Name: Po Tsang Ho a.k.a. PT

Nationality: Taiwanese

Occupation: Make-up & hair-stylist artist

Portfolio: http://pt.4ormat.com

REVVER TV第一次達人專訪獻給了專業的造型師－PT。想了解他多變的作品背後經過什麼樣的養成，跟他對現在髮妝的想法….都在這裡讓你一窺究竟!!（中文專訪）

When you think of how you started in make-up and hairstyle…
I have a pretty interesting background because my major was English Literature when I graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University. At that time, I saw myself working in a theater as an actor or in any other role behind the scene. But for some reasons it didn’t work out. I think that I was too scared to step in this very competitive arena that is Art & Culture industry. This is the reason why I just chose to work for a Press Relations company once I finished my military service. In fact, through this office life experience I learnt something decisive for my next professional leap: I realized that office-working environment was not suitable for me. I literally had no room to express myself, so I try to look for a job and a career path where I can develop and express myself more actively.
Therefore, I decided to switch my career focus and I chose to learn something from the scratch, something practical and manual that can allow me to create. In order to reach that new goal, I left Taiwan to go to Japan to embrace something new. With the great help of some of my Japanese friends, I made that move to Tokyo to learn make-up and hairstyle for 2 years.
After these 2 years in Japan, one of my teachers encouraged me to keep pushing myself by taking some photography class in order to add another visual and artistic layer to my academics. It made sense to me so I went to New York for one year. There, I craft my art skills and then I finally came back to Taiwan where I belong. Today, I have been doing fashion make-up and hairstyle for seven years now. At some point I still consider myself as a beginner in my field because it requires a constant learning process.

When you think of your inspirations…
Actually, I have a pretty clear idea about what is a make-up artist. To me a make-up artist is just a kind of a painter, and a hair-stylist is simply a sculptor. When I do both, I took my inspiration from Art: mainly painting and architecture. I refer to painting for the colors, the textures and the visual impact I shoot for in make-up. For hair-style, I like to look at architecture because it’s a science of shape, forms and constraints which is an exciting challenge to take for hair-styling as well. In other words, painting and architecture are so enriching to me that they are one of my greatest sources creativity. Right now, my greatest influencer in fashion from make-up perspective is Alex Box. She is amazingly talented and she keeps raising the bar of possibilities in the industry.In terms of hair-style, I am very much influenced as well by what I read. I just need to check some books at the bookstore to explore new ideas. I can spend hours and hours with all kind of books to be infused by some shapes, some lines, ideas of constructions, illustrations, etc…

When you think of the biggest challenge in fashion industry today…
Let us put it this way: how to make you unique in an industry that expects constant change and evolution? How to catch-up with trends, innovation and novelty with a fierce competition of talented artists? If I put this issue in the context of Taiwan, it’s even more challenging because Taiwan is really small and it’s difficult to coexist besides brighter fashion places such as New-York, London, Milan, Paris, Tokyo…
In my opinion, one of the keys is to have your own signature as a landmark style just because in terms of benefits it can bring you credibility and respect. I believe this the most important thing to do if you want to survive in that industry. Everybody needs to take this challenge, no exception.

When you think of the current trends in make-up and hairstyle today…
I could say that the 90s where a significant marker. I don’t want to minimize the large spectrum of styles that we saw from the 20’s to the 80’s, but after the 90’s: no rules, no limitations. Of course, some people tried to promote a natural look, some others tried to innovate or just tried to make some combination with old school styled and new input to reinvent the past.
Then, millennium era shows a new trend more futuristic with more technology involved. When you see the level of customization you can achieve by using new technics, new devices, new processes, it opens a door to an unlimited number of possibilities. For example, the 3D printer will be a game changer that could unlock some great potential in terms of customization and creativity. Let’s call it progress. In the future, it will take less effort because everyone will be able to use any kind of tools or process to style individuals: brush, hair, texture, wig etc… All the materials we use are going to be impacted. In the same time, I see people more open-minded because everyone will have more opinion but also more opportunities to design his / her own style in more simple way, cheaper, faster thanks to technology. That’s my prediction for the future.

When you think of Taiwan in the fashion landscape industry…
When I was in Tokyo, I discovered the Japanese touch which is the “cute style”. Everything they do is to look «cute», with light and soft colors, and ball shape in terms of hair-style construction. Japanese fashion professionals are really picky and they look very much into details. There is a  religious preparation for them before the shooting, during the shooting and even after for the post-production part.
In New York, everything is much more commercial: it’s more about business. The downside of this trend is people tend to become risk averse and then they prioritize standard looks and styles to satisfy the market. Although American fashion professionals are really creative and can demonstrate a lot of potential in anti-conformist mindset, they do not fully exploit this potential if the market does not ask for it.
On the contrary, in Europe it’s more experimental (UK, Italy, France) I would say. People really try to push-up the boundaries, they have a greater artistic mindset.
In Taiwan, of course we have been and we are influenced by different cultures: Japanese colonized us, we are very much open to the US and Europe and we have been taking all of these influences to raise-up. But the main issue is: how can we create or build-up our own identity in terms of make-up and hairstyle? How can we develop or shape our own style? At the end of the day, I think this is important to learn from others but not only. It can be really beneficial only if we try to turn it into something that could be an expression of Taiwanese style. This is the greatest challenge for Taiwanese artists, to develop an exquisite Taiwanese touch.

When you think of a piece of advice for the would-be make-up artists and hair-stylist…
It’s definitely all about basics… You need to work on your fundamentals and absorb any kind of inspirations at the zoo, at the botanical garden, or try to read some books or just try to connect with your environment.
You also need to work on yourself, don’t get stuck into the technics but also shape your personality because you need to have an inclusive vision of your work. How to communicate with models and designers? How to express an idea or how to promote an opinion? Your interpersonal skills are critical to be part of a team because in this business no one can survive alone.