BENEATH THE SURFACE

Beatrice Ho on owning her body, learning from strong female role models, and why fashion is so much more than just window dressing

- Jacqueline Tsang

Most Hongkongers do their power walks in exercise gear—a Lululemon outfit, perhaps, with trainers in varying shades of neon. Beatrice Ho has just returned from a brisk stride around Deep Water Bay dressed in a black crop top and long ruffled skirt, as well as a pair of three-inch-high Stella McCartney Sneak Elyse incline trainers.

This is unsurprising given that Ho doesn’t own a single pair of flats (nor, for that matter, jeans). “I own these Stella McCartney trainers and a pair of workout trainers—because honestly, what else can you wear to play tennis?” she says, laughing. “But everything else in my wardrobe consists of varying styles and heights of heels.”

Ho is the daughter of prominent businesswoman Daisy Ho, and she attributes much of her style to the powerful women of the Ho family, starting with her maternal grandmother, Lucina Laam.

“My late grandmother told me: you don’t know who you’re going to meet when you walk out of the house every morning,” she says. “Normally—when I don’t go on a walk—I try to have my hair and make-up done [before leaving home]. Every single day, you should look presentable at the bare minimum, and [preferably] have a dimension of flair in some way, so people will remember you. You want to stand out in a positive way.”