Chelsia Lau
Designer
Chelsia Lau Ka-po always liked drawing. When she was a little girl on Lantau, she used to get out her crayons and display her pictures in her parents' restaurant, in Mui Wo. Few diners realised that this little island girl with a love of form and colour would one day design cars for millions of people worldwide, and become one of the style icons of China's booming automotive industry.
Lau is now chief designer of Ford's design strategic concepts group in Shanghai.
Subject ID: 31953
MoreChelsia Lau Ka-po always liked drawing. When she was a little girl on Lantau, she used to get out her crayons and display her pictures in her parents' restaurant, in Mui Wo. Few diners realised that this little island girl with a love of form and colour would one day design cars for millions of people worldwide, and become one of the style icons of China's booming automotive industry.
Lau is now chief designer of Ford's design strategic concepts group in Shanghai.
She found her 20-year vocation in car design when she was offered a rare internship at Ford's Detroit headquarters while studying at the Lee Wai Lee Technical Institute. "Ford changed everything," Lau says. "I realised that designing a car goes beyond a beautiful sketch."
Ford fast-tracked Lau's talent to the design teams for key models, from the Explorer to the Fiesta. Her biggest break, she says, was to lead the interior design of the Mercury MC4 concept vehicle, while still a junior, at the 1997 Detroit motor show. In 2004, she led the design of a small SUV for South America. "It's now a segment leader in Brazil," she says.
Subject ID: 31953
Subject ID: 31953
