appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Sumnima Kandangwa

Freelance Editorial Assistant for Style by SCMP


Looking at Christina Chung on set, you can tell right away that the 60-year-old is a seasoned pro. Between shutter clicks, she moves easily from one pose to the next as she and her daughter, Shiro, model outfits from luxury brands, each accessorised with jewellery from Chow Tai Fook. Instinctive and entirely at ease, it is hard to believe that Chung only began modelling seriously at 56.
“My first show was for Miu Miu almost two years ago,” she says. “After that, I was invited to walk in Chanel’s haute couture show and it was like a dream come true.”

Chung made waves when she appeared in Matthieu Blazy’s first haute couture collection for Chanel, shown in Paris in January. Since then, she has walked in four more shows for the house.
“I felt really honoured,” says the Hong Kong model. “I wanted to show my own experience, my richness, my grace – everything. I want models of every age to be seen genuinely.”
At 1.8m, with a lean frame and defined contours, Chung has been approached by photographers and modelling scouts since her teenage years. “I was pretty stylish. You know how girls are, we love beauty,” she says. The instinct for personal style, it seems, runs in the family.
“Shiro was born with so much talent,” Chung says, turning towards her daughter. “She always dresses so cool and has such a strong fashion sense. In the old days, she used to steal my clothes, but now we’ve switched.”

Chung’s relationship with her daughter could not be more different from the one she had with her own parents. Born into a Chiu Chow family that settled in Hong Kong in the 1940s, Chung was the youngest daughter among eight siblings – four girls and four boys.
She had a tumultuous relationship with her father, who favoured her brothers. On one occasion, he even doused her in kerosene and tried to set her alight; fortunately, the flame went out. Fearing for her daughter’s safety, Chung’s mother urged her to run away in the middle of the night – she was 16.
In her early twenties, Chung began modelling to make ends meet and even appeared in an American Express commercial. But after attending her first catwalk lesson, where someone propositioned her for sex, she became frightened and disillusioned with the industry and left modelling behind.

A career, two marriages and seven daughters later, it was Shiro who inspired her mother to return to the business in her fifties.
“It was a journey of reinvention,” Chung says. She had always wanted to establish herself as an individual beyond her roles as wife and mother. When her youngest daughter turned 17, and all seven girls had grown up and become independent, Chung returned to modelling, initially taking on smaller projects before French photographer Kin Coedel scouted her.
“I wanted to step up and inspire other women, especially mature women. We all have potential. We cannot just sacrifice ourselves to our family or our job, we should not limit our ambition. So when the opportunity to become a model came, I took it.”
When asked whether she felt anxious about beginning a modelling career at an age when many people retire, Chung responds without hesitation. “Absolutely not. I’m still very youthful in my heart, and I never doubted starting at this age. It’s never too late. Time is not your enemy, your unlived potential is your enemy.”

Walking one of fashion’s most anticipated runways may have come naturally to Chung, but the mother of seven – three of whom are models – admits that it is her daughter Shiro she is most eager to impress.
“I feel like the bond between us is a bit different from the one between me and her siblings,” Chung says. Her comment earns an immediate “Ew” from Shiro, 30, who until now has been sitting quietly beside her mother. At this point, Chung leans towards her daughter with a mischievous smile, “I breastfed you, by the way.”
Satisfied with the grimace on Shiro’s face, Chung turns back to the question. “Anyway, I’m always in love with this daughter. Sometimes I find myself wondering whether she likes what I do, whether she approves of my style or likes what I’m saying.”
While she has her mother’s approval, Shiro says she was bullied for her appearance when she was younger. “I think we have such rigid beauty standards, especially in East Asia. I had all the features that were deemed unattractive – unruly hair, big lips and freckles – and I was bullied.”

She remembers running to her mother for comfort. Then, at 18, shortly after graduating from secondary school, Shiro was scouted as a model while attending a protest. “I have your genes to thank,” she tells her mother, who seems pleasantly surprised – it’s not every day your 30-year-old daughter compliments you.
Given her own early experience of the modelling industry, Chung admits that it was not easy to watch her young daughters enter the business.
“I’m always supportive of what they want to do, so I observed their modelling careers very closely. I always knew what was going on, even if they didn’t know I was spying on them,” she says, laughing. “The industry seems to have changed a lot. That’s why I have no worries. I trust my girls’ judgement. They know how to distinguish between what’s good and bad, and what the right thing to do is.”
While her mother is defying the status quo in an industry that has long favoured youth and perfection, Shiro is carving out a space of her own. Covered in tattoos, she is one of relatively few heavily tattooed women working in fashion. A trained tattoo artist, she began learning the craft at 17.
“Maybe that gave me an edge,” Shiro says. “You don’t really see many fully tattooed girls, and back then I think I was the only fully tattooed model in Hong Kong signed to an agency.”

But carving out a niche came with its own limitations, and Shiro realised she was being typecast. “I would refuse jobs for lingerie or very gothic styles. I wanted to bring more dimensions to people who look this way.”
On set, the contrast between mother and daughter is clear. Chung carries herself with the self-assuredness of a woman who has spent a lifetime becoming herself, while Shiro carries the independent and maybe even a little rebellious spirit of someone determined not to be reduced to a single image.
PHOTOGRAPHY OLIVIA TSANG
STYLING ANTHONY TONG
MAKE-UP CHI CHI LI
HAIR AL LEUNG
NAILS PINKY HO
FASHION ASSISTANT AMBROSE TAM
ALL JEWELLERY CHOW TAI FOOK


Style Edit: De Beers Group CEO Al Cook on natural diamonds, Desert hues and traceable luxury

Style Edit: Fashion Asia Hong Kong 2026 asks what’s next for design and who will shape it

Style Edit: Chow Tai Fook’s Song collection gives the Chinese drum a golden update

Style Edit: Zegna’s new Hong Kong store at Harbour City embodies an Alpine-inspired retail vision

Style Edit

How 60-year-old model Christina Chung and her daughter, Shiro, defy fashion norms

On Christina: earrings, necklaces Chow Tai Fook; top Issey Miyake. On Shiro: earring Chow Tai Fook; top Issey Miyake. Photography: Olivia Tsang



Earring, necklace Chow Tai Fook; top Vivian Luk Atelier  

On Christina: earring, necklaces Chow Tai Fook; dress Shiatzy Chen. On Shiro: earring, necklace Chow Tai Fook; top Shiatzy Chen

On Christina: earrings, necklaces, bracelets Chow Tai Fook; hat, vest, trousers Loro Piana. On Shiro: earrings, rings Chow Tai Fook; jacket Loewe

On Shiro: earrings, necklace Chow Tai Fook; top Shiatzy Chen. On Christina: earrings, necklaces Chow Tai Fook; dress Shiatzy Chen 

Earrings, ring Chow Tai Fook; blazer Bottega Veneta

On Christina: earrings, necklaces Chow Tai Fook; blazer Bottega Veneta; hat Loro Piana. On Shiro: earrings, ring Chow Tai Fook; blazer Bottega Veneta

The return of jewelled hairpieces, boasting fans like Lisa from Blackpink and Megan Thee Stallion

Blackpink’s Lisa was pretty in pink and a Y2K-inflected updo, accessorised with jewellery including tiny lotus flower hair embellishments, at the premiere of The White Lotus season three in Bangkok last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Dior Haute Joalliere’s Diorissima Collection. Photo: Anack Lejart

Megan Thee Stallion was regal in hair jewels at last year’s Met Gala in New York. Photo: GC Images

Zoë Kravitz at the Golden Globes. Photo: Penske Media/Getty Images

Simone Rocha fall/winter 2026. Photo: Handout

Fascinating Egypt hair clip by Van Cleef & Arpels. Photo: Handout

The Floris Pin by Kinraden. Photo: Handout

Tennis bracelets trend again: from Coco Gauff at Wimbledon to Meghan Markle

Coco Gauff wears a tennis bracelet above her wristband in the Wimbledon semi-final last month. Photo: PA Wire/dpa

Timothée Chalamet wears a Reflection de Cartier bracelet at the 2025 Golden Globes. Photo: FilmMagic

Annoushka Whoopsie Daisy diamond bangle (right). Photo: Handout

Chris Evert, pictured in 1978, famously paused a 1987 US Open match when the clasp on her diamond line bracelet broke. Photo: Getty Images

Jade Trau Poppy bracelet. Photo: Handout

Tennis bracelets by Los Angeles-based jewellery brand Fie Isolde. Photo: Handout

Tiffany & Co. Sixteen Stone bracelet. Photo: Handout

How Taylor Swift and Zendaya are driving the trend for bespoke engagement rings

Graff engagement rings showcase a trend towards vintage glamour. Photo: Handout

Loletta Lai of De Beers Group. Photo: Handout

Graff’s Icon radiant-cut fancy yellow engagement ring. Photo: Handout

Stones with warmer tones are the trend for engagement rings. Photo: Handout

Pinstripe suits are back – and stars from Harry Styles to Ryan Gosling are wearing them

Harry Styles at the Brit Awards 2026, and Ryan Gosling at the March Project Hail Mary premiere in London. Both decided to go for pinstripes. Photos: Film Magic, Getty Images

Sombr departs The Mark Hotel before attending the Met Gala in May, in New York. Photo: Invision/AP

Al Sharpton at the 2026 Met Gala. Photo: Getty

Christian Bale on the set of the 2000 movie American Psycho. Photo: Corbis Sygma

Aimé Leon Dore suit jacket at Mr Porter. Photo: Handout

Kristen Stewart at January’s 2026 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Photo: Getty Images

How to Style like … country music star Ella Langley

Ella Langley wears a denim tube top and skirt to American Eagle Jeans Country at the Stagecoach 2026 music festival in California in April. Photo: Getty Images

American Eagle skirt (US$45). Photo: Handout

Golden Goose boots (US$1,450) at Mytheresa. Photo: Handout

Gucci sunglasses (US$425). Photo: Kering Eyewear

Brunello Cucinelli top (US$1,225) at Farfetch. Photo: Handout

Khaite belt (US$1,120). Photo: Handout

Magazines

Style

People

Celebrities

From Miu Miu to Chanel, Chung has turned heads on the runway – now three of her seven children are following in her footsteps


From Miu Miu to Chanel, Chung has turned heads on the runway – now three of her seven children are following in her footsteps.


How 60-year-old model Christina Chung and her daughter, Shiro, defy fashion norms

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Miu Miu to Chanel, Chung has turned heads on the runway – now three of her seven children are following in her footsteps

From Miu Miu to Chanel, Chung has turned heads on the runway – now three of her seven children are following in her footsteps