PHYLLIS KAO

“Different categories call for different attitudes,” Kao says. She considers the collectors before her, adapting her approach—and sometimes what she wears—to the character of each sale. Her now-signature updo began with function: an audition judge suggested she wear her hair up to keep it from interfering with the microphone. “Now, if I don't have my hair up, then people don't recognize me,” she says. “Your physical image is such a powerful tool in visual language—in communicating without even having to speak.”