global personal concierge service which takes care of its members’ every need – Mayfair Chan offers everything from private-club memberships to exclusive shopping sprees. And since appearing in a British television documentary, Shawn Sun – founder of the London-based lifestyle management company – has been inundated daily with emails from prospective clients. But, he says, he only deals with multibillionaires. Meet Esther Quek, Dubai’s most... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/2120062/personal-shopper-hong-kong-multibillionaires-their-taste?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/2120062/personal-shopper-hong-kong-multibillionaires-their-taste?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Nov 2017 09:15:23 +0000 When the hottest brand on the planet decides that it is no longer using fur, the fashion world sits up and listens. Announcing the decision at the annual London College of Fashion x Kering Talk last month, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri said: “Do you think using furs today is still modern? I don’t think it’s still modern and that’s the reason why we decided not to do that. It’s a little bit outdated. Creativity can jump in many different directions instead of using furs.” The Italian house joins... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/2119335/what-will-guccis-fur-ban-mean-hong-kong-lot-less-you-may?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/2119335/what-will-guccis-fur-ban-mean-hong-kong-lot-less-you-may?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Nov 2017 11:15:30 +0000 One of the biggest events in the beauty industry has just taken place and most people don’t even know about it. It was the TFWA (Tax Free World Association) World Exhibition & Conference in early October. Every year, more than 12,000 professionals flock to the French Riviera – to the same convention centre as the Cannes Film Festival – for a five-day global summit on the state of the duty-free and travel retail industry. Duty-free shopping surges in popularity in China Estée Lauder, L’Oréal,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2118085/how-duty-free-shopping-changing-beauty-industry-forcing-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2118085/how-duty-free-shopping-changing-beauty-industry-forcing-it?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Nov 2017 23:15:49 +0000