Sometime last year, a Singaporean teenaged girl made headlines across the world and shed light on the discourse concerning class privilege, after she fell victim to online mockery for describing a Charles & Keith bag as a ‘luxury’. At the time,17-year-old Zoe Gabriel had filmed a video that was shared to her TikTok account, recounting her excitement in unboxing the handbag that was gifted to her by her father.
SG girl went viral after being mocked for calling Charles & Keith bag a ‘luxury’
Hoping to share the joy with her audiences, she took to peeling away the layers of protective wrapping that the bag came wrapped with, before incorporating it into her outfits.
The otherwise innocuous video was initially well-received by social media users, until a few people snidely pointed out that the Singaporean fashion label was not actually considered to be a ‘true’ luxury label, and mocked Zoe for her apparent mistake.
This would lead her to upload another clip, where she tearfully explained her family’s humble background and spoke at length about class privilege and wealth disparity. Articulate and well-mannered despite how hurt she felt by the comments, Zoe quickly gained viral fame for her poise and resilience.
Gained supporters online for her poise and candid response to class privilege
In fact, she would even wind up catching the attention of the founders behind Charles & Keith, brothers Mr Charles Wong and Mr Keith Wong, who extended an invitation to both Zoe and her father to tour their headquarters in person and attend a luncheon together.
But it would seem that 2023 may hold even more in store for the young woman, as it has just been reported by Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times that Zoe was tapped to become of Charles & Keith’s latest brand ambassadors as part of the brand’s campaign for International Women’s Day!
Stylishly dressed in a streamlined grey mid-length skirt accessorised with knee-high boots and a pastel purple chain handle handbag, Zoe broke the news over her own Instagram page last Saturday.
“women are like flowers: our time and needs to grow may not always align, but that is okay.
we are like fields of poppy and lakes of lotus – diverse and bold in our differences, beautiful in our own ways.
this international women’s day, let us celebrate with compassion. let us celebrate with equality through equity, the way flowers do.” she wrote in the caption.
Founded in 1990, Charles & Keith has since taken Asia by storm as a leading retailer of accessories, offering a diverse range of trend-appropriate shoes, bags, as well as wallets and even jewellery. A 20% stake in the company was previously acquired by the Louis Vuitton Moet-Hennessy group, before it was purchased by the founders from them again.
To date, the brand has 600 stores globally. 20% of the proceeds from this year’s International Women’s Day campaign will go towards the Storytelling For Gender Equality programme of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women.
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