Fashioning trust: Eddie Lau on how friendship with Anita Mui underpinned outfits he styled for the Hong Kong star

For Lau, now 73, this was not the most unique outfit he had curated, but he remembered distinctly how the budding singer trusted his artistic direction. After all, he had been brought on after a famous photographer criticised a previous outfit of Mui’s – “a dress that looked like a zebra”.

“She listened obediently, wore [the rings], won an award, and then she released her personal album and asked for my help,” Lau explained.

Anita Mui exhibit honours the Hong Kong icon

Over the next two decades, he continued to dress Mui in outfits that were often unprecedented for female singers to wear at concerts, award ceremonies, photo shoots and more. Each ensemble required a keen eye for detail and inspiration – many of them are currently on display at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum as part of the exhibition “Timeless Diva: Anita Mui”.

Aided by Lau’s innovative instinct, Mui came to represent Cantopop on a global scale, earning her the nicknames “Madonna of the East” and “The Ever-changing Anita Mui”.

“During that period, many people talked about the combination of Eddie Lau and Anita Mui,” he told Young Post. “I feel that our collaboration truly represented the Hong Kong culture of the 1980s because I couldn’t imagine any other place ... doing such things.”

Lau planted roots for a career in fashion from a young age. When he was 11, he began as an apprentice for a tailor in Tsim Sha Tsui. After saving up enough money, he attended the renowned art school Central Saint Martins in London. He eventually went on to launch his own clothing lines, Eddie Lau and Kai, and became the first Hong Kong designer to showcase at Paris Fashion Week.

“Before I knew [Mui] or worked with her, I had already created numerous collections internationally and showcased them in exhibitions in Hong Kong,” he recalled. “I had already worked on the London series and Paris ... So fundamentally, I was a fashion designer from the very beginning.”

Lau’s first time styling Mui happened because of his friend, So Hau-leung, who managed Mui’s record label, Capital Artists. But after Mui won the award at the Tokyo Music Festival, her bond with Lau grew. The fashion designer remembered having a heartfelt conversation with the singer, whose words touched him deeply.

“Anita shared her childhood experiences, how people bullied her, and how she was afraid of being violated even when sleeping at night,” he said. “When she talked, her personality seemed a bit like mine ... She wasn’t trying to gauge my sympathy, but rather was conveying her strength and resilience.”

He recalled saying to her: “You have already become a star ... Our experiences are quite similar, so you shouldn’t feel inferior about yourself.”

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As they bonded over having been forced to grow up quickly to provide for themselves, this kinship facilitated Mui’s deep trust in her designer’s unconventional choices.

One of Lau’s most striking designs was an Indian-inspired stage costume to accompany the singer’s hit song “妖女”, or “Yao Nuu”, which was released in 1986. He wanted her outfit to have an edge that would match the song, which was about pushing the boundaries of how society perceives female autonomy in romance.

“I brought back some Indian fabrics to create [one of her] outfits,” Lau explained, noting that most other Hong Kong singers at the time would not have been open to wearing it. “After she [Mui] put on the outfits, there were no objections.”

Thanks to his work with Mui, Lau said that people deemed him as the pioneer of image design, which refers to the art of curating a specific visual style for a public figure. He added that the trust from both Mui and Capital Artists allowed him to express boundless creativity and push the limits of the fashion landscape.

Eventually, Lau stopped working with other female singers and dedicated his efforts solely to Mui.

For Lau, the outfit that left the most “profound impression” was – unsurprisingly – the wedding gown Mui wore for her final concerts in Hong Kong in 2003, just weeks before she died from cervical cancer.

The artist had asked Lau to make her a wedding dress to symbolise her “marriage to the stage” since Mui had never married. When she stepped onto the stage for her final curtain call wearing the gown, this became one of the most iconic images of her career. But initially, Lau said he wasn’t keen on the idea.

“She asked me to make the wedding dress for her, and I completely understood. However, in my life, the thing I hate the most is making wedding dresses,” he admitted.

Despite his reservations, Lau appreciated her intentions and wanted to honour the request. But when it came to the veil, he struggled to decide how to lift it from her face on stage. He described how in a “stroke of genius”, he circumnavigated the issue with a veil that only partially covered her face.

He explained why so many people resonated with this image of Mui: “No female singer had ever experienced wanting to get married but having no one to marry. This fact broke the hearts of many girls. Many girls felt that they could relate because they [had] similar experiences.”

Last December marked the 20th anniversary of Mui’s death. Even after her passing, Lau has kept her image alive, by donating stage outfits and memorabilia, meeting fans, and contributing to exhibitions in her memory.

“As the years passed ... I realised that our bond was something I have no regrets about,” he said. “The two words that represent our relationship are ‘affection’ and ‘honour’, which achieved the ever-changing image design of Anita Mui.”

Lau noted how trust was foundational to their relationship: “She knows deep down that I care for her, and I know that she cares for me.”

“Without love, you can’t accomplish such creative acts.”