The Prestige roster of young movers and shakers this year has a generous addition of new names that we are thrilled to shine the light on – be it serious art collectors, documentary filmmakers, aspiring philanthropists, sportsmen and women, restaurateurs or writers. Of course, the usual suspects are ably represented: business people, property tycoons-in-the-making and second-gen surnames who have added a new tangent to their family activities.
FULL-PAGE PORTRAITS: Until Chan
STYLING: Florent Thiebault
HAIR AND MAKE-UP: Wendy Lee
Olivia Dawn
For musically minded Olivia Dawn, the world is a stage. A Juilliard bachelor and Berklee double-master graduate, Dawn is known for her powerful vocals and incredible talent on the violin. The string player has worked with top musicians and emerging artists in the industry, performing innovative live sets across the globe, and has now been named as the official music curator for W Hong Kong. The multi-talented instrumentalist tells us, “I’m passionate about music, about thinking outside the box, always chasing dreams. I don’t think you should give up on anything, so I don’t.”
Justin Cheung
Justin Cheung, son of acclaimed Hong Kong film director Alfred Cheung, is making his own move into the world of movie making: the 23-year-old tells us he hopes to work between the Chinese and US film industry. Cheung recently graduated from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and is currently in the final stages of producing a documentary exploring the complex relationship between domestic workers and their employers, which is based on his childhood growing up with a helper in Hong Kong.
Amanda Lau
Since graduating from the University of Hong Kong and furthering her studies at Peking University, Columbia University and CKGSB, the ambitious Amanda Lau has forged a career in the charity sector. She has spent time working tirelessly for a number of deserving causes over the years, and has currently hung her hat at Unicef Hong Kong. In 2014, in recognition of her charitable efforts, she received a knighthood in the Order of Malta. Anything else? Well, she’s an ambassador for a number of luxury brands too, including Asia’s premium private charter-jet consultancy, L’Voyage.
Arthur Lam
Thirty-two-year-old Arthur Lam is the name to know in the clean-power space. He co-founded the energy management company Synergy in 2009 with the aim of offering businesses the technology and solutions to save energy and money, all the while reducing their carbon emissions. Synergy is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and earlier this year it was named Most Promising Public Listed Company by Forbes China, proving its potential significance in this fast-growing market. When Lam isn’t working, you’re likely to find him out in the open air, often golfing, playing tennis or scuba diving.
Plus these other awesome peeps - feature is written by the entire Editorial staff. I just have my bits and blobs here - the rest you can read at PrestigeOnline.com
Harris Chan
Fashion is in Harris Chan’s DNA. His parents founded women’s label Moiselle in 1997 and the success of the brand now sits squarely on Chan’s entrepreneurial shoulders. The young designer regularly invites his Insta-star circle to sit front-row at his shows, dressed in Moiselle – naturally. Of note this year was the runway show that took over Duddell Street and quickly turned into the hottest ticket in town. Chan remains committed to giving back to the community; he’s been involved with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, as well as being co-chair of the amfAR charity ball in 2016.
Jonathan Cheung
Inexhaustibly stylish and always on trend, Jonathan Cheung is co-founder of Buzz Agency, which over the last few years has monopolised the hottest events and parties in the city. Every major fashion house and brand has his calling card, as his personal and professional guest-list is second to none. Born and bred in Hong Kong, he studied at Parsons School of Design in New York and then went on to earn a graduate degree at the University College London’s Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. Like all local billionaires and budding billionaires, Cheung has a major hand in real-estate projects, including ones at ITC Properties, and in several family investments around the globe.
Edwin Chuang
The young businessman, property tycoon-in-the-making and hotelier (Sáv Hospitality) Edwin Chuang has had an intense year. His company made a record-breaking sale of the most expensive house in Hong Kong (a private villa on Gough Hill Road) and opened a resort in Xiamen. A 300-unit residential project in Tuen Mun is up for sale to the general public and he’s opened a resort in Cebu. He’s also sailed into the yacht business as his company bought out Versil Craft, a 70-year-old Italian brand that’s known to be among the best in the world. For relaxation, if you can call it that, he boxes - he spars down in Central at Soho Fitness. Which he also owns. Obviously.
Orlando Ho
Son of casino tycoon Stanley, 25-year-old Orlando Ho heads gaming company Koo Tech, which successfully launched the popular game Age of Quantum last year. Born and brought up in Hong Kong and Macau, he studied in the US and came back home after graduating from Boston University. He set up the tech enterprise two years ago with an office in Hong Kong (business) and one in Chengdu (operations). It’s not all fun and games in mind for Ho – there is serious ambition too. In the coming year, he has stated that he’d like his company and his team to be counted as one of the top 10 game makers of the year.
Queenie Rosita Law
Production Q is the creative studio founded in 2014 by Queenie Rosita Law. With clients as varied as Joyce Gallery Paris, K11 and Roger Vivier commissioning customised art, Law offers a striking and personal selection of design elements to leading luxury brands. In addition to her growing enterprise, this leading lady has also turned her hand to publishing. To date, she has published two city books: on Singapore and Hong Kong – focused on offering a unique kind of travel guide written from the perspective of local artists. This duo sits alongside Law’s highly personal and poignant book that explores the way creativity allows you to overcome hardships.
Sean Lee-Davies
Sean Lee Davies has expanded his activities significantly since his days as a contributing photographer for Prestige. First, there was his effortless banter as host on the television show Tycoon Talk. He also writes, directs and produces television programmes, while his interest in non-profit ventures, charities and animal-rescue operations endear him to many. As CEO of Awethentic Studio and Gallery (which curates and encourages local and international talent) he’s embarked on yet another project to keep him occupied. To top it all, he also heads Project C:Change, which raises funds and awareness in Asia to combat the trade in endangered species.
Loui Lim
The handsome young man wears more than one cap: director of Dream Cruises, and vice president of Branding & Brand Marketing and Communications for Genting Cruise Lines (a portfolio of cruise ships that spans the globe). Having conquered the seven seas, his ambitions have taken flight this year – he recently launched Hong Kong-based Crystal AirCruises, one of the world’s largest private jets for charter and custom itineraries, which is based in Hong Kong. With a background in investment banking, a BA in architecture and a Master’s degree in business management, his personal portfolio also includes modelling in photo shoots.
Joanna Lui
Since we last met Joanna Lui (daughter of resort and casino mogul Francis Lui), the founder of luxury-lifestyle cafe Cha Bei has been a very busy bee. Not only does she oversee Lifestyle Curation Services at Galaxy Entertainment Group and hold the title of Executive Director of the GEG Foundation, but she’s also launched another ambitious project, Dean & Deluca, bringing the wares of the New York-based purveyor of fine food to Hong Kong and Macau. A graduate of Tufts University in the United States, she worked in hospitality before joining the family fold at Galaxy Macau. To top it all, she got married earlier this year; as we go to print, she and her husband are expecting their first child.
Edward Muller
For many spinners this face – well, this body – is familiar, but Edward Muller is a part-time fitness instructor at XYZ, and so much more than a sweaty tank-top. He owns, among several other businesses, Selvedge Grooming, the luxury men’s brand that’s sold at high-end boutiques. American-born Muller grew up in Beijing and Hong Kong, and after studying in Sydney he settled back in this city. Passionate about scents and fragrances - he stumbled upon barber-shop culture half a decade ago and decided to study it further – and with more than 10 years of product development and marketing experience in consumer goods behind him, he collaborated with a team of developers from Italy to turn his latest obsession for the male-grooming industry into reality.
Ivan Pun
Pun + Projects has an ever-growing portfolio that encompasses several restaurants as well as the contemporary Burmese furniture brand Paribawga – he founded the TS 1 pop-up in downtown Yangon to support local artists, a project he hopes to replicate annually. Earlier this year, Pun launched Hawkr, a tasty new venture in Quarry Bay (alongside chef Mina Park and private-equity principal and restauranteur Jake Astor), bringing Southeast Asian fare to the island. A new Pacific Place branch is set to open imminently.
Lucia Tait-Tolani
Lucia Tate-Tolani has her own company, a by-invitation only personal styling service (pairhk.com) that caters to the most fashionable women in the region. Tait-Tolani brings in designers, brands and retailers that aren’t regularly available in Hong Kong for private shopping events. The idea is to have some fun with fashion, meet the creatives involved and fall in love with a new way of dressing – without overpaying. Her services include one-on-one personal styling (for the manicured few), and she clearly knows her Altuzarra to Zegna, having been in the fashion industry for over a decade. She studied at Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology, worked in fashion and lifestyle publications, had a stint in e-commerce (Vivre) and is a firm believer in redemption by re-wear and recycle.
Lois Tien
As brand manager of the flirty and feminine women's-wear label Anagram, Lois Tien looks after the success of her three family-owned boutiques in Hong Kong, with a fourth store in Macau. The daughter of Michael, founder of the G2000 empire that revolutionised women’s work-wear wardrobes, Tien is closing 2017 on a high: she’s set to open a fifth store, at Causeway Bay’s shopping destination Lee Garden One, before the end of the year.
Rex Tso
Rex Tso has been in 22 fights and he’s won all 22 of them. Born in Tuen Mun, the boxer has won all regional super-flyweight titles and has been ranked in the world’s Top 10. He trains at DEF Boxing gym in Hong Kong, and turned pro just six years ago. He’s only the third ethnic-Chinese boxer to be signed to Top Rank and is easily one of the most exciting sportsmen to watch in the ring – as his dramatic fight against Kohei Kono proved. The battle was stopped in the seventh round, because of Tso’s swollen eye from an accidental head-butt (by the way, he won the match). Tso recently signed a lucrative multi-year deal with sports giant Nike. The boxing champion earned the nickname “The Wonder Kid” for sheer effort and skill – and he’s as quick as can be in the boxing ring. To pilfer an expression from another champ (as he may have inherited the philosophy): float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Rosemary Vandenbroucke
As a leading name in Hong Kong’s wellness community, former model Rosemary Vandenbroucke works to inspire and empower people on their personal journey. With her experience as a holistic health coach and her passion for helping people find their own best self, Vandenbroucke has stepped in to curate a number of wellness programmes across Asia, including at the Wonderfruit festival held in mid-December in Thailand. The RYT 500-certified yoga instructor is also passionate about philanthropy, supporting wildlife and environmental causes both close to home and further afield.
Published November 2017, Prestige Hong Kong.
