From styling stars to becoming a “fashion farmer”

Fashion designer Lin Kuo-chi has traded celebrity styling for a life that begins with weeding, pruning, loosening soil and applying organic fertiliser.

Lin helped raise NT$2.7 million through Rotary clubs worldwide to establish the Rotary Embroidery Workshop in Taixi Township, Yunlin County, his hometown. The workshop opened at the end of April and is running a year-long course for 60 local students.

The project brings professional embroidery and fashion-design skills to a rural area, with the aim of creating new economic opportunities for disadvantaged families. Lin previously styled stars including Jolin Tsai, Lin Chi-ling and Dee Hsu, and represented Taiwan with a fashion show at the Shanghai World Expo.

His path has also included work as a pig farmer, chicken seller and auto mechanic. He has said he once delivered piglets and performed CPR on one because he feared losing it and the money it represented.

Now Lin describes himself as a “fashion farmer”. In a Facebook post, he said he had started the day tending fruit trees and joked that pomelos had grown into a tunnel-like mass ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival. He also mentioned fitting television and radio interviews into what he called a relaxed, self-directed schedule.

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The fashion farmer continues living a life like a spinning top, constantly turning.