Rising to a Challenge
Jane Louey showed some serious sass on our cover shoot—and not one bit of squeamishness despite the earthiness of the location
ane Louey is a trooper. There’s no better way to describe her attitude during our cover shoot at the International Riding Centre in Yuen Long. It was a sweltering day and yet she appeared as cool as a cucumber, even playing ball with photographer Olivier Yoan. She donned the clothes stylist Harry Lam had chosen for her with panache and had no qualms about picking up the baby goats that roam the centre. While some of us on the Tatler team were bitten viciously by mosquitoes, none attacked Jane‚ maybe because she stayed so remarkably composed throughout the day. “I love a challenge,” she told us as she lay on the grass in beautiful couture, the creepy crawlies that live there far from her thoughts. And she clearly does love a challenge.
Jane, a mother of three and the wife of James Louey, brought her own stylist and hair and make-up person. “I’ve worked with them for some 10 years. I trust them completely,” she said. And she looked positively radiant, even while handling the animals and coping with insects when they dared to land on her gorgeous couture. “This was a lot of fun,” she said as we wrapped up. “I’ve never done a shoot like it.”
jane Louey doesn’t like to sit still. We’re in the living room of her multistorey mansion on The Peak, a droolworthy property that’s both sleekly decorated and charmingly warm, but the mother of three doesn’t seem interested in lounging on the sofa. Barefoot, in denim shorts and a casual white blouse, she dashes to the kitchen and has her staff bring me a coffee. Seconds later she takes a phone call, then rushes to the door to welcome home her husband, James, who joins us. Jane is pure energy—just as she was during our cover shoot, for which she played with goats, lay in the grass and cheerfully executed whatever requests the photographer threw her way. “I’m a multitasker,” she laughs, “always looking for the next thing to get busy with. And I like a good challenge, whether it’s in my everyday life or during something different, like a photo shoot. Life’s too short to be prissy about it.” From the straight-forward, down-to-earth nature of our chat, it’s clear she means it. “I don’t like to play tai tai. It’s not in my character. I’m a straight-up, very positive person. James and my kids wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Her husband and children are the centre of Jane’s world. She and James have been married for 20 years and are, he tells me, best friends. The children—jeremy, 17, Jacqueline, 13, and Jamie, 10—are their pride and joy and the figures around which life at the Loueys’ revolves. “Family. And I couldn’t be prouder of mine,” asserts Jane.
The couple, who take pains to share parenting duties equally, glow when discussing the household’s younger generation. They strive to be as present as possible—jane organising their afterschool schedules, social commitments and meals; James sharing his creative side (he has a recording studio in the basement, and produces music and videos in his spare time). “There’s not much going out these days, but I really don’t mind,” Jane says. “I love being here, the five of us. Jeremy is studying in the States now, and the girls are growing so fast… All I want is to spend as much time as possible with them before they leave the nest.”