Lisa Ing Marinelli: Finding Momentum Through Fashion 放膽塑造真我：吳佩瑜

ENGLISH 英 :  Deirdre kelly | CHINESE 中 :  maggie Ho

Location: London, United Kingdom ·Photographer: Pip Bourdillon · Styling: Lisa INg Marinelli, styled with her own collection · MAKEUP & HAIR: Keeley wilson

DRIES VAN NOTEN Floral Blazer. CHLOE Yellow Trousers. 

A corporate lawyer and fashion influencer who puts together looks showcased and sold on her own ShopLTK online boutique, Lisa Marinelli is a firm believer that women really can have it all. “So often women put themselves in a box, limiting themselves about what or how they can be,” she says, speaking from her home in London, England. “But I want to demonstrate that women can have a family and still make money and ascend through corporate structures. They can be multifaceted and express themselves in ways they want to be heard.” She’s living proof of that.

Born in Canada to Chinese immigrant parents, the former Lisa Ing (Marinelli is her married name) grew up in Ancaster, Ont., a small town where she was the only Asian kid in her class. But that difference wasn’t a barrier. It was a secret power. Early on, she saw herself as unique, a person not quite like the others, someone who could, if she wanted, position herself ahead of the pack. That belief in herself strengthened once she moved with her family to a predominantly Chinese area of Toronto where suddenly everyone in her class now looked like her and ate the same noodles-with-everything home-cooked bagged lunch. “I had to learn how to differentiate myself all over again, but in reverse,” she says. “I had to figure out how to be myself and I relished that. It pushed me to find my self-expression.” 

SOFT ANIMAL Flora Midi Dress.

成長於加拿大，現居於英國倫敦的吳佩瑜(Lisa Ing Marinelli)，是個擁有多重身份的斜槓族(slasher)：既是精明能幹的商業律師、企業顧問，也是個形象多變的時尚博客；既是身兼數職的職業女性，也是家庭至上的好媽媽。她用自身經驗告訴大家：人生不只是單程路，生命中不同的歷練成就出今日的自己，拋開枷鎖，每個人都可以在不止一條賽道上馳騁！

從不解到擁抱身份

Lisa出生於加拿大漢密爾頓 (Hamilton)，童年在Ancaster小鎮上長大。少數族裔幼童必定經歷過的「午餐種族歧視事件」，她也不例外。「有一次，有位女同學在午餐時分享糖果，當時我正吃着午餐盒內的鹹蛋，那其實是很美味的食物，但強烈的氣味令那同學離我遠遠，把糖果從遠處拋過來，當時令我很錯愕，不明白為何會受到這樣的對待，自此我便改吃花生醬三文治『正常午餐』。」

That outlet was fashion, a fling that grew into a passion and became a lucrative side hustle — and claim to international fame. The love affair started at home, with care packages sent overseas from Hong Kong by Chinese relatives. Lots of them. Dad, a chemical engineer who first came to Canada at 17, is one of six children, while mom, an accountant to small and medium-sized businesses in Toronto’s Chinatown, is one of nine. “I have hundreds of cousins,” Marinelli says. Some of them sent her clothes selected from Hong Kong’s street markets. Meaning they weren’t upscale. Or even original. “Knock- offs is what I think you’d call them,” Marinelli says. 

ANNIE OFFICIEL top.

Some of the ersatz fashion pieces had spelling mistakes sewn into the fabric of the Western-imitation designs. “I remember getting this Canadian tuxedo once — a jean jacket with jeans — and stitched into the back were the words, Chicago Bulls, but with a G instead of a C.” But no matter. Driven to put her own stamp on things, Marinelli cut the denim up, getting rid of the egregious wearable typo and creating her own distinctive (and decidedly less embarrassing) outfit in the process. 

然而，當她十二歲時隨父母搬至烈治文山(Richmond Hill)，較多華人聚居的城市，眼見其他同學都帶飯盒，漸漸不再因為飯盒感到尷尬。「在Ancaster時，我是學校中唯一的華裔學生；在Richmond Hill，學校中卻只得兩個非華裔學生，那是完全截然不同的體驗。」

在加拿大多元文化下成長，令她明白及意識到自己的「不同」；但直至十七歲移居英國前，她才逐漸擁抱自己作為加拿大華人的身份。「在倫敦這種大城市內的人，有從外地來的外國人；即使是英國人，也多是從其他城市移居到此。在這裏，我的『不同』更為顯著，令我在職場或不同領域中更突出，同時亦令我越來越享受作為加拿大華人的身份。」丈夫是意大利人，不斷經歷不同文化洗禮的Lisa，樂於接受自己的孩子繼續在多國文化薰陶下成長。

DRIES VAN NOTEN Floral Blazer.

It was the beginning of all that has since followed, starting with a fashion blog (back when blogging was first popular) and continuing to today’s Instagram influencer platform, which, at last count, has more than a 100,000 global followers. The site routinely showcases Marinelli’s undying love of clothes, as photographed by her (obviously devoted and doting) Italian husband, Massimo, also the father of her two young boys. A business executive, he knows all her best angles. 

ANNIE OFFICIEL top and trouser.

The outfits seen on @LisaIngMarinelli have improved considerably since her Hong Kong counterfeit clothing days; the fashion is now the real deal – Hermès, Jacquemus, Christian Louboutin and YSL, to name just a few of the designer labels to be found in her large walk-in closet. She buys expensive items not only because, as in-house counsel for a British-based video gaming company, she can readily afford it. But because she believes in buying quality over quantity. Her fashion philosophy is “buy well, not often,” and it has made her an inspiration to other women looking to build a wardrobe that’s professional, polished and dignifying-ly playful. They relate to her, a working mother who is unapologetically feminine and stylish, even when out taking public transit. “My fashion choices are very practical, I dress for my day,” she says, “which is why I think other women can connect with me. I love heels but if I’m taking the tube to work I’ll wear flats. I don’t try to be something I’m not.” She doesn’t hide when she’s got a sick child and needs to change out of a silk set for work and into a pair of sweats at home. She lets her followers in on the day-to-day transitions and transformations, leading by example. “Fashion is very individual,” she says. “It speaks to who you are and your aesthetic as well.”  

律師也可以很時尚

一直以來，家庭是Lisa的動力來源。爸爸是個化學工程師，隻身來到加拿大讀書、工作，然後把家人接到加拿大一一照顧；媽媽從事會計，至今仍然為多倫多唐人街的商舖服務。跟一般移民家庭一樣，Lisa從小被灌輸「找份好工作，令生活無憂」的觀念。她也不負厚望，憑努力成為商業律師，大眾眼中的專業人士；可是她卻不滿足於此。「曾經我也覺得人生只能專心一意打一份工，賺取所需養活家人。但後來我發覺我們這一代跟上一代不同，不再是只求生存。每個人可以有多方面發展。我可以是律師，同時也可以在時裝世界中發揮無窮創意。」

SOFT ANIMAL Flora Midi Dress.

衣服貴精不貴多

Lisa深信個人的專業與興趣可以並駕齊驅，不需要因為要維持專業形象而刻意打扮。「以前實習時我會穿Christian Louboutin高跟鞋，那讓我感覺很好，但我不追求名牌，只會按自己的實際需要來打扮。例如現在在倫敦生活，每日出入以步行為主，根本不可能穿高跟鞋，我便都只穿平底鞋了。」

Being true to herself is her momentum, as is family. Reflecting on where she came from, Marinelli says that while fashion has always been (and continues to be) important to her, it wasn’t something she could devote herself to as a career, given the expectations placed on her by her Chinese immigrant parents. They had come to Canada in search of a better life for themselves and their children. Fashion, while personally fulfilling, just didn’t satisfy their notion of a well-paying job. Law did, and it became the only career choice worthy of her parents’ hopes and struggles. 

ALMANDA LABEL Una One-Shoulder Top. 

In 2007, Marinelli moved to England from Canada to study it; she has lived overseas ever since, which is OK by her parents back in Richmond Hill, Ontario. They are content knowing she is successful. “You want to make them proud,” Marinelli says, “so there was no question that I would become a lawyer because that is what they wanted for me. They wanted safety and security and to that extent they weren’t wrong. Being a lawyer is a great profession. It’s not off the beaten track and it’s well-suited to someone like me who’s willing to study and put the work in.” 

Fashion remains in her life, not as a means to a stable existence, but as the essence of a life lived fabulously on her own terms. When what you love moves you, it’s all the motivation you need. “I definitely think that’s how I am having an impact,” she says, “by showing to other women that there need be no limitations to what it is you want to do in life. There are only possibilities.”

ALMANDA LABEL Una One-Shoulder Top. 

不少時裝平台都愛追捧品牌服飾，甚至兼辦代言推銷商品，但Lisa從不參與其中。她的平台上，只真實上載日常工作或生活的打扮，其務實、時尚的風格吸引了眾多追隨者。即使愛美愛打扮，但她永遠保持冷靜，精明不盲從的價值觀，都是自小培養的。「我的父母從不會在衣飾上花費太多，當我十幾歲的時候，每季只會有一次機會買新衣，有些衣服至今仍然收藏在衣櫃裡。」她記得小時候家中常收到親戚從香港寄來，滿滿的紅白藍袋，裝滿從女人街買的衣服。那些仿冒的衣服，尺寸風格也不太對調，經自行剪裁改裝，Lisa配搭出充滿個性的打扮。即使現在，Lisa也不主張瘋狂購買，為買而買。「在我的網誌，你不會看到我一日換裝數十次，我只會展示最真實的、日常的打扮。」她深信是衣服是用來穿的，必須是適合自己的，不為跟風、不為盲從。

除了分享日常造型，Lisa更會在網上分享其他職場上、生活上個人看法。「我希望其他人也可以發掘不同興趣或喜好，放膽去跳出框框，你會發現自己原來可以擁有很多。」的確，Lisa就是最佳證明！

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