San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A LOVE LETTER TO THE GRANDMAS OF CHINATOWN
“Chinatown Pretty” celebrates the littleknown fashion stories of neighborhood’s seniors
A flash of jade sneaker. A red and gold 49ers winter hat, tilted just so. Floral on top of floral on top of floral. A peek of sock knit with the words “My favorite salad is wine.” When Bay Area photographer Andria Lo and writer Valerie Luu started capturing the street style of seniors in San Francisco’s Chinatown six years ago, it was those sartorial details, and the stories behind them, that caught their attention. A jacket customtailored in Hong Kong revealed a tale of immigration; a handstitched pocket offered life lessons in resourcefulness. Lo and Luu’s personal project grew into an article, an art exhibit, a blog and an Instagram account.
Now, it’s a book.
On Sept. 22, the pair will publish “Chinatown Pretty,” an ode to the Chinatowns of San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Vancouver, British Columbia, and the older residents who turn their streets into a perpetual fashion show.
“This book is a love letter to Chinatown and to grandmas,” says Luu.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit San Francisco’s Chinatown with the dual disasters of economic crisis and xenophobia, Lo and Luu hope their book reminds people that protecting these neighborhoods means engaging with them and inspires readers to reach out to elders who won’t be around forever.
“Call your grandparents,” says Lo.
Q: “Chinatown Pretty” is the name of your book, but it’s also a term you’ve created for a particular style. How do you describe it?
Luu: “Chinatown pretty” the style is a patchwork, a quilt of different textures and eras, a lot of different patterns, colors. It’s a mix of handmade items, things people crafted themselves, customtailored clothes and things that are gifted. It results in this unique, eclectic style.
Q: When you approach someone and say you want to photograph them or talk about their outfit, what is the reaction?
Luu: People are like, “No, this old thing? I’m not pretty, I’m old.” We look at them and there’s a story with the outfit, the color schemes, the textures. We say, “Pòh poh hóu leng,” which means “pretty grandma” or “damn grandma, you look good.” That’s the motto of “Chinatown Pretty.”
Q: What does the Chinatown pretty style say about the people who wear it? How does it represent their stories?
Luu: A lot of outfits speak to their immigration stories, clothes from Hong Kong from years ago and clothes they made themselves. A lot of them worked in clothing factories. Lo: When we started to talk with more people, we noticed a lot of patterns in terms of the stories and these overlapping cultural values that come out in the way they dress. They’ll sew inside pockets in clothes even handstitched with scraps of fabric. There’s a lot of practicality, but there’s also a lot of color. The Chinese community does lots of red and pinks. So much layering; sun protection, fog protection. We’ll see nine layers in spring, not even in the middle of winter. The mask during COVID times has created this other layer and accessory.
Q: Your book talks about streets as the catwalks of Chinatown. How does public space function differently in the neighborhood than the rest of the city?
Lo: We often say that a lot of the senior citizens we meet are the best city dwellers because they’re really fully using the plazas and parks. It’s like an extended living room where they’re hanging out, socializing, gambling, exercising. Maybe it’s because apartments are super small. They shop local. They use public services. It’s a pretty tight community, and people really know each other in Chinatown. They take public transit; they’re not taking Lyft or Uber. They’re reusing and recycling. Q: It sounds like they embody a lot of modern urban values. Luu: They take contemporary city values and they’ve been doing things like buying local, urban gardening and embracing slow fashion. We can learn a lot from them. I wore all black my entire adult life until year two of “Chinatown Pretty.” I can’t
wear black anymore. I have a rainbow. My closet is organized by color now. I buy clothes and accessories from Chinatown now. Dries van Noten, Supreme, Zara are all designers are sourcing a lot of inspiration from Chinatown. I’d rather go straight to the source.
Q: What have you learned from talking to stylish grandmas and grandpas of Chinatown?
Luu: We always end our questions with, “What’s the secret to a happy life?” A lot of these people have been through a lot. They’ve been through wars; they’ve immigrated. Mrs. Yang, she has Alzheimer’s, and we said, “Tell us about immigrating.” She said, “I can’t really remember, but I’m happy. My kids are happy; I’m happy. If I can remember, great. But if I can’t, that’s OK, too.” There was an appreciation that everything was OK around her.
Q: The pandemic has made those conversations harder. One of the things I’ve been missing is small interactions with strangers.
Luu: We’re really lucky that we finished everything last year before the pandemic. This book is a reminder how much joy a serendipitous encounter with someone new can bring. We didn’t expect to be wearing masks and not seeing friends and our grandparents. I hope our book is a reminder that that can exist again. When we get out of this, we can do it again and appreciate it more.
Lo: You can strike up conversations with strangers and compliment them. That’s how we approach the people we talk to: We compliment bomb them. That’s something we want people to take away from the project. 1. Call your grandparents, and 2. Compliment often and strike up conversations with strangers.
Q: Do you have any favorite stories or characters from the book?
Lo: One person that stands out to me: Dorothy Quock who lives in San Francisco. She’s a little atypical for the seniors since she’s born in Chinatown. She’s a very creative dresser, even though all her clothes are handmedowns or things she’s made. She doesn’t buy any new clothes. She’s one of the most informed people I know. She wakes every morning at 6 a.m. and does dexterity exercises while she listens to “Democracy Now.” She eats mostly veg and does tai chi most days as well. Learning from her the mindfulness of trying to lead a healthy life and informed life, that’s been an inspiration. She’s very creative and mindful, and that’s something I aspire to be.
Luu: In Vancouver we went to see my stepgrandmother, Anna Lee. She’s the most stylish person I know. She wears clothes that were handmade in Hong Kong 30 years ago and she has a super vibrant smile. I call her Queen Elizabeth because she sort of has that hairdo. She’s so attentive, she asks smart questions, she’s really present and graceful. Not long after we shot that she passed away. This book is a love letter to Chinatown and to grandmas, and it was really nice to be able to feature two of my grandmas. It’s really a great honor to be able to capture people and their beauty at this age and this time.
Q: What do you hope people take from this book?
Lo: It’s really a love letter to Chinatowns. Chinatowns are experiencing a lot of change in recent times. For us and the people who live there, it’s really a neighborhood. It’s not just a tourist destination or a place to get tchotchkes. It’s a place where people live. San Francisco Chinatown has maintained a lot of its character and feel, and that’s thanks to these nonprofits that are on the ground every day, making sure that it’s still a neighborhood for the people who live there.
Luu: And just how do you want to engage with Chinatown? It’s a relationship. If you want it to exist, you have to keep going there. And it’s talking to your grandparents. We’re trying to capture this population because we know they won’t be available forever. Doing this project, I was like, “Oh s—, I should talk to my grandma who immigrated from Vietnam.” Say “pòh poh hóu leng” in any language. You can still say that from 6 feet away. You can still say that through a mask. I think we need that more than ever.