How do you feel? How could you feel better?” Han Chong asks me. It’s a question the Self-Portrait designer has asked each of the acquaintances enlisted to trial his pieces, because he’s been on a mission to design for a woman’s mood, as well as her body, from day one. The only thing that has changed? The customers buying into Chong’s vision of contemporary femininity now includes Beyoncé, Michelle Obama and the Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex. He’s a good listener.
“You need to understand her to be able to design for her,” continues Chong. “It’s all about the feeling, because clothes are so personal.” His latest launch: a swimwear edit, required some serious customer feedback. It was in the inception phase for years before he committed to a production schedule 12 months ago. “I wanted to make sure that my team was ready to grow and take on the heavier workload,” he clarifies. “And that the factory was capable of producing the quantity to my standards. You only have one chance when launching a new category – your reputation is at stake.”
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For the grand unveiling, Chong invited a handful of his influencer friends from all over the world to join him in Langkawi, an island off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia and his homeland state Penang. The social currency of his guests posting pictures of themselves wearing Self-Portrait swimwear (search the hashtag #sunseaSP to see for yourself) is undeniable. Aimee Song, Helena Bordon, Eleonora Carisi et al showed the myriad ways to style the bikinis, one-pieces and cover-ups in prints and colourways inspired by the tropical region of Asia. “These girls have supported the brand from the start,” Chong explains of his network, who happen to have a combined follower count in the millions. “They’ve watched me push a bit more each season, but without going too far from the brand identity.”
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Celebrating on the shores that were the backdrop of his childhood brought Chong’s career full circle. He discovered fashion at the age of 17 when a Central Saint Martins tutor disrupted his quiet lifestyle. “He introduced me to this amazing subject I knew nothing about, so I went deep into it,” he remembers. Chong left his parents and their jerky shop, which is still up and running today, and moved to London. After a brief stint dabbling in art (he presented his work in group shows at the Venice Biennale), he cofounded affordable red-carpet brand Three Floor with Yvonne Hoang in 2011, and left two years later to go it alone. Chong’s guipure lace and lattice-embroidered signatures were born, and Self-Portrait became the frontrunner of the affordable red-carpet wear movement.
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As a privately-owned company – a rarity in the current fashion landscape – Self-Portrait has had to evolve beyond pretty, affordable dresses, because competition in the contemporary brand sphere is fierce compared to when Chong mapped out his inclusive company strategy. “It’s a positive thing that women now have more choices than just high street or designer,” he says, dismissing his rivals. “It’s a good message to young girls that princesses wear £300 dresses to big events. It makes me proud.” The Self-Portrait dress the Duchess of Cambridge wore to a film premiere in November 2016, for example, continues to sell out and is then put back on pre-order on Self-portrait-studio.com.
Who would he most like to dress? The fan hiding inside the businessman peeps out: “In terms of getting the most engagement and the best response, I love dressing the royals,” he giggles. “They can wear anything they want, and they choose me!” Refreshingly, he’s not afraid to admit that the pieces worn by high-profile clients are the bread and butter that, in part, fuels his brand, but, he clarifies, “The main thing is that a woman can feel free and have fun in my designs – that is how she gets noticed.”
What’s next? “I haven’t thought of another category yet because I want to make swimwear work properly,” he says honestly. “It’s not about my design ego, it’s about surprising the Self-Portrait woman with things she didn’t know she needed all year round.” Place your bets on which celebrity will join the #sunseaSP gang first.
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