Chanel’s First Chinese Ambassador Coco Lee Dies at 48

Coco Lee, Chanel’s first Chinese ambassador, has died. 

 

The Hong Kong-born singer died three days after she was placed in a medically induced coma at Queen Mary Hospital following a suicide attempt on Sunday, according to a Facebook post written by her sisters Carol and Nancy Lee. 

 

“With great sadness, we are here to break the most devastating news: Coco had been suffering from depression for a few years, but her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months,” the sisters wrote. “Although, Coco sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her.”

 

Born to a Hongkong Cantonese mother and Malyasian father in 1975, Lee established herself as a Mandopop singer and released albums in Cantonese and English throughout her three-decade-long career. In 1998, she voiced Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney's Mulan, and sang the Mandarin version of the film’s theme song, “Reflection.”

 

In 2001, she was tapped as the first Chinese Chanel brand ambassador for the company's Asian region. She sang “A Love Before Time,” the Oscar nominated end-credit title song of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.