{"id":18438,"date":"2021-03-16T11:46:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T03:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=18438"},"modified":"2021-05-27T14:22:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T06:22:48","slug":"redefining-feng-shui-with-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/03\/redefining-feng-shui-with-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"Redefining Feng Shui with Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Feng shui expert Thierry Chow Yik-tung shares how she brings fashion and feng shui together and talks about her feng shui philosophy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Angel Woo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feng\nshui designer Thierry Chow Yik-tung\u2019s iconic split dyed hair and sophisticated\nfashion style makes her stand out from other feng shui masters who wear\ntraditional Tangzhuang all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n33-year-old\u2019s stylish look shocks people that meet her. \u201cEveryone is so\nsurprised and thinks I\u2019m a fashion designer. Almost every time, it takes them a\nwhile to accept that I am a feng shui designer,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nstudying illustration in Toronto, she returned to Hong Kong in 2010, and worked\nas an art teacher in a private studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt\nthat time, I was very lost and depressed. My dream of being a designer did not\ncome true. One day when I was having a meal with my father, I suddenly had a\nstrong gut feeling that I had to learn feng shui from my dad. I felt like\nsomeone needed to reform this tradition and provide a new lens for people to\nunderstand it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\n2011, she started learning feng shui from her father, Chow Hon-ming, a renowned\nfeng shui master in Hong Kong who boasts Citibank and PCCW as his clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nintuition brought a new chapter in Chow\u2019s life. She then became a full-time\napprentice of her father for five years and found new perspectives to\nunderstand feng shui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the first few years, I followed my father to meet his clients every day and had to memorise all the signs and symbols in feng shui. It was not easy because I don\u2019t have good memory,\u201d she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow\u2019s Unique Philosophy of Feng Shui<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nthe five years of full-time apprenticing under her father, Chow has found her\nown way to redefine feng shui. She emphasises the relationship between nature and\nhumans in feng shui. To her, humans are attached to nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLiving in a city may make us feel separated from nature. But if we take a look at our surroundings, we will find the connection with nature. For example, a wooden desk, things made of metal\u2026they are all from nature,\u201d Chow says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Objects designed by Thierry Chow Yik-tung for promoting personal wellness. (Photo courtesy of Thierry Chow Yik-tung)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In\nher philosophy, feng shui is a way for people to transform their surroundings\ninto a space that makes them feel good. It has nothing to do with superstition\nand magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeng shui is not magic. It cannot wipe away all of one\u2019s worries. But it can bring positivity and a clear mind when one is encountering challenges,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeng shui is not magic. It cannot wipe away all of one\u2019s worries. But it can bring positivity and a clear mind when one is encountering challenges.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When asked what her feng shui philosophy is, she cites a quote from The Book of Changes (\u6613\u7d93) \u2013 Break impasse with change. Change leads to solutions. (\u7aae\u5247\u8b8a\uff0c\u8b8a\u5247\u901a)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow\nbelieves it is always good to have change. \u201cWhen changes come, we are forced to\nface challenges which make us grow. Changing means leaving your comfort zone\nand entering a bigger world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything\nchanges. If one can understand this principle, one can be stronger when facing\nchallenges,\u201d Chow says. \u201cChallenges make us a better person and add colours to\nour life. Life would be boring without challenges. If you choose to give up\nwhen encountering challenges, then you lose the chance to succeed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combining Modern Fashion with Traditional Feng Shui<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfeng shui expert has been a fashion lover since she was young. Combining her\nfashion sense with her family\u2019s traditional feng shui practices, she creates\ndesigns with feng shui concepts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until now, she has already collaborated with several major brands like Kenzo, Lane Crawford, Max & Co for events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A promotional picture for Thierry Chow Yik-tung\u2019s collaboration with Farfetch. (Photo courtesy of Thierry Chow Yik-tung) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nwas in a Kenzo video campaign for their seasonal launch and did feng shui\nconsultation at their launch event. I also collaborated with Lane Crawford to\ndesign a capsule collection of jade rings,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nshe was learning feng shui from her father, she found that her father advised\nhis clients on what to wear. The thought of modernising feng shui through\nfashion then popped up in her mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nmain concept of feng shui styling is to balance. In feng shui, there are five\nelements – Fire, Wood, Earth, Metal, and Water. Everybody has a personal\nelement and they may lack a certain kind of element, so we can balance it with\nclothing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow says the five elements also represent different patterns and shapes, which brings more variety when styling fashion with feng shui concepts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Thierry Chow Yik-tung for her collaboration with Fortnum & Mason. (Photo courtesy of Thierry Chow Yik-tung)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\nfeng shui expert wants to modernise feng shui through fashion and attract more attention\nfrom young people by combining the two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n2019, Chow collaborated with jadeite expert Samuel Kung along with Lane\nCrawford to design a jade jewellery collection. She gave the traditional\ngemstone a modern look through Western designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nalso explains how she applies feng shui in jewellery. \u201cJade is in the earth\ncategory, it has very calming effect and will interact with the person that\nwears it. The colour (of the jade) will shift or change accordingly (based on\nthe wearer\u2019s mentality),\u201d Chow says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Future of Feng Shui<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow\nhopes feng shui can be listed as a form of local and global intangible cultural\nheritage one day, as she strongly believes that feng shui culture should be\ninherited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nwould like to write a feng shui book in English. It is a way to globalise feng shui.\nI see great potential in the Western audience \u2013 some of them are very\ninterested in oriental culture,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow\nalso wants to clear up public misconceptions about feng shui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome\nmay think if they put a feng shui product at home, they would become wealthy\nimmediately without doing anything. People usually misunderstand it as\nsomething related to magic, religion, or superstition, but it is not,\u201d she\nsays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt takes time to clear up these misconceptions. I will work harder on it,\u201d Chow says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Patricia Ricafort<\/em>
Sub-edited by Kassandra Lai <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feng shui expert Thierry Chow Yik-tung shares how she brings fashion and feng shui together and talks about her feng shui philosophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":18453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1774,79],"tags":[207,1656,43,1655,1658,1657],"class_list":["post-18438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-158","category-people","tag-chinese-culture","tag-designer","tag-fashion","tag-feng-shui","tag-jewellery","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18438"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18663,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18438\/revisions\/18663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}