Jade’s father is an art collector who owns works by Cézanne, Warhol and Basquiat and last November spent $39.2 million at Sotheby’s for Paul Gauguin’s Te Poipoi (The Morning). A few months earlier, Boeing announced that Joseph had ordered one of its new 787 business jets.
Lau, for her part, has started collecting fine jewelry and Hermès handbags. Her other weakness is Christian Louboutin shoes. (“I live in heels,” she explains. “I’m only five feet four.”) But clothes remain her biggest passion, and she’s extremely particular. “I like things really fitted,” she says. “And I know what suits me.” For student life in the city, Lau likes to mix high and fast fashion, something she’s learned to do only recently. “My shirt is from Target,” she says, tugging at her stretchy black V-neck. “My friends think it’s really funny, because sometimes I’ll wear a Target T-shirt underneath a couture coat.
“I like to dress according to my mood, and that’s what I like about fashion,” she adds. And nothing is more mood altering than the haute quality and details of her couture pieces. “They are,” she says, “the only material things that can put a smile on my face.”
