“The unicorn is my spirit animal”

Hong Kong Homies is a series where we get deep real fast with Hongkongers. By Fiona Lai.

Lois Lo, Floaties Designer

On Life

I actually didn’t like Hong Kong when I first moved back from New York. There were more activities in New York — always something going on in the park, museums, performances, and so on. Hong Kong started to have more and more festivals, such as design shows, Beertopia, Clockenflap, Art Basel, and Wine & Dine Festival to name a few. The city is growing on me!

On Work

I studied studio art in school and wanted to be a starving artist, but then I realized I needed to be more practical and ventured into marketing and branding work that related to design. I moved back to Hong Kong because my family is here and I started a company making giant floaties. My favorite is the unicorn. I have been obsessed with horses since I was little, and I dreamt that I had a pet Pegasus. Now the unicorn is my spirit animal — it’s happy. It’s colorful. It makes your day brighter. I’m generally a happy and optimistic person. I laugh a lot. Unicorns are fun, cheerful, magical and positive. That’s what I want to make people feel.

On Family

My parents have always been adamant about keeping traditional values. They were quite strict when I was growing up but I appreciate it now. With four kids, we are a pretty big family compared to others.  We are super loud and obnoxious and opinionated when we are together, so people think we are fighting all the time. But that is how we show love. When I was around 5 years old, I used to get the word “cereal” and “serious” mixed up. So my family would laugh at me. I would get very frustrated because I was being really, really serious.