Minimalist Dialogue: Melinda Wong

With Minimalist Dialogues, we invite people from our community to share how minimalism shapes their lives — their choices, their spaces, and their wardrobes. Not as a manifesto, but as a dialogue.

First up: Melinda Wong.

Melinda Wong is the founder of Vein, Scandinavian fashion multi-brand store, Hong Kong.



Hi Melinda! Thank you for being part of our Journal. To begin, could you share what values you feel you have in common with Nomen Nescio?

To "be the change" people seek in fashion. To change how people think about and use clothes. To pioneer our vision and version of less is better, with taste.


What does minimalism mean to you in everyday life?

Mental clarity. Personal style. The best way to live with minimalism is based on your personality and what you really like. I vote for simplicity and I believe in "less is better". At the same time, I am a creative, I work in fashion, and I am a very visual person. I challenge myself to find a balance between beautiful chaos and the purest essence of few.


How does your wardrobe reflect your values?

My priority is taste. It's a unique blend of the visible and the invisible. To me, effortless, laid-back style is a significant part of good taste — it is about practicality with personality, classiness and ease, all at the same time. Black, navy, olive green, charcoal, and white fit my vision of taste, and my wardrobe is built around that colour story.

Iconic pieces by contemporary designers, curated over the last 10–15 years, form another part of my wardrobe. They reflect my aspirations and serve as signs of the times — symbols of the cultural, social, aesthetic, and economic shifts that I personally find original and noteworthy.


What is the most meaningful piece in your wardrobe — and why?

It is a round-neck, semi-tailored jacket from Comme des Garçons that I bought many years ago in Tokyo. The look is clean and seasonless, reminiscent of Chanel's classic little black jacket from her early days. It has three oversized buttons — almost radical — very visible yet understated, in a matching colour: a very dark midnight tone that is almost black, but not quite. The surprise is the soft georgette lining in polka dots, so feminine yet masculine — think Bob Dylan in 1966. This is a piece I know I will keep forever. It looks simple, but it is sophisticated. It is very me.