In the Genes

It was the year 2000 and a very young Naomi Harilela was getting a taste of the glamorous life her mother Reyna knows so well. Photographed by ahead of Mother’s Day, Reyna cradled her youngest daughter, who was wrapped tightly in a blanket. Looking at the black-and-white portrait now, Reyna is still in awe over how small the then-sevenweek-old baby Naomi was.

“I have to say, she was very easygoing. I just wish she was a baby again. Now that she’s older, it means that I officially have adult children. I want them to give me grandchildren so I can live through these moments again,” Reyna says, laughing. A committed philanthropist and the co-founder of luxury PR firm Bonvivant and Bellavita, Reyna has been a prominent fixture on Hong Kong’s social scene for most of her life, while also raising three daughters. She credits her own mother for being a positive force in her life.

“My mother was always so strong, yet always full of jokes. She was the centre of the room: beautiful and confident, friendly and outgoing. She influenced me by showing me that confidence is about being fun-loving and personable; not necessarily by