Her 32.5K followers might dig how her wardrobe flits from raving kawaii schoolgirl to post-apocalyptic shabby chic (to describe her anything-goes approach to dressing, she’s coined the hashtag #anyhaostyle). Or how she changes hair colour, well, #anyhao too. The most impressive thing gleaned from her Instagram account @lindahaoliyuan, though, is how 25-year-old Linda Hao is constantly involved in something creative.
As founder of three-year-old women’s wear label Yesah, she’s hands-on in every aspect of the brand, from design to art direction to being her own best model. At press time, she was planning a trip to Tibet to shoot a look book and mini film for her F/W ’15 collection (it features oversized unisex silhouettes that she hopes to style on the ethnic locals). At the same time, she was working on S/S ’16, which debuts next Digital Fashion Week (“Yesah’s first solo show with 30 looks!”).
The ambition and can-do spirit have helped build a mini empire despite the brand’s fledgling age and size. Her multi-label stockists are some of the best insider haunts, including Patricia Field in New York, and ABC (A Big Company) in Hong Kong.
When she’s not playing fashion boss, she’s a DJ (no alias), lending her taste for infectious electro tunes to industry parties. “My cute chill playlist only gets me hired for fashion events, not clubs,” she says self-deprecatingly. The list of brands she’s worked with, including Nike, Topshop and Chanel, beats any VIP nightspot though.
An adapted version first appeared in Female’s September issue, out on newsstands now.
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