I can remember watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for the first time, That’s how I learned about Western culture, found childhood inspiration, and molded my idea of beauty.
I grew up in China with my grandmother. Watching American movies was such a treat.
Audrey Hepburn looked like royalty in a black dress wrapped in stunning pearls during the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She was elegant and bold; she was the definition of what I thought beauty was.
Then, a moment of shock came before me.
As she peered through Tiffany's window display, Audrey Hepburn pulled a croissant out of a paper bag and ate it alongside a lidless coffee.
It defied what I imagined as beautiful. "Beauty doesn't eat out of a paper bag or sip coffee wearing pearls," I remember thinking.
My grandmother worked tirelessly in the silk industry in China. Audrey Hepburn's character lived in New York and wore expensive jewelry and lived a lavish lifestyle.
But, when Hepburn sipped on that coffee and bit into that croissant. It was at that moment that I had a revelation:
Beauty is more than luxury and extravagance.
Beauty is bold. It's confidence and elegance.
Beauty is women.
I don't just mean the women that grace the cover of magazines or the women in Hollywood movies, but the women who raise children, who work every day, and lead by example.
It's the strong women who carry the world on their shoulders for their families. It's educated, driven women like the ones who work by my side in the medical field. It's the brave, fearless women like the ones my colleagues and I treat.
Beauty is women like my grandmother—who raised me as a little girl in China, facing daily struggles. Beauty is all women. Those very women are the ones that inspired me to create the Pearl of Love Collection.
I've dedicated my life to improve and celebrate the stories of women, while also spending countless hours on charitable causes and advocating for brain health.
Determined to inspire more females and help others beyond the medical field, I introduced the Kate Zhong brand in 2019. For my brand's first line, I combined my passion for jewelry, beauty, and bold women and designed The Pearl of Love Collection. This Collection features signature pearl pieces that were inspired not only by my grandmother's sense of fashion but her strength, elegance, and beauty.
- Kate Zhong The Pearl of Love Collection Story