For most people, the closest thing to a personal assistant is the voice command on their smart phone.
Coco Wang, however, has two personal assistants. One is located in Taiwan and another here in B.C. where the 19-year-old stars in the new online reality series, Ultra Rich Asian Girls of Vancouver.
And when asked how her parents made the fortune that pays for her two assistants, Wang laughs.
“I seriously don’t know what my father’s job is. I know he’s rich — I’ve asked him before but he’s never told me. I’m curious too,” she said, adding her father does something with finance and law.
Wang — who prefers to go by her nickname, Coco Paris — is the youngest of four stars on the show, all of whom were cast last spring, filmed during the summer, and introduced to the public for the first time Thursday at a press conference at Richmond’s River Rock Casino. The other stars include Chelsea Jiang, Florence Zhao, and Joy Li.
Each of the Mandarin-speaking women come from affluent backgrounds, but are also “young independent women” finishing school and launching their careers here in Vancouver — while wearing the latest sky-high Louboutins and clutching Hermes Birkin bags.For the 24-year-old Jiang, the show presented an opportunity to show what her life is really like.
Jiang was born in Ottawa, but grew up in Beijing. She returned to Canada at the age of 15 and moved to Vancouver for university.
On Thursday, Jiang wore a beaded see-through sheath dress from her own Asian fusion fashion line, C3, paired with $1,300 Sergio Rossi shoes — but don’t expect that from her every day.
“They’re surprised,” she said of those who discover she’s an honours student who graduated from UBC last spring. “They think, ‘Math major?’ Especially for girls like me, they’re surprised. But you don’t see this in my class. I wear Juicy and Uggs and Lululemons to class — and we work hard.”
Fashion is top of mind for all four girls: Zhao is also launching her own luxury athletic wear line, while Li is hoping to break into modelling.
When Wang goes shopping, her personal assistants handle all of her transactions using a designated credit card, which is why she has trouble remembering exactly how much her shoes cost, although she knows they are from Charlotte Olympia’s latest collection. She has better luck recalling the price tag of her dress.
“This is $9,500 and I really like it. I love a dress where, when people see it, they don’t know what brand it is. It’s really unique and you will never find another one in this area,” Wang said.
“This is Coco Paris style,” she says with a flourish.
Each of the girls, as well as producer Kevin Li, are very aware of the criticism the show has faced since it was first announced in the summer.
While none of the girls knew each other prior to being cast on the show, the events attended by the foursome — and the extravagant purchases made on the show — are by no means staged.
“When (Kevin) approached me with the actual show, I actually hesitated,” said Jiang. “You realize, ‘Oh, people actually judge you for a lot of things’ but they don’t know me.
“People say when you hold the football, you’ll always get tackled.”
Jiang said there’s no guilt attached to her lifestyle, instead, she considers it luck that has brought her family what appears to be unending riches.
“I think luck is an attitude. You are lucky, you feel lucky, so you work hard to keep your luck with you and then I work hard to bring luck to the people around me,” she said, noting charity work is a big part of her life.
The 13-episode show will premier on YouTube on Oct. 26, with a new episode released weekly. Filming took place over the summer and continued up until three weeks ago, with Li teasing a jaunt over to Europe for the show’s finale.
“It was very interesting because I didn’t know what to expect,” Li said. “I have no idea what they’ll say, how they’ll be reacting, what the public’s going to think about it, so I went in there with an open mind, letting the girls do what they please within a certain venue.”
Jiang acknowledged editing would play a role in how the show is shaped, but owned up to her actions and opinions presented on the show.
“I don’t know how the editing is but there’s no script at all so I hold the responsibility on my own behalf,” she said. “I think it will be very real.”
As for what else is in store for the show’s first season, Wang admitted there may be a small bit of partying.
“In Taiwan, I was in school and then back to home — but like, I’m 19 years old now ... so I have a chance to do all this,” she said with a smile.
