With four different covers being created, it was ambitious to say the least, but a walk in the park compared to the months spent choosing the 100 names that made the final cut in the Generation T list

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Photographed by Jason Capobianco

When I realised Hong Kong Tatler would pass a remarkable landmark next year—four decades as the city’s arbiter of modern society and taste—I wanted us to redouble our efforts to nail the zeitgeist. So we decided to develop a new annual publication to complement our established 500 List of the city’s most influential characters—one that would focus on the next generation.

But first we had to decide: Who are they? What do they do? How many of them are from established families? We started by asking: Who actually makes up society today? The general consensus was that the mix is much more fluid than in generations past, with disruption, creativity and success important factors in determining people’s entrée to what traditionally were once closed groups.

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Photographed by Jason Capobianco

This realisation allowed the team to think differently and come up with an exciting, varied cast of characters to be considered for inclusion in our selection of 100 bright young things shaping the conversation and setting the city’s agenda.

We started with people we already knew; we spoke to others established in their fields to see who they had their eyes on; and we looked at the young people shaking up certain industries. And then we kept adding names.

The project, soon dubbed Generation T,  mixes scions of some of the city’s oldest families with entrepreneurs, artists, cutting-edge chefs and fashion influencers to create a revealing reflection of Hong Kong society. There isn’t a sector these connectors, visionaries and innovators aren’t taking on and making their own, from art and retail to philanthropy and tech.

And despite a perception that Hong Kong Tatler is a handbook for a small selection of the city’s elite, the magazine has also been a springboard for talent for nearly 40 years. A number of the inaugural Generation T, including Sean Lee-Davies, Arne Eggers and Diana d’Arenberg, cut their teeth in one way or another at Tatler.

The final choice of 100 names, all of them products of the dynamic, digital world they grew up in, is meant to be somewhat subversive. It’s about promoting people who not only use forward-thinking instincts to challenge and provoke the way their industries are created and perceived, but who are doing it with personal flair.

Disruption is necessary to move forward and this crop of talented A-listers, painstakingly compiled over six months and presented in partnership with IWC Schaffhausen, is certainly doing that. Only time will tell if they have the staying power for the long game.

Claire Breen Melwani is the Editor-in-Chief of Hong Kong Tatler

To discover the city’s brightest young talents, see the Generation T booklet, which comes with our July issue.