Flame and fortune

The first thing you notice about Patricia Field is that shock of flame-coloured hair. The stylist and costume designer made Sex and the City, The Devil Wears Prada and Ugly Betty into mainstream fashion hits, but comes from a less than conventional fashion background.

'I never did that [print or editorial] before,' says Field about her unusual career path. 'I leapfrogged into TV and film from my shop [in Manhattan] because when customers come into your shop, you're basically styling ...you put your customers together.'

On a recent visit to Hong Kong, Field displays a frankness and unpretentiousness that is rare in the industry. But she's clearly excited about an upcoming project: a film in development. She is making a comedy but the script is now undergoing a third 'morphing' and won't be ready until some time next year. She also hopes to have her own talk show.

'Films take time but it's been fun,' she says. 'Each time the new challenge came, it was met and became a big laugh. So far, it's been in that zone. I'm enjoying it and with time it gets better and better.

'At the end of the day I'm the happiest when I'm the boss of my own world.'

Field's designs reflect her fun-loving, larger-than-life personality: her House of Field label is an outrageous mix of bling and shine, featuring items such as a sequinned fanny pack, gold hot pants and rock 'n' roll looks with generous use of metallic spandex or leopard prints.