“I was born in Sydney, Australia, then I moved to Hong Kong, where I stayed until sixth grade. I came here in seventh grade, that’s middle school. In seventh and eighth grade, I basically didn’t know what was happening, because my English sucked. In high school, I was more used to it, but I still wasn’t fully comfortable yet. In middle school, I had to find people who could speak Cantonese. In the beginning, I was only friends with people who speak Cantonese so that they could translate for me. But gradually, I learned all the slangs or less academic-sounding English. And then that’s how I fit in more I guess. I also began developing my own fashion style.”
“So it started when I saw the magazines that my mom gets, or like celebrities and stuff. I feel like being fashionable everyday expresses yourself more than make-up. I dyed my hair because I wanted to stand out at first, and it was just to film some videos and take some pictures. But then I started liking it as part of my whole outfit, or fashion and stuff, so now I’m doing that like every month and killing my hair. So teacher-wise, a lot of my teachers comment on [my style]. Like, in a positive way or they’re like weird. But it’s funny in funny ways. They like it, they always wonder how I can put so much effort in it every day.”
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Part 1 of 2
Interviewers: Maansi Maskai & Vivian Tsang
Photographer: Vivian Tsang