A Passion for Life
WHETHER SHE’S ATTENDING A CHARITY COMMITTEE MEETING OR HEADING OUT FOR A NIGHT ON THE TOWN, KILIAN IS THE FRAGRANCE BRAND THAT GETS ANTONIA LI THROUGH HER DAY
Creative and entrepreneurial, Antonia Li is no stranger to wearing many different hats. The daughter of Edmund Li and Sandra Wong, the scion of the Bank of East Asia dynasty struck out on her own when she decided to pursue a Mba—focusing on entrepreneurship and marketing—from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and start digital creative and branding agency INDICUBE with her high school classmate Ruth Chao. Aside from her career, Antonia has plenty on her plate, whether it’s participating in sport and fitness—she is an avid wakesurfer, boxer and runner—featuring in social media campaigns for fashion brands or working with charitable organisations such as the Changing Young Lives Foundation and the Hong Kong Ballet Guild.
While she might not have followed in her family’s footsteps, her driven, independent outlook is thanks in part to them. “My family has always placed a high value on having an independent mind,” says Antonia. “Learning how to be true to oneself was encouraged from an early age.” Viewing the world from a different perspective has served as an infinite source of inspiration for her various projects.
“I find inspiration from the quotidian to the exceptional,” she explains. “While it is easy to be wowed by the phenomenal and unique, if one keeps an open mind and looks at things with a fresh eye, one will be amazed by how something seemingly mundane can be reinterpreted in new and exciting ways.”
Fragrance brand KILIAN is the perfect companion through Antonia’s hectic days, both as a shield and as a way to boost her confidence, as her days are filled with business meetings, gym sessions and drinks with friends, whether at recently-opened ladies-only speakeasy XX at the Rosewood Hong Kong or at innovative cocktail bar The Old Man. Much like Antonia, KILIAN founder Kilian Hennessy thinks out of the box when he is creating his fragrances and gets inspiration from various sources—including art, travel, fine liquor and human emotions.
Antonia swears by the Le Rouge Parfum lipstick in Intoxicating Rouge Matte and the Rolling in Love fragrance—which Hennessy describes as a direct scent that aims to represent the sensation of falling in love, with its combination of almond milk, iris and musk notes.
“Each and every fragrance wears differently on an individual,” says Antonia. “It is a highly personal choice. Rolling in Love is a bold and sensual scent that makes me feel empowered and sexy. The confident air that KILIAN gives me makes me ready to take on whatever is ahead of me.” And when you lead a busy life like Antonia, confidence is key.