Tim Yip Kam-tim is a Renaissance man. He is best known as a designer of costumes and sets for both screen and stage, but he is also a painter, photographer, fashion designer and writer. His numerous awards include a best art direction Oscar and a best costume design BAFTA for Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the film that put Chinese martial arts epics on the international map and helped Yip become one of the world’s most sought-after art directors.
The Post sat down with him at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre during a break between costume fittings for a new production of The Butterfly Lovers , which he has designed for the Hong Kong Ballet (HKB), before its October 18 premiere. A small, neat figure dressed with quiet style, Yip is softly spoken with an endearing habit of chuckling frequently. There is nothing Hollywood about him – the closest he comes to celebrity behaviour is when he politely asks for a glass of sparkling water “to keep the energy up”.
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