How big of a part did Hong Kong play in your designs?
It was my inspiration continuously. I grew up in Hong Kong and that’s why my clothes are East meets West.
 

What advice would you give young designers if they want to reach the level where they’re doing what you’re doing now? I think it’s very important that they are true to themselves and what they want to do. I remember when it was time to do my collection and it was very difficult. Everyone told me ‘You should never do anything Chinese because people won’t buy from you and you should never use your name. Use a French or American name – a western name’. I didn’t believe it at that time. I really believe in my own culture. This is where I grew up and this is who I am. I think it’s important to really believe in yourself, have passion for what you are doing and stop thinking about having to make money from it. I wanted to pursue what I believed. With passion and heart when you do something, people will feel it.
 

What struggles did you go through in New York?
In the very beginning when I brought my collection over, I made calls to stores and constantly they would say ‘Oh you’re a designer from Hong Kong? But there are no designers from Hong Kong, there are only Manufacturers’. I was very upset and disappointed but then I believed in myself. I had to convince them and convince them. I wanted to change the perception of Hong Kong.
 

Is New York very competitive when you went in, and is it more so now?
Even more so now – It’s difficult because there are more designers. I remember when I went to a fashion show a few years ago there were maybe 50 designers and now there are ten times more. More competition and your work has to be better. Every situation has different difficulties and challenges. Design something really great and then people will want to have it. It’s about your designs, you work and timing has to be right as well as the place and the product – it has to be the right product. You have to develop the right product because if there is so much competition then why should people bother buying your product if it’s not good enough.
 

You graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Are there any particular memories that you have of that school? Every time someone asks me if I graduated from America, I say, ‘No, I graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic,’ and I’m proud of that. I really loved the university and I have so many great memories. They gave me so much freedom to do what I loved to do and the teachers were incredible. I remember my last project that I had to do. I had to construct outfits with no seams and I had to think about tying knots – the whole garment was tied in knots and I did a couple outfits together.

Do you remember a teacher that challenged you to do something different?
There was one teacher called Stella Rose. She was really conceptual. I remember that one particular project where there were no seams.
 

It seems now more designers are marketing their designs as East meets West. Is there any advice you would give them to step it up?
Be aware of what’s happening and what people want. It’s called fashion design and not just using Chinese elements – it’s [about] knowing what’s happening in the fashion world and knowing yourself. Who are you? Create your own identity. It’s not about what sells and what other designers are doing – what about you, what is your own style? That’s most important. Like an artist. I treat myself like an artist in the way that you establish your own style.
 

If you had to say one thing to those who really look up to you what would you say?
It’s so hard to say [she laughs], I guess just be true to yourself. I feel so proud to grow up in Hong Kong and felt so much inspiration. I felt so inspired by the mixed cultures and the hybrid cultures and all the religions – going to all the temples with my parents and at the same time I had to go to church when I go to school so there was all this mixed culture. You go to dim sum and then afternoon tea – there is so much it’s crazy. [Laughs] When I was young I didn’t know much but later on it became my style. That’s why I feel like you should do something from your own culture and find your niche from it. Not to be a follower and be who you are and stand up for yourself and really create something that is truly from you.
 

You’re doing something with the Hong Kong Design Center. How is that going?
We are continuously promoting design, and creating a very strong platform for Hong Kong’s creative industry. I think we are doing something where there are ten designers, including artists, matching with the worldwide brand to create something different. For example, Alan Chan with [Salvatore] Ferragamo, Barney Cheung with LeSportsac; ten international brands with ten Hong Kong creative people.
 

Tell me a little bit about your 2009 collection. It seems as though there were a lot of chiffons and silks and peonies. What was your initial inspiration for that collection?
I did the design for the computer [HP special-edition clutch notebook] and it was based on the peony design – the peony is the national flower from China and I love it so much. It’s a representation of [being] feminine and is so graceful – the colors and everything and I wanted to balance it with suits. Yves Saint Laurent is really one of my favorite designers and I love his suits and masculine approach to designs and how to balance it. The beautiful peonies and colors were balanced by tailored suits. If you looked at it in person the colors are so beautiful and there was a different way of doing the peonies. I did embroidery and applications – different way of applying it to the surface from the cutouts to the slashing techniques. It’s all about the peonies and the colors. There was definitely femininity and masculinity to it – like yin and yang.

Sorry. [Laughs] Sometimes my words are not very good and I don’t have great vocabulary. You as a writer can use words to describe it much better but I used fabric to describe myself, you know? To express my creativity. It’s fabric and textures and silhouettes – I combine them together. Fashion is how you play with different combinations to create a different feeling.