HAN RISING

As the founder and creative director of Self-Portrait, he has cemented his position as a visionary in the global fashion industry. Now, he is taking on a new challenge by acquiring the legendary womenswear brand Roland Mouret. Han Chong opens up about the journey leading up to this moment and his aspirations for this exciting new chapter

- Zue Wei Leong

Han Chong does not waste time. The day before his cover shoot and interview with Tatler, he hosted four separate sessions to personally introduce Self-Portrait’s pre-fall 2023 collection to his Malaysian clientele. Kuala Lumpur was the penultimate stop of his short Asia tour, having completed his rounds in Hong Kong, Taipei, and Shanghai. His next stop is Singapore; it is on the day of our photo shoot and he cannot miss his flight. Chong’s busy schedule is meticulously pre-planned months, and sometimes even a year, in advance, but this is his normal; he has always worked at a breakneck pace.

In 2013, the Malaysian-born, London-based fashion designer launched his womenswear label Self-Portrait with a collection of reasonably-priced guipere lace dresses. Within a year, the brand’s signature designs were stocked in Selfridges, one of the UK’s most prestigious department stores. Within five years, SelfPortrait had opened its first flagship store, on Albemarle Street in London; became the highlight of the New York Fashion Week circuit; and garnered high-profile endorsements from some of the world’s most familiar names, including Michelle Obama and Kate Middleton.

“In the early days of Self-Portrait, I was still figuring things out on my own but I knew I had to make the most of any opportunity. I had to scale up, build my team and set up the right infrastructure very quickly to meet the demand,” Chong recalls with a laugh.

Against the odds, Self-Portrait graduated from being an emerging brand to an established label with commercial success in two of the world’s most competitive fashion markets. But just as it was beginning its global domination, the pandemic brought the entire fashion industry to a grinding halt.