Who is Mrs. Chow?

In a parallel universe somewhere amid the stars and through a wormhole only Matthew McConaughey can access, there exists a planet ruled by a matriarchal society where women are the breadwinners and our fallopian tubes the new phallus. Unfortunately, that planet is even farther away from us than Kepler 452b, so, we’re stuck between the moon and the sun, and a generalization, which for better or for worse a Barefoot Contessa makes: “Behind every successful man is a woman.” (Although we’re not quite sure what exactly Jeffrey does all day before he’s summoned to his meal).

What we can be sure about, however, is the existence of a formidable woman behind Dao-Yi Chow, one-half of Public School NYC and now Creative Director at DKNY with his partner-in-couture Maxwell. Well, behind both of those guys is the unstoppable Mrs. Chow. Her IG handle @mrscchow was not selected at random, no. It was deliberately chosen to further assure me that this woman a Dao-Yi Chow did make. Truth be told, and it is weird to admit it, but when I first met Dao-Yi I found him very similar to my boyfriend (handsome, successful, Asian) and I thought in the least crazy way possible that his wife must be just like me. Ok, it’s out there. I’m officially a psycho.

Nonetheless, I’ve since followed her on Instagram and created a little narrative in my imagination vis-a-vis her unaffected IG posts of their son losing a tooth, their apartment in Brooklyn, her monthly trips to Asia and sometimes a blurry selfie with Jenna Lyons. Mrs. Chow, if you’re reading this, I am not creeper just a fellow girl’s girl who wants to be you. (Ha, that should go over well). All jokes aside, Mrs. Chow gives a heartwarming glimpse into the ostensibly normal life of the two coolest fashion designers in New York City. They do all the normal things that we do: watch TV cuddled under a blanket, eat Dim Sum, play in the park, get the flu – all peppered with insider photos of Maxwell walking the halls of their hotel swaddled in a duvet, the time Dao sent her a Chanel bag, upon her request, instead of himself to Hong Kong for her birthday – I LOL’d at that one, and many other glam moments.

One thing is for sure, she’s a proud mom and an even prouder wife. Albeit, her narrative is governed by a unspoken truth, that Dao-Yi is the one with all the glory and perhaps he is indeed the breadwinner in the patriarchal sense of the word, and yet there is something to admire in her selflessness. Like the Mona Lisa whose secret remains untold. Mrs. Chow, too, withholds her deepest secrets from us. I mean, I don’t even know her first name. We effectively know nothing about her other than what her role as Mrs. Chow entails. Mrs. Chow is an abstract idea. And that’s where my narrative finds its entry point.

I’d like to do a series of short stories about Mrs. Chow and her daily meanderings. I’d like to give her a raison d’être that transcends her role as a wife and mother to the two men in her life. IDK is that a strange inclination? Mrs. Chow Goes to Hong Kong. Mrs. Chow Gets a Manicure. Mrs. Chow On the Train. Mrs. Chow Buys an Octopus. Mrs. Chow Finds Love; and so on and so forth. The question is, well there are two questions. The first is: would you guys read it? And the second is: would she file a restraining order against me.

Only one way to find out!

 

 

Illustration by Mickco

 

 

Justine Iaboni