Dressing Up As An Art Form

As a Southeast Asian art specialist, Lau Yunyi manages to strike the perfect balance between fashion and style with a wardrobe that is best described as a monochrome with a twist.

- Windy Aulia

Inspired. By. An. Oreo. Cookie,” says Lau Yunyi in jest when asked to describe her own style in five words. Although, technically, it’s the truth in the case of her mostly monochromatic wardrobe. This fashion fiend counts her mother as an influence in shaping her style sensibility.

“We have completely different aesthetics, but she taught me to have an eye for details and to make my choices with conviction. As I learnt to be more confident in my decisions in life, I think my style similarly followed in the same way and became a natural extension of my personality,” says Yunyi.

She recalls her first fashion memory: being mesmerised by Dorothy’s red slippers in The Wizard of Oz. It showed her the transformative power of fashion and its ability to influence our state of mind or take us to a different realm of fantasy. She says: “I never forgot those slippers and, a few years ago, I purchased a pair of Marco de Vincenzo red crystal sandals inspired by that memory.”

Philosophical yet spirited, there’s a serious and fun dichotomy in the way that Yunyi approaches how she dresses, and it seems exceptionally wise despite her relatively young age of 32. In her own words: “Fashion is an aspect of social reality that is grounded in clothes and accessories, which reflect certain cultural and historical happenings in the contemporary world. Style on the other hand, is the way in which we express ourselves visually to the outside world, to make a statement about who we are as individuals.”