For some, Kevin Kwan’s “Crazy Rich Asians” is but a fantasy – the stuff young girls’ dreams are made of. However, for these multi-millioniare Asians, dreams seem quite close to reality.
Harper’s Bazaar featured four unbelievable crazy rich Asians just like the ones portrayed on Kevin Kwan’s book. As a matter of fact, Kwan even traveled to Paris to meet the Asian style icons who are admired in the glamorous world of couture.
RELATED READS: 13 of Singapore’s Real Crazy Rich Asians
Love Marie Escudero
First featured on Harper’s Bazaar was none other than Love Marie Escudero. According to Kwan, he met Heart at the Palais Garnier, and as they arrived a swarm of paparazzi descended upon them. Kwan, described Heart as the “modern-day incarnation of Audrey Hepburn.” As the actress is always pleasant, classy, and gorgeous.
Love Marie Escudero (also known as Heart Evangelista) is a Filipina actress who started her career when she was only 13 years old. Her career peaked even more after she starred in one of the high-grossing Filipino films, Mano Po as Ay Ayeng. The 33-year-old actress came from a Filipino-Chinese family that founded the festive Filipino restaurant, Barrio Fiesta. Heart is married to a Filipino Senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” Guevara Escudero.
In the video, The actress shared how she got involved with her current passion – painting luxury bags. “I had an orange lizard skin Birkin bag and I was eating french fries at Chili’s, and I didn’t realize I was getting grease all over the bottom,” Heart said. “I tried to clean it, but it was just impossible to fix, so I thought, ‘Why don’t I paint on it?’ After the beautiful mess that Heart created on her bag, more people got interested and asked Heart to paint for them too.
Feiping Chang
Second featured in Harper’s Bazaar is one of Hong Kong’s “It-Girls”, Feiping Chang. The women’s magazine described Chang as “a certain breed of international Asian that is a hybrid of East and West” for travelling the whole world her entire life. Born in Taipei, she grew up in various countries such as Australia and Singapore and worked in a corporate company before moving to New York.
Meanwhile, a friend invited Feiping to Hong Kong for a fashion investment. This sparked her interest with a career in the couture world. “Fashion has always been in my blood,” she said. “My grandmother only wore Chanel and Escada, and as a little girl I would play around in her closet. She was super intimidating and had this mystical aura about her, so I always thought, ‘Wow, I want to look like her.’”
Chang is the founder of the website xoxoFei.com, a blog where she documents her world travels, stylish outfits, and exquisite cuisines. Feiping Chang married financier Lincoln Li back in 2017 which local media called the “wedding of the year.”
Rachel and Michelle Yeoh
The last two ladies featured for Harper’s Bazaar “Real Crazy Rich Asians” are Malaysian-Chinese twins Michelle and Rachel Yeoh. The twins were born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Michelle and Rachel studied in England which they treat this as their second home.
Back in 2015, the twins had the honor of attending Queen Charlotte’s Ball at Kensington Palace. Only aristocratic families are invited to this highly exclusive event. In addition, the Yeoh sisters was likewise featured in Dolce & Gabbana’s fall campaign in Milan back in 2017.
In the Harper’s Bazaar interview, Michelle said “We started attending the shows with our mother when we were 11. It’s become a family tradition, a summer ritual that we look forward to every year.”
Both girls are in London, with Michelle currently studying law and Rachel studying philosophy and politics. Still, the two remain active on the social scene, attending fashion shows, society events and even walking down the runway in Paris.
Rachel told Harper’s Bazar, “Our family values education a lot and curiosity and intellect, but never at the expense of creativity. You always have to have both sides. I think the essence of life is that we’re here to create, innovate, do something at the very least,”
