CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC

If there's one designer who seems to know how to get women shopping, it's Han Chong, the founder and creative director of London-based fashion label Self-Portrait. Here, he tells Noelle Loh how he and his brand are keeping the joy of dressing up alive.

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If there’s one designer who seems to know how to get women shopping, it’s Han Chong, the founder and creative director of London-based fashion label Self-Portrait.

Here, he tells Noelle Loh how he and his brand are keeping the joy of dressing up alive.

As we write this, the latest Self-Portrait girl can be said to be Carina Lau, the 59-year-old actress who starred in its Lunar New Year campaign this year that paid homage to the Hong Kong TV dramas many – including the label's creative director Han Chong – had grown up with. Before her, it was Emily Ratajkowski – or whom Han refers to as Emrata – who fronted the brand's pageant-inspired Resort 2025 campaign and was suitably dubbed Miss Self-Portrait. Back in Spring Summer 2024, that title, so to speak, went to Blackpink's Jisoo, who was the face of the brand that season with her effortlessly ethereal Korean beauty.

One takeaway here? Yeah, the privately owned Self-Portrait, founded by the Malaysia-born, London-based Han in 2013, has achieved some serious commercial success to be able to splash out on such high-powered celebrity marketing. According to a December 2024 article in Forbes, it has 80 points of retail globally, including several stunning stand-alone boutiques. The other major observation is the degree of diversity at play here. None of the three names share much in common except for their megawatt influence, mother status and the fact that all wear Han's accessibly priced designs.