The luxury hotelier extraordinaire Sonia Cheng can go from boardroom businesswoman to red-carpet starlet in the blink of an eye

Rosewood hotel group ceo Sonia Cheng arrives on set in a stylishly simple ensemble of silk blouse, skinny trousers and sky-high Charlotte Olympia pumps. “I love these,” she exclaims at the sight of a Stella McCartney jacket and 3.1 Phillip Lim tops as she checks the wardrobe for our shoot with fashion editor Justine Lee. Net-a-Porter and Matches Fashion had a selection of garments specially flown in, including the latest items from the likes of Givenchy and Giambattista Valli—all perfect matches with Cheng’s sharp and sophisticated taste.

Cheng feels a tad shy in front of Raul Docasar’s camera at first and asks for some music—Jay-Z and Drake—to ease her nerves. As soon as the flash goes off, the mother of two transforms into a starlet in her element on the red carpet. Between takes she talks excitedly about a New York holiday planned with husband Paulo Pong—“we’re leaving the kids at home, so it will be a quiet little getaway for us.” Cheng may be all business in the boardroom, but she showed us her softer side on set. Turn to p.256 in the October issue of Hong Kong Tatler for the full story.