High-street hits
Is this the collection that will save Marks & Spencer?
While you may be more familiar with the “Kate effect” that boosts fashion retailers, it works both ways. Fans of the London-based label Self-Portrait were more than a little smug when the Duchess strode out on the red carpet wearing their dress earlier this month. That white lace-bodiced number, with a racy split up the front, was an old design that those in the know had already snapped up and worn.
Either way, it shows that in three short years, 37-year-old Malaysian designer Han Chong has fashioned a label with serious status and selling power. Last Christmas, Selfridges sold one Self-Portrait piece every six minutes, and this year that pace hasn’t slowed down. Since its launch the brand has grown 100 per cent each year. It’s now stocked by Harrods, Net-A-Porter, Dover Street Market, Harvey Nichols, Flannels and Matchesfashion. com, and on its own website.
Chong was beside himself when someone first tagged a blurry picture on Instagram of the Duchess wearing his dress, one she had bought herself months ago, biding her time for the right occasion to wear it. “I couldn’t sleep that night, I was too excited. I could always see her wearing Self-Portrait,
Reese Witherspoon, left, and Kerry Washington, right, in Self-Portrait.
but I never thought it was going to happen,” he says. “She looked amazing. But it made me happy because the customers were so proud to own the dress and be able to say, “I wore it first”.’
The Duchess is far from the only notable woman to have worn his designs. Reese Witherspoon was an early adopter, as were Michelle Obama, Jessica Alba, Naomi Harris and Kerry Washington.
I know what you’re thinking – bully for them and their team of stylists and a never-ending well of gold to splash around on their wardrobes. Well, hold on a minute. You can pick up one of his dresses from between £250 and £400. The Duchess’s white maxi gown, which Chong has reissued (order yours now at self-portraitstudio.com), costs £320. In fashion-buyer speak, it’s a “contemporary” brand. In the real world, it means that while these are treat purchases, they’re certainly not out of reach. Chong has cleverly tapped into two overlooked markets: occasionwear that isn’t old-fashioned and naff, and dresses that don’t cost the earth. Which is why, if you’ve attended a wedding this year, I’ll bet at least one guest was wearing Self-Portrait.
For Chong, maintaining this price level is crucial. His idea for the brand came about because he noted that there was “very little out there with the right balance of design detail. It’s either high street or designer. Nothing inbetween. All my friends are normal girls with normal incomes. They couldn’t find pieces that were a bit special. They loved fashion but didn’t have the money to spend on designer pieces, but they wanted better quality than the high street.”
His goal was to make his end of the market as respected as eyewateringly expensive designers. And it’s working. Chong has been nominated for the British Emerging Talent award at the upcoming Fashion Awards, the industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, which take place on December 5.
A key part of his success has been to maintain this acute focus on his customer. “It’s not all about your creative desire,” he explains. “It’s about designing for her. I think about her lifestyle, what occasions she goes to, how she wants to feel, how much attention she wants to get. I also want her to have fun with the dresses – is it comfortable? If it’s too glamorous, will it restrict her from having fun? She needs to be able to move in it.”
Such practical focus has come with a keen fastidiousness from Chong. To keep his costs down, his early fit models were friends – ones with boobs and hips who didn’t mince their words when it came to feedback. He listens intently to them. “She might say, This dress makes me feel fat; or, This dress makes me feel short. With women, getting dressed is the most emotional thing, everything is about the dress and how she wants to feel. You need to think of what is going to make her confident.”
That Chong has ended up living near Brick Lane in London’s East End and running his own label was by no means a given. He grew up in a small town on the island of Penang, Malaysia. At 19, when he started out in fashion, he was, by his own admission, naive. The farthest he’d traveled was to the capital, Kuala Lumpur. His father runs a shop selling pork delicacies – and still lives with his other two siblings back in Penang. It’s only in the past couple of years, since finding such success, that Chong finally explained to them he was working as a designer, rather than the vague job in “art”