Biography
Taiwanese-born fashion editor and style consultant Eugene Tong was style director of men’s magazine Details, having worked his way up from Paris and American market editor when he joined the Condé Nast title, until its closure in 2015. He currently works as an independent fashion consultant, collaborating with the likes of John Elliott, W Magazine, Nike, The Kooples and Kith.
Named the most stylish man in fashion by men’s lifestyle magazine Complex in 2013, Tong — a self-confessed shoe devotee — began mixing sneaker brands like Supreme and high-end labels like Dries van Noten before the proliferation of "high-low dressing." Street style photographers Tommy Ton and Scott Schuman regularly feature Tong on their blogs for his sartorial rotation of accessible, easy going streetwear essentials and luxury investment pieces. Tong credits his affinity for dressing with his regular travels to Asia, observing Japanese men taking interest to magazines such as Popeye and Men’s Non-no, which he discovered were very different to American titles at the time.
A native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Tong attended Boston University and moved to New York City after graduation to search for a job. To occupy his time, he took an internship at FHM Magazine and was eventually hired as a freelance fashion assistant. From there, he became the accessories market editor at the now-defunct Cargo magazine, and then jumped to Details, where he was promoted to senior style director after five years at the publication. The magazine has since folded.
During his time there, Tong has seen an uptick in reader interest for fashion content and advice. In 2018, Tong conceived the “Urban Explorer” installation for Bloomingdale’s series of pop-up shops within its US locations.
Tong also styles for New York streetwear-meets-tailoring label Public School, which won the 2013 CFDA Swarovski Award for Menswear. Most recently, Tong styled the Sergio Tacchini STLA collection, as well as Dyne’s Autumn/Winter 2019 unveiled at New York Fashion Week Men’s.