25.02.19 in ambassadeurs
jacques shu
press officer for four years for Dior Homme, then as a freelancer for 12 years with clients like Kitsuné, Chevignon and Fursac... he chose to turn the fashion page to devote himself to another career, that of a real estate agent. interview with a passionate person who has never been afraid to step out of his comfort zone…
what nourishes you in this new profession, what is the source of your motivation?
I do a job which is not so different from that of press relations in the end, it is always about knowing how to advise people, to reassure them, to guide them in the best possible choice to ultimately satisfy them. whether they are journalists, brands or now buyers, it is always people and meeting them that inspire me. the trust of others nourishes me, I find myself projected into the intimacy of each client (the arrival of a baby, an inheritance, the beginning or even the end of a story...), I arrive at a moment often a marker of a life, we then find ourselves looking together for a blank page, the ground for a new adventure, I suddenly become a small stone in an immense building.
Who are the people who constitute references for you?
I had the chance to meet people who believed in me, people who are instinctive and in the moment rather than in theory. these meetings are crucial, but the ultimate reference is my father. he gave me a taste for effort, an appetite for work. I make sure to live up to the courage he had and knew how to show in his life. he fled China in 1946 with a procession of refugees, he was only ten years old, he was alone, his parents remained there, he saw them again 30 years later. When he arrived in Taiwan, he had nothing, he studied there, then he left for Paris with the sole address of a Catholic home. he completed his doctorate at jussieu, he learned everything, became a university professor, founded a home, raised four children. He instilled in me this permanent desire for a better life, to never be afraid to start from nothing, to dare to put oneself in danger to ultimately win the game, even if it takes a long time.
Does the city or country that inspires you resemble you?
I really like traveling in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, it's a country where I feel really good. they managed to combine the culture of the past and at the same time an almost futuristic side at times. I am thinking in particular of Koh Lipe, a small island in the very south. I also lived in India for three months last year, it was a time of getting started, an almost initiatory phase. the right place to question yourself, decide to do something radically different…
what nourishes you in this new profession, what is the source of your motivation?
I do a job which is not so different from that of press relations in the end, it is always about knowing how to advise people, to reassure them, to guide them in the best possible choice to ultimately satisfy them. whether they are journalists, brands or now buyers, it is always people and meeting them that inspire me. the trust of others nourishes me, I find myself projected into the intimacy of each client (the arrival of a baby, an inheritance, the beginning or even the end of a story...), I arrive at a moment often a marker of a life, we then find ourselves looking together for a blank page, the ground for a new adventure, I suddenly become a small stone in an immense building.
Who are the people who constitute references for you?
I had the chance to meet people who believed in me, people who are instinctive and in the moment rather than in theory. these meetings are crucial, but the ultimate reference is my father. he gave me a taste for effort, an appetite for work. I make sure to live up to the courage he had and knew how to show in his life. he fled China in 1946 with a procession of refugees, he was only ten years old, he was alone, his parents remained there, he saw them again 30 years later. When he arrived in Taiwan, he had nothing, he studied there, then he left for Paris with the sole address of a Catholic home. he completed his doctorate at jussieu, he learned everything, became a university professor, founded a home, raised four children. He instilled in me this permanent desire for a better life, to never be afraid to start from nothing, to dare to put oneself in danger to ultimately win the game, even if it takes a long time.
Does the city or country that inspires you resemble you?
I really like traveling in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, it's a country where I feel really good. they managed to combine the culture of the past and at the same time an almost futuristic side at times. I am thinking in particular of Koh Lipe, a small island in the very south. I also lived in India for three months last year, it was a time of getting started, an almost initiatory phase. the right place to question yourself, decide to do something radically different…
“I had the chance to meet people who believed in me, people who are instinctive and in the moment rather than in theory. »
what is the art of living according to you?
my father gave me the awareness of free will, of the freedom of control that everyone has over their life. I therefore fully choose what I do, what I live, with whom I decide to live or undertake each thing. we must remain master of our life and not submit to it, otherwise we only betray ourselves indefinitely. you must dare to follow your intuition, against all odds. my ideal epitaph would be “he lived as he wanted”.
your reference project?
many projects have made me very proud. for example, there was the collaboration with Chevignon, part of a simple idea that I had suggested, without having any experience in styling... once again, I had caring personalities at my side, who had the audacity to attempt adventures. we reinterpreted the iconic Chevignon down jacket according to 5 cities: London inspired by an English tartan, Paris decorated with a gray chevron, Tokyo with a Japanese floral fabric, Capri with a seer sucker pattern and New York which revisited the teddy American.
your favorite expression?
only death is irremediable. people often forget this, while everything else needs to be put into perspective.
your biggest challenge achieved or to be achieved?
when I left the comfortable confines of Dior to become a freelancer at 26 years old. I felt like I was jumping into the void. in retrospect, I loved this feeling, this field of possibilities that we only glimpse when we have the audacity to put ourselves completely in danger, when we decide to restart the machine from scratch. I will always be satisfied with having at least tried, giving up in the face of difficulty is something that particularly annoys me.
If you weren't doing your current job, what job would you do?
I would have liked to be an interior designer, to create an atmosphere, to find the right object or piece of furniture, to modulate a place, to work on its volumes. in my new job, I am always instinctively into reconfiguration, into the projection of places, into the imagination of others.
a favorite place to usually find yourself?
if it's not at Bila Beach, it could be at a yoga class or in certain addresses in the north of Paris: at Bob's Kitchen at Halle Pajol in the 18th for brunch, a really good restaurant (vegan and gluten free) . the brasserie du 104 in the 19th, yikou rue de l'aqueduc in the 10th or even nomadic house in the 10th. for me these places are the expression of the change in the north of Paris, the urban renewal of which I follow very closely...
my father gave me the awareness of free will, of the freedom of control that everyone has over their life. I therefore fully choose what I do, what I live, with whom I decide to live or undertake each thing. we must remain master of our life and not submit to it, otherwise we only betray ourselves indefinitely. you must dare to follow your intuition, against all odds. my ideal epitaph would be “he lived as he wanted”.
your reference project?
many projects have made me very proud. for example, there was the collaboration with Chevignon, part of a simple idea that I had suggested, without having any experience in styling... once again, I had caring personalities at my side, who had the audacity to attempt adventures. we reinterpreted the iconic Chevignon down jacket according to 5 cities: London inspired by an English tartan, Paris decorated with a gray chevron, Tokyo with a Japanese floral fabric, Capri with a seer sucker pattern and New York which revisited the teddy American.
your favorite expression?
only death is irremediable. people often forget this, while everything else needs to be put into perspective.
your biggest challenge achieved or to be achieved?
when I left the comfortable confines of Dior to become a freelancer at 26 years old. I felt like I was jumping into the void. in retrospect, I loved this feeling, this field of possibilities that we only glimpse when we have the audacity to put ourselves completely in danger, when we decide to restart the machine from scratch. I will always be satisfied with having at least tried, giving up in the face of difficulty is something that particularly annoys me.
If you weren't doing your current job, what job would you do?
I would have liked to be an interior designer, to create an atmosphere, to find the right object or piece of furniture, to modulate a place, to work on its volumes. in my new job, I am always instinctively into reconfiguration, into the projection of places, into the imagination of others.
a favorite place to usually find yourself?
if it's not at Bila Beach, it could be at a yoga class or in certain addresses in the north of Paris: at Bob's Kitchen at Halle Pajol in the 18th for brunch, a really good restaurant (vegan and gluten free) . the brasserie du 104 in the 19th, yikou rue de l'aqueduc in the 10th or even nomadic house in the 10th. for me these places are the expression of the change in the north of Paris, the urban renewal of which I follow very closely...
“many projects have made me very proud. for example, there was the collaboration with Chevignon, which started from a simple idea that I had suggested, without having any experience in styling…”
your favorite object? how much does he weigh ?
certainly the watch that I finally gave myself, as we reward ourselves when we have worked well, I wanted it for a very long time: a rolex air king with a midnight blue background in steel. I never take it off, just like my wedding ring, which is a symbol beyond a fetish. it must weigh 100 grams.
what has weight in your life?
the wording of this question is interesting… weight evokes the importance of things as much as a form of burden… I then think of education. education is crucial, it forms and shapes, it allows living together, respect for others, it is a compass, until the moment it can prevent us from fully moving forward... we must be able to get the best out of it and manage to free oneself from it to write one's own story.
your object(s) on the gram, what is/are they? how do you use the doors/doors?
I have a cable and a silver bangle on my right wrist, I even sleep with it. I wear them in accumulation with a small Thai bracelet, a souvenir from my first trip with my lover.
if the gram were a decoration, which one would it be?
it would certainly be a Haussmannian apartment for the resolutely French dimension of the brand, its Parisian chic side, at once discreet, sober and elegant. Haussmannian therefore, but very refined, sparsely furnished with whitewashed parquet floors. something contemporary and minimal.
certainly the watch that I finally gave myself, as we reward ourselves when we have worked well, I wanted it for a very long time: a rolex air king with a midnight blue background in steel. I never take it off, just like my wedding ring, which is a symbol beyond a fetish. it must weigh 100 grams.
what has weight in your life?
the wording of this question is interesting… weight evokes the importance of things as much as a form of burden… I then think of education. education is crucial, it forms and shapes, it allows living together, respect for others, it is a compass, until the moment it can prevent us from fully moving forward... we must be able to get the best out of it and manage to free oneself from it to write one's own story.
your object(s) on the gram, what is/are they? how do you use the doors/doors?
I have a cable and a silver bangle on my right wrist, I even sleep with it. I wear them in accumulation with a small Thai bracelet, a souvenir from my first trip with my lover.
if the gram were a decoration, which one would it be?
it would certainly be a Haussmannian apartment for the resolutely French dimension of the brand, its Parisian chic side, at once discreet, sober and elegant. Haussmannian therefore, but very refined, sparsely furnished with whitewashed parquet floors. something contemporary and minimal.
“Education is crucial, it forms and shapes, it allows living together, respect for others, it is a compass, until the moment when it can prevent us from moving forward fully…”
---accumulation---
bracelet_9g_silver-925_polished_smooth_cable;bracelet_41g_silver-925_polished_smooth_ruban;bracelet_7g_silver-925_polished_smooth_ruban;bracelet_21g_silver-925_polished_smooth_ruban
