Hanging Out With the Wellingtonian Behind Yu Mei Luxury Leather Goods

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Yu Mei, meaning—loosely—young and beautiful, is both Jessie Wong's middle name and the name of the Wellington-based leather goods brand she founded. The brand, which began life in Dunedin, has, in its young life, met with enormous success—showing at Shanghai Fashion Week, presentations at NZFW, winning numerous awards—which Jessie puts down to the ethos behind every bag that the brand releases: simplicity is complexity resolved.

But success—monetary success, at least—says Jessie, who has sewn since she was 11, has never been her driving motivation. "At the end of the day, none of us are in it for money, we're in it for the creative satisfaction and doing something cool to bring people together." Jessie, now 24, was given her middle name by her grandfather, and it is entirely appropriate that she honours him in her work—Jessie feels "equal parts" Chinese and New Zealander, something she sees as systematic of an emerging aspect of contemporary New Zealand. "As New Zealanders, we're really diverse. It's not any one culture."

Voting, Jessie says, is the only way all the different groups and cultures that now call New Zealand home will gain the representation they deserve. This is especially true of younger Kiwis. "I think that young people should be aware and get behind the voting process because we are a huge part of New Zealand society. We want our government to be representative of our community so the more people who chip in, the clearer that will be."