MING HO-TANG
HONG KONG
Ming Ho-tang sweeps into the restaurant with a waiter hustling to catch up. She has barely slid her delicate frame into a banquette before she’s ordering. She already knows what she wants—a burger with a salad on the side. It’s perhaps a surprising choice for someone so petite, a vision in a ruffled cyan blue Gucci dress, subtle Repossi diamonds floating between her knuckles. But anyone familiar with her Instagram feed will know food is high on her list of priorities, along with fashion and travel. In fact, she landed just a few hours ago from a trufflehunting trip to Italy—along with a shopping spree in Milan, of course.
“I got some pieces from Dior, a few bags from Hermès, and pieces from Chloé’s new collection. I actually don’t remember everything because, besides Dior, I had most of the things shipped back.” Ming is methodical and pragmatic when it comes to shopping, researching trends as soon as collections hit the runways.
“I’ve always been the mathematical type. My undergraduate degree was in industrial engineering at Stanford University. I never thought I was good at styling. I doubt I’d be good at dressing someone else. I just wear what makes me feel good.”
After graduating with an MBA from the
University of California Los Angeles, Ming began a long career in finance at Chase Manhattan Bank and Lazard Asia before going into private equity at Prudential Asia and HSBC. She is now the director of corporate development at Li & Fung, which means lots of jetting off to the mainland and hopping from meeting to meeting in Hong Kong, but don’t expect to find her in a suit.
“I’m pretty much in a dress from Monday to Friday, because you don’t have to think much about how to mix and match, and if I suddenly find that I have to attend a meeting, I know I won’t be underdressed.” She makes a sweeping gesture across the ruffles on her dress, then flips her long mane while pivoting to show off a fierce lion head stitched to the back—a signature of Alessandro Michele’s pieces at Gucci. “But it still needs to be fun.”
She may be a force of nature at work, but when she talks fashion, Ming is as giddy as a schoolgirl gushing about her favourite finds—so much so that one wonders why she chose not to pursue a career in fashion. “My sister is the artsy one. She works at Chanel and she often tells me that working in fashion is not as glamorous as it sounds, so I’d rather do the fun part and consume fashion than work in it anyway.”
But fashion runs in her veins, thanks to Ming’s parents, Silvana and Stanley Ho Sau-nan, who ran businesses in the garment industry in their day. Ming describes her mother as stylish—“although it was during the time of bell-bottoms and platform sandals,” she jokes. Silvana passed down several pieces from her wardrobe that Ming cherishes, one being her kua, the ceremonial gown created by artisans with real gold and silver thread for Chinese weddings. Ming wore it on her own big day, and a gown by Monique Lhuillier for the Western ceremony.
“I originally had my heart set on wearing Oscar de la Renta, one of my favourite designers, but couldn’t find one from that season I liked. I went to New York, London and Paris and must have tried on 100 dresses. In the end I went with Monique Lhuillier, but my reception dress was by Oscar de la Renta, and later that evening, my dress was pink because, of course, I had to wear pink,” she says with a laugh.
Pink, red and white are her favourite colours. One look at the three-room wardrobe (one room is dedicated to fur) at her sprawling house on The Peak and you know that to be true. No wonder she wore a frothy princess gown by Oscar de la Renta in all three hues to receive Hong Kong Tatler’s Most Stylish Woman award at last year’s Tatler Ball. In fact, the colours were so prevalent in her wardrobe that Ming had to go shopping for an entirely new set of neutral and khaki clothes when she was to go on safari in South Africa. Framing the clothes is an equally impressive array of shelves stocked with rare gems such as Judith Leiber clutches and handbags signed by the likes of Karl Lagerfeld.
“To me, Ming is like the real-life Astrid Leong,” says Christian Barlow, Hong Kong Tatler’s director of VIP content and communications. “She’s got a contemporary yet classic beauty about her. She’s someone who can wear things that are more unexpected, yet she’s never showy.”
When our brief lunch comes to an end, Ming darts off to another meeting. She’s always going somewhere. And at the end of the week she’ll be jetting off to some bucketlist destinations that include Brazil, Bora Bora and Antarctica.
But before she escapes, she shares a bit more about her future plans. When the time comes to ease up on her work schedule, Ming intends to follow in her father’s footsteps by giving back to society. “I support various charities, like the Hong Kong Ballet Ball and Asia Art Archive, but I hope to give back more, not just with financial sponsoring but with my time, once I step down from work—while still maintaining a low profile, of course. I feel you have more control that way.”
Ming is clearly someone who sets her sights high, applying her impeccable principles and taste in all aspects of her life. But in the meantime, we can’t wait for the next gala to see what bubblegum-pink confection she’ll be showcasing.