Queen Of Cool

Fashion lover and ready-to-wear collector Peng Lee opens up her minimalist chic home and trans-seasonal wardrobe.

- Emmilyn Yeoh

Peng Lee and I have thrown her wardrobe inside-out and upside-down. We are combing through packed rows of designer ready-to-wear that fall between fashion and vintage, organised in boutique-style glass cabinets, looking for the final look that perfectly encapsulates her style. The air conditioning has gone incognito on this humid Friday morning, and there are gladiator heels, leather corset belts, and pants of all cuts and colours strewn across the floor, as we scurry about trying to find the right accessories, to which she offers her Patek Philippe watch. “That’s the only accessory I wear,” she says, ironically, and almost apologetically. “That, and a fine gold chain.” We finally settle on a Dries Van Noten tank—“My husband calls it an overpriced Pagoda T-shirt, but there is a difference,” she says like a true fashion person—worn with Rachel Comey slouchy jeans, a military belt, and her signature Chanel Autumn/ Winter ’18-approved messy bun, accentuated with her too-cool-for school demeanour. We rush down to the garden, where her 6-year-old daughter Aerin Lee is running through the Caesalpinia trees with her French bulldog Tofu, ready for the picture perfect shot. Peng eases into her Marni sandals and throws on a textured Dries Van Noten rainbow vest, which Tofu starts chewing at as we click away ...

This could be a day in the life of Peng Lee, former fashion industry professional, who has worked the spectrum from Jimmy Choo to Fendi, Louis Vuitton to Cartier, with the bursting wardrobe and sample-size silhouette to show for it. “Sometimes, I don’t know where to start, so I just pull out a T-shirt and jeans before I head out,” she jokes.