The language of style

IF YOU CAN DEFINE someone by the clothes he or she wears, good luck figuring out Joanna Low - a fashion chameleon who morphs from couture connoisseur to fast fashion acolyte, and is loath to commit to a personal style apart from being a lover of beautiful things that "speak to me".

In her duplex penthouse on Bukit Timah Road, her sizable - but not over-the-top - walk-in wardrobe has little wiggle room, squeezing in familiar orange boxes and white camellias among an eclectic range of designers including Balmain, Dior (circa Raf Simons only) and independents like Cecilie Bahnsen, Simone Rocha and Zimmermann. But at the same time, she's not averse to rocking H&M cropped tops, a fashion move her nine-year-old daughter thoroughly approves of. She also has two other sons, aged 12 and 16.

Born in Kuala Lumpur, the former TV producer/ journalist has called Singapore home since 2015. She shares it with her husband of 18 years Marco Low, managing director of well-known property developer Low Keng Huat. The company is behind projects such as Paya Lebar Square, Uptown@Farrer and the new ultra luxe Klimt Cairnhill condo - named after the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. While Ms Low is not involved in the business, the name is perhaps a nod to her love of art - her other passion besides fashion.

It explains her tendency to view fashion with an artistic sensibility, appreciating lines, curves, colours and materials - as opposed to the instant gratification, girly must-have-because-it's-new instinct."But I do that too!" She laughs, if a tad sheepishly.

If anything, she developed her eye for aesthetics from a childhood love of art and drawing, that she still dabbles in today. By her account, she was a late bloomer, with zero interest in fashion until her mid- to late teens, preferring books while her sister was shopping for lingerie. "I was a bookish nerd, but I always loved drawing and designing," she says. "I was always in comfy gear and lingerie didn't do much for me because I was only into aesthetics".

Her first serious foray into fashion was when she encountered the structural brilliance of Balmain at TriBeCa, a now-defunct luxury boutique in Mandarin Gallery that was owned by a friend of hers. "They were huge on Balmains and they were the only ones carrying it. From there, my taste evolved to include really fferent designers. I was and still am a fan of Dior, especially during Raf Simons' tenure. That era was wonderful in the way he was able to retain Christian Dior's vision and yet project his own perspective. His clothes were sleek and well cut, and he had a really clever way with (Dior's iconic) bar jacket."

Of course, "There's also Chanel, which has always been classic from Karl Lagerfeld to Virginie Viard. That's pretty evergreen, but my tastes change so much from season to season, and it's not so much about trends but what you can carry off that's more important."

The pandemic and last year's Circuit Breaker had left fashionistas like her a little down, but not out. "Fashion will never really die off even in a lockdown," she asserts. "Somehow, when it opens up or even if not quite so, people seek out fashion because it's an expression of their resilience and optimism that there's hope for tomorrow."

Gala events or cocktail parties being put on hold has been no deterrent. "I even have friends who dress up in their ball gowns at home. They will just hold a small party with a couple of people and they'll be wearing their long dresses and black tie."

At the peak of the pandemic, when global lockdowns were the norm and Zoom became a household word, "people were saying that we shouldn't be investing in these big evening gowns and outfits and just go for casual clothes instead," she muses. "But they won't. Especially if you love fashion, you know that eventually you'll give in and say, 'oh, let's just wear that'. It's like those who still have wedding dresses and want to try it on to see if it still fits. It's all about being in the moment and relishing it."

She admits that during the lockdowns, Net-a-Porter was her friend. "During that period you didn't see a lot of fashion, so I indulged in loungewear and track pants - pandemic outfits. But I've shelved them as that was a moment in time when people were just really stuck at home."

Not that she minds being at home. "I'm not a social creature, and I don't really go out. I love beautiful things and I appreciate aesthetics for what they are, not to go out and party. Fashion is very personal but it brings me so much joy. I simply enjoy looking at how pretty something is and then putting it back."

She particularly enjoys fashion with an art element, and one of her latest buys is from Louis Vuitton's new ArtyCapucines series - a collaboration between the brand and contemporary artists such as Gregor Hildebrandt, whose limited edition screen-printed bag made of vinyl record material is on its way to her.

Her home, too, is decorated with art, notably that of Malaysian artists whom she strongly supports. Contemporary artist Wong Chee Meng's Maitreya's Smile takes pride of place - a rich, multilayered work of colourful flora and fauna interlaced with an image of a laughing Buddha. "He has an eye condition which lets him create these paintings with three or four images on top of each other," says Ms Low. "It's such a happy piece that enlivens the room. It's a work that speaks to me, which is why I've been following his career for eight years." She also has other pieces by fellow Malaysian artists like Sean Lean, although her spiral staircase is covered in vivid graffiti featuring animals of the zodiac by Singaporean artist Ceno2.

Her interest in art also extends to art history of which she is planning to go deeper into with online courses. She's already a qualified docent who used to give guided tours at the Sun Yat Sen museum, and recommends a current exhibition that traces fashion from the early 19th century to now in China and Singapore, and how footbinding practices and elaborate embroidery of the Chinese ao traced the evolution of women's roles in society.

From fashion to art and history, it may be hard to pin Ms Low down to any aesthetic, but it's clear she's driven by the passionate pursuit of knowledge behind beauty, which is by far a personal style in itself.