YVONNE Le

Yvonne Le grew up in a true entrepreneurial environment with her family having a successful fashion business in China. She has studied and worked in the business and fashion sectors in London and Milan. Le recently moved to Shanghai to found her own company to launch new lifestyle projects.

My personal style is classic and elegant with some fashionable touches. I have studied and worked in the Milan fashion industry. It was interesting to see the latest fashion trends rising and yet people finding their own way of reinterpreting and dressing those fashion pieces.

The best outfit I’ve ever worn for a special occasion was my wedding dress. It was from an Italian haute couture brand. The boutique is located in a historical villa in the city center of Milan. It was love at first sight. The dress has a gorgeous floral print on a triple-layer gown with a long dress-train. It took me six months to do all the fittings, but the wait was totally worth it.

I follow trends by keeping an eye on all the major fashion news on platforms like WGSN, while watching several luxury brands’ runway shows. It is interesting to see how fashion trends all come in a cycle. New trends and collections are inspired by masterpieces created by fashion geniuses, such as Christian Dior over 60 years ago.

I usually shop for clothes and accessories in Milan. Brera is one of my favorite areas. There are so many boutique shops where you can purchase unique high-quality pieces made in Italy.

If I have to limit my shopping to one neighborhood in Shanghai, it would be Fumin Road. There are some emerging Chinese designers’ boutiques located there. When friends visit in Shanghai, I take them there. There’s always something to buy, leather accessories, evening dresses and cashmere sweaters.

My favorite fashion brand is Mes Demoiselles, from Paris. Its collections are characterized by the vast use of light and fabulous fabrics, such as silk, to make you feel good and comfortable.

The designers I most admire are Chanel and Vivienne Westwood. They could turn traditions upside down and create new paradigms in fashion.

The style icon I look up to is Liu Wen. Her looks are always fashionable but she manages to keep it simple.

The last item I added to my wardrobe was a black wool coat from Chanel, very simple but with a very beautiful military-inspired stand collar.

The fashion item I’m eying next is a pair of ski boots. Ski season is coming and fashion must move from the city to the mountain.

My grooming staples start with my Aveda hair brush to comb my frizzy hair. Then I will use the fancy but effective Dyson hairdryer to get the shape I want.

My signature perfume for winter is Shanghai Lily from Tom Ford.

The best souvenir was some hand-craft pieces from my travels.

The most memorable place I have been to was a private island called the Mnemba, north of Zanzibar in Tanzania, North Africa. The beauty of its pristine beaches and the deep light-blue color of the sea are truly breathtaking. I could swim surrounded by dolphins and was even able to watch newborn turtles coming out from the sand and going to the sea for the very first time.

Alan Sartori

After living between London and Milan, Alan Sartori moved to Hong Kong to change a career from banking to entrepreneurship. He has lived in Shanghai for two years now and recently opened a new coffee-bar Momenti in Xintiandi. He alternates from formal suit and tie at the office to a more relaxed and casual style when at play.

I adapt my style according to the occasion. However, generally I tend to dress in a classic smart-casual look. But I do like fashionable pieces too.

I believe the key is starting from the ground up and by making sure my wardrobe is well filled with basics: right but simple T-shirts, nice tailored shirts and sweatshirts of different colors help me to get ready even when I do not have time to think, and when I’m in a rush. Then I wear an accessory or something a bit out-of-the-ordinary that makes the outfit stand out a bit.

The best outfit I’ve ever worn for a special occasion was a modern slim-fit black version of the Sun-Yat-Sen suit at my Hong Kong wedding last year. It was tailor made with three fittings in Hong Kong.

I follow fashion trends by looking at fashion magazines, but my major source of inspiration is traveling, especially when I happen to be in some of the world fashion capitals, such as Milan and London. There you are literally surrounded by all the latest trends.

I usually shop for clothes and accessories when I travel in Europe. In Milan, in particular, it is very easy for me as I can find many niche brands and collections I cannot find here. Prices tend to be lower when shopping overseas.

My favorite fashion brand is Bottega Veneta. I know its founder personally, heard his stories and the true origins of the brand and it is a fashion house born in my hometown, Vicenza, Italy.

Bottega Veneta is all about the best quality leather hand-crafted, shaped with an iconic yet minimal and functional design. Pure elegance.

The designer I most admire is Hedi Slimane, someone remarkable for long-standing success in the fashion jungle and his very iconic, distinctive design style. His indie-rock obsessive collections are “wearable” and “balanced” and not too extravagant. I find some fashion creative directors too extreme nowadays.

The last item I added to my wardrobe was a pair of burn-orange color velvet pants from a small shop in Italy. They are perfect for winter.

The fashion item I’m eying next is a Yves Salomon winter hooded parka. Beautiful, fashionable and functional.

I collect red wine. In our home in Milan I have a decent wine collection.

My signature perfume is Tom Ford Tobacco Oud. I love its bold and unique fragrance. It has notes of tobacco, incense, vanilla and whiskey.

The best souvenir I brought home was a nice photographic book about the history of Zanzibar. Images sometimes are more powerful than anything else.

The most memorable place I have traveled to in the past was Morocco. I always like to go back from time to time. Marrakech with its Yves Saint Laurent gardens, its Medina, the Royal Palace, curated art galleries, refined and sophisticated restaurants and Essaouira. A hidden gem, a small medieval walled-city on the coast facing the Atlantic ocean coast, so romantic and charming.

The last book I read was The Alchemist, a novel by Pablo Coelho, an interesting Brazilian writer. I like thinking that “when you really want something to happen, the whole universe will conspire so that your wish comes true.”