Meet Kim Bui Kollar and Kelly Wong, the co-founders of Beaureguards, Hong Kong’s hottest new concept store

How important is storytelling in the way you present your brand?
Wong: This “sharing” thing isn’t just a concept for Kim—it sits at the very heart of who she is as a person. She genuinely loves sharing, and it’s something that makes her unique and special. For my birthday last year, Kim gave me three things: a Jellycat peanut, a box of Lift and Glow ampoules [serum] from Coup d’Éclat and a can of whipped sunscreen from Vacation. These weren’t just random gifts; all three were incredible finds from her summer holiday a month before. These weren’t fancy things but items that made my life better—they created moments of happiness, were super useful and gave me great skin. That’s the thing about Kim—she always has the people she cares about top of her mind. This quality of hers is so innate and it’s such a huge part of what we do at Beaureguards.

What makes Beaureguards unique?
Bui Kollar: We want our clients to feel immediately welcome. This is an important benefit in placing our physical locations in the best hotels,  such as Rosewood Hong Kong. We wanted to align and collaborate with their hospitality excellence in order for our customer experience to be amazing in our spaces, as well as in the environment surrounding our spaces. The typical Rosewood Hong Kong guest is a VIP at many global brand stores and has access to a lot, but they seem to appreciate discovering the small batch of luxury brands at Beaureguards, which they have not seen anywhere else. We also wanted to create the ultimate luxury shopping service for travellers. Guests at the Rosewood Hong Kong will be able to access our lookbooks and shop in the comfort of their hotel rooms. When they depart from the hotel, they can continue to enjoy the Beaureguards experience with us online. We want to help everyone travel light. Your wardrobe can be waiting for you in your room before you have even checked in.
Wong: It’s simple: life is too short not to enjoy what you’re doing, and that philosophy is at the core of everything we build at Beaureguards. The basis of our partnership is strong and it naturally translates into everything we do. Our customers will see it in the way we present what we love, the stories we tell about our products and the care we take in sharing our excitement with them.

How have your corporate careers influenced the way you approached building Beauregards?
Bui Kollar: Our experiences were helpful for us in setting up sound and efficient infrastructure. And we have broad Rolodexes we have been able to leverage. The fashion industry is incredibly cyclical, which does not allow for a lot of time to think or do gut checks. This can cause one to be reactionary, which can be wasteful and soulless. When we started Beaureguards, we wanted to make sure that this would not be the way for us. The common philosophy in retail, in many ways, is “buy more to sell more”. Our philosophy is to “buy only the best and sell only the best”. There are no fillers on our shelves. We may not move as much product since we are not selecting things at an easy price point, but the experience we give our customers is valued more.
Wong: The mantra we live by is: do what we can, do it well and do not overcomplicate things. I would not necessarily call it a challenge, but [compared to our previous work] the biggest difference in redefining ourselves as entrepreneurs is the fact that it is just us now. There’s no e-commerce, finance, marketing, logistics or buying teams. This shift has required us to learn how to handle a lot of things on our own, which has been one of the most empowering aspects of the experience.

How do you balance your visions and creative instincts as co-founders and what have you learnt from working so closely together?
Bui Kollar: One of my mentors, the designer Phillip Lim, used to say: “Commercial success affords creativity.” I am the chief creative and Kelly is chief commercial. From the first day, Kelly and I openly and honestly discussed our strengths and weaknesses. There is no energy wasted around protecting egos. We are able to respectfully share our conflicting thoughts or points of view. There is a lot of dividing and conquering in how we work together. It is incredibly performance-driven. But it’s also magical. I would say the keys to success in a partnership are: no judgment; trust in one another’s processes; collaborate; celebrate; and be flexible. I have also learnt that even though Kelly wears black 90 per cent of the time, she will never ever wear navy blue [laughs].
Wong: Someone once said to me that you can’t learn how to be creative. You can learn how to be a buyer, a marketer or an accountant, but creativity is not something you can teach. The formula is to allow someone to dream. I understand this concept and the magic that unfolds when a creative person is given the space to dream, and I respect it deeply. In our partnership, Kim will always be the visionary and I will always be the one to help bring those visions and dreams to life. This aligns with who I am as a person: I love to support people and help make their dreams come true. Of course, sometimes there are constraints, whether they’re budgetary, logistical or timing-related. As Kim mentioned, we always have open discussions about these constraints. If something is truly unrealistic, we postpone the idea and move on to the next. There’s no judgment or hard feelings—only mutual respect and understanding. That’s the beauty of our partnership: we balance each other out by combining creativity with practicality.

What brands can we expect to see at Beauregards in the future?
Bui Kollar: We approach merchandising based on the following ethos: need-based; style souvenirs; sense of place; and ultimate gifts. But at the heart of the ethos is the Beaureguards vacation vibe aesthetic. Need-based items are what you usually need when on vacation: swimwear, activewear, occasion wear, accessories and suncare products. We spend a lot of energy treasure hunting in Hong Kong and [around] Asia to learn about artists, designers, brands and material suppliers that we can bring into Beaureguards for our customers to discover. Why? Because we want someone who is visiting us to bring back something from Hong Kong or [elsewhere in] Asia that they can’t find anywhere else. Our mix can include industry heroes who make the best product in certain categories—for example, Eres and Orlebar Brown for swimwear—because we want to make sure we have the best industry classics. And then we have independent brands that are not widely distributed and have specialised techniques or points of view. We carry Sau Lee fashion and Pen Mané jewellery, both Hong Kong brands. Chato Studio [which offers handcrafted accessories and clothing] is a family brand from Thailand. I would not pick things that were not photogenic, didn’t look great on, or weren’t comfortable. I have been styling collections, editorials and talent for so long that it’s my job to know what looks good on people.

What’s next for you both?
Bui Kollar: We have been operating since January 6 at Rosewood Hong Kong. Our e-commerce launched at the end of March. We are working on the 2025 calendar of creative collaborations and pop-ups, so watch this space. We worked on a photo exhibition of interesting women in the Hong Kong community for Art Basel. The next thing for us is to figure out which city we want the next Beaureguards outpost to be in, so we can extend the network and broaden the conversations. We can’t wait. We are going to let word of mouth do its magic. It’s more authentic and cooler that way

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