Florence Chang, The Gracious Tai Tai

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on Friday, August 21, 2009 12:00 AM

Can you pinpoint the exact moment when you thought ‘I love fashion and colour coordination, I'm going to do this for a living'?

Although I can't pinpoint the exact time when I knew I would be a style and colour expert, seeing Lady Kier, the lead singer of Deee-lite, wearing these crazy Pucci leggings and John Fluevog platforms with flipped hair and lashes that hit the sky, well, her Groove is in the Heart and I just felt it.
I've always loved art and styling is a form that I am fortunate to be able to practice everyday. Choosing pieces in an ensemble is like choosing different colours in a painting or any other media. We can be as rich and vivid as a Matisse, and as minimalist as Malevich's solid Black Square. For me, fashion and colour are a form of expression. I guess you could say I literally wear my heart on my sleeve.

Is that what you hope to help your clients achieve also?

I love the confidence my clients have when they know they are putting their best foot forward. By no means is dressing in itself going to change a person's life, but it helps when you look in the mirror and you like what you see.

If you could be any colour, which one would you be?

I would be raspberry because it's a passionately intense shade in my colour season. It's also one of the most flattering colours on me. The ends of my hair were raspberry when Vogue Editor-at-Large, Andre Leon Talley, complimented me on it.

What do you do to enjoy Shanghai?

I am constantly prepping for appointments and am quite diligent at hitting the malls and private boutiques. I frequent Grand Gateway, City Plaza and Plaza 66. I love this one boutique, J Couture, in the French Concession. It's by appointment only and looking at the Qing dynasty clothing, the care and artistry with which each piece was embroidered a century ago, I discover something new each time I'm there.