Designer Chloe Chen on her first Hong Kong flagship store on Hollywood Road and finding a fan in Cameron Diaz
Congratulations on the opening of your flagship store in Hong Kong. How does it feel?Like when you’ve worked hard for something for a long time and finally feel like you achieved something special. I moved to Hong Kong in 2019 and I have been looking for a suitable store location for over a year—and finally, we found the right one. I’ve had my shops in Shanghai and Taiwan for many years. Hong Kong is the centre of Asia and it was always the goal to open a shop here. I feel very proud and astonished by what my team and I have done. Everything feels complete. It feels very rewarding.
Tell us a little about your background.I was born and raised in Taiwan. After university, I started my own brand in Taipei in 2000. A few years after that, I decided to continue my education in fashion. I took a fashion marketing course at Parsons School of Design [in New York]. I also took a leather design course at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. I then moved to Shanghai and lived there for 13 years. After meeting my husband, Broderick, who lives in Hong Kong, I moved here.
Chloe Chen. Photo: Zed Leets/Tatler Hong Kong
What inspired you to launch your brand?When I was young, I always thought my mum was a very stylish woman. She loved art, flowers and reading— she is my muse and idol. When I was in college [at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei], I tried to wear and re-do her clothes. I got a lot of compliments on my outfits. After graduation, I decided to open a fashion store in Taipei, which had a lot of my mum’s influence.
How would you describe your brand and what makes your designs unique?Our brand carries a lot of products that have simple designs with unique details. Our products are also cut well. Every detail in every piece is designed by my team and me. We put a lot of time and effort into creating special touches for our customers—pieces that you can only find at Chloe Chen. Inspired by my mother, I also incorporated a lot of 1970s, glam- rock elements: I have tie-dye, headbands and maxi dresses. It’s very east-meets-west. Customers can find a pop of surprise in everything they pick.
Any celebrity fans you can tell us about?In New York, I was wearing a pair of heels from our brand; a stranger walked over and asked where I bought them from. I said they are from a brand that I established in Asia. He then pointed at Cameron Diaz [whom he was with] and said she really liked the heels. At the time, I was so excited that I lost my mind completely. I totally forgot to give her my business card and [missed the chance to] send her a pair!
Hero Design Group was brought onboard to design the space. Photo: Harold de Puymorin
Where do you get your inspiration from?Everytime someone asks me which magazines I look at for inspiration, I always say: I don’t read fashion magazines at all. I like to read interior design and travel magazines. Most of my inspiration comes from my travels. I don’t like to follow trends because I want our clients to find unique pieces when they walk into our store—pieces that they cannot get elsewhere.
What have been the peaks and the pits of your journey in fashion so far?The peak of my journey would probably be between 2013 and 2014, when I had a showroom in New York and a showroom in Paris. At that time, I flew to Paris and New York multiple times every year. During that time, I also had 22 stores and multiple distributors in Asia. In 2013, I held a fashion show in New York with other Asian designers, and that was truly a “pinch-me” moment. I feel very lucky and I enjoy the journey of being a designer a lot. Sometimes I need to work a bit harder, and there are of course difficult moments, but I love my job and my team, so when I look back at my journey, I don’t see any moments as pits—everything is a learning opportunity for me.
You ventured into home design in 2018. Where did that interest stem from?Design and style are one. I always liked to decorate my shop and my house. The interest started when our clients began to show interest in purchasing the furniture in my fashion store. One time a client even asked me to design their home. I realised that people liked the warmth in our shop—we have a mixture of western and eastern elements in our design. I also like to incorporate a lot of elements from nature and repurpose old furniture.
Chloe Chen. Photo: Harold de Puymorin
How did the collaboration with Hero Design Group come about? The owner and CEO of Hero Design Group, Ann Chan Lu, is a friend of mine. We had a very short turnaround time for the shop in Hong Kong; Ann and her team were really helpful and agreed to put this project together for us. Hero Design incorporates a lot of storytelling in its design projects. It focuses a lot on narrative-design spaces, which really aligns with the Chloe Chen brand.
Do you have any new collaborations in the works? Our flagship store in Shanghai is about to be expanded to three storeys. We have an upcoming furniture collaboration, which will be a fun one to add to our collection. Meanwhile, we are working with Thirty30 Creative, led by Victoria Tang-Owen, to uplift the Chloe Chen brand. We have been working with her for a few months and weare excited to launch the rebrand once it is ready.
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