Femininity is ‘knowing yourself’: Carina Lau on Chanel high jewellery, cinema and grace under pressure

Beyond the screen and stage, Lau’s inherent passion manifests in collecting. The aesthetic sensibility she has cultivated as an actor finds another form of expression in the jewellery she chooses to keep—collected not for price or rarity, but for something far more elusive. “I always look for a resonance—the story behind each jewellery piece,” she says. “It has to give me that electric feeling or evoke a cherished memory from my life.” 

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That sense of resonance can come from her admiration for legendary women across different eras—among them, Gabrielle Chanel, who defied convention and regarded jewellery as a means of personal and liberated self-expression. “What draws me to Chanel is the woman herself: the way she lived, her defiance of convention, her courage to shed the constraints society then placed on women. None of that came easily.” 

The Chanel Signes & Symboles high jewellery pieces Lau wears for this story are themed around four motifs— the camellia, the star, the sun and the lion, each carrying deep personal meaning for the French fashion designer: the camellia was her favourite flower, admired for its geometric perfection; the lion was her birth sign, Leo; the sun spoke to her love for the Mediterranean light. The star, meanwhile, is influenced by her early years at the Cistercian abbey of Aubazine, where she was raised as a child; its cobblestone floors were etched with the same motifs that would later find their way into her jewellery. 

“Every piece has a story to tell,” says Lau. “More than ornaments, they represent chapters from a life boldly lived, each one shaped by Gabrielle Chanel’s deepest convictions. That’s what draws me so powerfully to them.”

Lau is particularly drawn to the lion motif. “Lions are solitary creatures that embody confidence, resilience, and independence,” she says. It is a quality she finds echoed in its Asian counterpart: “The lion wears its power openly in the west. But the eastern tiger commands a different kind of authority—one that inspires awe without seeking it.” 

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Lau has adopted a symbol of her own, one bound up with her Chinese name. “My symbol is ‘+0’, which [in Cantonese] sounds just like my name, Kar-ling.” The meaning behind it speaks directly to her philosophy of life. “The plus sign represents openness, accumulation and a passion to explore [and find even] more. The zero stands for the opposite: a clearing out, a return to the beginning. You have to keep releasing what you’ve taken 124 in to make space for new ideas.” 

Collecting jewellery has become Lau’s way of keeping track and taking stock. “Every piece [I own] represents part of my own story,” she says. “Looking at them is like leafing through the chapters of my life—what I’m really collecting is the moments, and the feelings they carry. It all starts with knowing your own character first; only then will you find jewellery that truly resonates.”

For someone who has spent so many years under scrutiny, Lau seems impressively unbothered by the public gaze. She shares her world openly on social media—often bare-faced and in sportswear—documenting hikes up Victoria Peak, ski runs in Japan or simply pausing to photograph a quiet cluster of roadside flowers. 

Last November, she appeared on the travel reality series The Blooming Journey season 2, which saw a group of Chinese actors of a similar generation travel through some of the mainland’s most stunning landscapes, around Guizhou, Quanzhou and Inner Mongolia’s Hulunbuir. Lau’s affinity with the natural world came through effortlessly on screen, as she was filmed fishing and crabbing with local villagers, riding on horseback, or simply sitting still by the open grasslands. Her years of experience have lent her an assurance on camera that simply cannot be learnt, and an understanding of womanhood that only time can confer. 

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“When I was younger, I thought femininity was about how you look,” she says. “But with time and experience, I’ve come to believe that true femininity is about knowing yourself, staying honest to who you are, and having the grace and wisdom to face whatever life throws at you.” She pauses, then adds: “Time hasn’t diminished my femininity—if anything, it’s made it richer and more layered.”

Credits

Content Director: Tara Sobti
Creative Direction: Zoe Yau
Photographer: Wontae Go
Photography Assistant: Ho-yong Lee, Hyun-geun Lee
Stylist: Jacky Tam
Styling Assistant: Edwina Ip
Hair: Ken Hui
Set Designer: Athena Leung
Videographer: Siven Ho, Cheng Kai Yo
Video Assistant: Season Chan
Production: Carlos Hui, Zed Leets
Jewellery & Wardrobe: Chanel

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