When Tse Yuen-man quit her job as an architect, the next thing she did was throw out everything in her wardrobe - except her vintage collection.
'When I first started working in the corporate environment, I found it hard to blend in. Also, I had just come back to Hong Kong,' says Tse, of Chinese descent but born in Paris.
Back then her wardrobe was that of a typical office worker, she says. But when she launched her fashion brand, Magnan & Tse, two years ago, she finally embraced her own style - and her real self. Her designs project a sensual and mysterious muse. Clothes are plumped with digital prints of flowers and hand-stitched embellishments made out of metal chain. She has just launched a line of luxury basics this season, including the red-and-black tank top she's wearing on the day of the interview.
'I design for independent, urban women,' she says. 'My style is pretty casual, and I'm really focused on function when I invest in clothes. Because I'm making things all the time, I have to be in comfortable clothes.'
Flawless porcelain dolls are not to her liking; rather, she admires the imperfection of French style icons such as Jane Birkin and her model daughter, Lou Doillon, with their bed-tousled hair.
'My style is pretty casual - boyish but not tomboy,' she says. 'I adore that sense of effortlessness and leaving a little room for flaws. The high-maintenance, pin-up look is definitely not me.'
