—Jakki Phillips
Editor-in-ChiefIn our naughty forties
we’ll be kicking off our
heels and replacing
them with these
stilleto rollerskates.
Thank you Saint
Laurent for keeping
us on our toes!
hen Hong Kong Tatler was
launched in 1977, it was a quaint
and quirky little journal. Looking
back through the dusty archives, I
found one particularly eye-catching
Christmas issue with a trio of lute-playing
troubadours strumming away on the cover. Quite
what these merry musicians had to do with
Hong Kong in the 1970s, I have no idea. Maybe
the editor had succumbed to the psychedelic
stimulants of the day.
Covers back then were also home to an
illustrated gentleman dressed in Georgian-era
attire—knee-length buckled pantaloons, a shirt
with frilly cuffs, a high collar and a tailcoat.Life Begins
at
4
(^0)!
This dapper chap was a link to the Tatler brand’s
history, which dates back to 18th-century
England, where a high-society gossipmonger
named Richard Steele published scandalous
stories in a publication titled The Tatler. The wig-
wearing, cane-waving Tatler Man was eventually
replaced by a more appropriately robed and
moustachioed Mandarin Man, who stood watch
over our front page until his retirement in 2007.
Four decades since Hong Kong Tatler’s
inception, the brand is as strong as ever. We
mark our 40th anniversary this month with
an issue that celebrates the past, present and
future. For example, Kimberly Hu, our director
of VIP relations, editorial and events, trawled
through the archives to find images that captured
moments in time. She then worked with the
original subjects and our creative team to
recreate these photographs in a heart-warming
feature that highlights the Tatler community’s
enduring friendships and evolving families. Turn
to page 184 for Now & Then.
Fashion director Justine Lee also took a stylish
saunter down memory lane to discover looks
from the past that still rock the catwalks today.
Enjoy her Fashion Flashback on page 80. Also
celebrating their 40th birthday this year, our
friends Carmen and Samuel Lee share some of
their best lessons from life—turn to page 178 for
40 Things We’ve Learned Now That We’re 40.
In its four decades, Hong Kong Tatler has
undergone a total transformation to become the
prestigious multiplatform publication spanning
print, digital and social media that it is today.
So who better to help us celebrate change than
Sabrina Fung-Lam, a high-flying mother of three
who recently transformed both her body and
mind with an extreme exercise regime that took
her out of the boardroom to climb mountains
and run marathons. Read her inspirational story,
which saw her shed more than 21 kilograms in six
months, on page 170.
Sabrina is also the star of our first augmented
reality cover. Download the free Awethentic app
from the Apple App Store, then use your phone
to scan our cover and see Sabrina spring into
action. The app was created by entrepreneur
Sean Lee-Davies who, as a former Tatler cover
star himself, knew exactly how to bring Wing
Shya’s striking portrait of Sabrina to life.
Hong Kong Tatler couldn’t have made it to
our 40th birthday without the support of great
friends like Sabrina, Sean, Wing and so many
others in our wonderful city. We look forward
to celebrating our milestone with you all at the
Tatler Ball this month, when we will raise a glass
to the past—and our next 40 years.
OBJECT
OF
DESIRE
EDITOR’S NOTE
40 hong kong tatler. september 2017