'In the morning I like to go running. When I am in New York I go along the Hudson River or in Central Park; in Shanghai I go in the garden of the Jinjiang Hotel where I live. I go for an hour. I mix it up with yoga and pilates on different days.
In Shanghai, every day is similar - I get up at 7.30am and have a coffee. I live and work in the same apartment [in the hotel], so for me this is the time I am alone, before any of the staff come. I like to read, listen to music and think. The good side of living and working in the same place is you are always comfortable; the bad side is you have no privacy.
It was a very different experience working on Madame Butterfly. I stayed with [director] Anthony [Minghella] and [his Hong Kong-born wife and choreographer] Carolyn [Choa] in London and every day they would have to shout to my third-floor bedroom to wake me up. Then we would go to a cafe around the corner to have coffee and croissants.
I first met Carolyn in New York. We chatted and she told me her husband was the director of The English Patient. I said, 'Oh my God, I cried twice during that film!' When Anthony asked me to design the Madame Butterfly costumes I didn't know much about opera at all. I didn't know the music to Madame Butterfly and I hadn't read the script in detail. I just knew it was a romantic story and a sad story.
I came to the first meeting with two suitcases of clothes. I realised after meeting Anthony that I had to do much more preparation, so I went home and did a lot of detailed research. When I came back for the next meeting I was much better prepared. I had cut out a collage of how I saw the designs and I was able to give a proper presentation. I thought: 'Let's have fun with it!'
I learned a lot from Anthony. For him, everything has to make sense and my job was to make everything look beautiful. We have similar tastes and sensibilities. It was interesting to see how he can be creative and commercial at the same time; he is a master. He really captures the human element. Madame Butterfly [which was performed in London in 2005 and New York last year] was a real experience and it became a passion. I learned a lot about working with a team. There were all these unbelievably strong personalities involved, all pitching in to make it the best. All the elements seemed to come together. I have been lucky being in the right place at the right time.
In Shanghai, my staff always arrive punctually - it is like a little family. We all sit down and have a coffee and talk about today and next week and yesterday. We talk about the mistakes we have made. People make appointments to come and look at the new clothes I have on display. I don't really follow trends. Most of my customers who appreciate my style are architects and people in design. I do about 30 new pieces each time. My style has a graphic edge as I studied graphic design. The shape is simple. I like to have some detail in the embroidery. I think my clothes feel Asian but don't look Asian - you don't see dragons or Asian style.
