When You Glish Upon a Star
Eleanor Lam launches her new lifestyle brand, Glish
Eleanor Lam has something new and exciting up her sleeve. After making a name for herself as a digital influencer, the daughter of media tycoon Peter Lam and actress Lynn Hsieh is now leveraging her social-media sway and business savvy to turn her passions for fashion and food into Glish, a new lifestyle brand that will launch with a pop-up pastry shop this year. She tells Tatler about the inspiration behind the brand and her hopes for the future.
What does Glish mean?
Glish is a slang word to describe something unconventionally cool. It can be used to describe a person, a type of food or even an action that defies the usual standards. It’s a way of living in which diversity and authenticity are fully embraced. A person living the Glish way lives according to their own standards and does not conform to convention.
What is the thinking behind your new brand?
Glish is a lifestyle brand that incorporates food, fashion, beauty and art, all inspired by my life experiences and my travels. It is an experimental venture that redefines typical desserts and creates something bold and original. Incorporating my passion for fashion, we will be
introducing products based on the fashion industry’s spring-summer and fall-winter schedules and we’ll be sharing this with our customers at pop-ups around Hong Kong. Glish is for anyone with a sweet tooth who has an appreciation for creative food. Our brand and packaging draw inspiration from my love for retro aesthetics and the visuals of Beverly Hills and Palm Springs, two of my favourite places.
Where did your passion for cooking come from? Savouring good food is one of the things that brings my family together. Before I travel, one of the first things on my to-do list is to research and explore new and exciting restaurants: from local hole-in-the-walls to high-end, trendy restaurants. I developed an interest in cooking and baking when I was at university in Los Angeles. I had just moved into my first apartment and decided to throw a housewarming party. Instead of ordering food, I decided to make my friends a homemade meal. That was the start of my food journey.
What’s the idea behind your @Ellyxbelly Instagram page? It’s my food account: a way for me to document the different dishes I’ve tried from the restaurants and cities I’ve visited since I was in Los Angeles. @ellyxbelly is my
visual journal and a way to remember the experiences I’ve had. It’s also a good way for me to catalogue the restaurants I’ve tried, so when friends ask me for recommendations, I can easily refer back to the post to remember what I loved eating at a specific restaurant.
What are your favourite cooking reality TV shows?
My favourite cooking competitions to binge-watch are Top Chef (I’ve watched all 17 seasons), Masterchef, Iron Chef and Chopped. When I was living in Los Angeles during university, I loved having The Food Network [TV channel] on in the background while I went about my daily routine.
What are the similarities between food and fashion?
I am deeply passionate about both. Food and fashion share a lot of common ground. They are both driven by trends, seasons and sometimes hype. People are willing to line up for hours to get their hands on the latest fashion item or to taste a new dish. Food and fashion are both used to tell stories—stories about the creators’ pasts, cultures and dreams, and to connect with consumers. Food and fashion are both art forms that allow creators to make colourful, bold and personal statements which can trigger emotion.
How did Glish come about?
For a while, I struggled to find my true calling or purpose. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t have any interests; it was that I had a few too many.
Then my friend sent me an article about being a “multipotentialite”: someone with many interests and creative pursuits. This led to my eureka moment, as I realised it isn’t necessary for me to pick just one industry, but instead I can merge my passions to create something completely new.
“For a while, I struggled to find my true calling or purpose. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t have any interests; it was that I had a few too many”
What is your dream collaboration?
I would love to collaborate with some of my favourite make-up brands, such as Glossier or Fenty Beauty, or sustainable clothing brands like Pangaia. I’d like to create magic with any brand that embraces the values of authenticity, diversity, style and, above all, evokes a sense of urban comfort. I intend for Glish to be a lifestyle brand that spans food, fashion, beauty and art. The opportunities to collaborate are endless.