How did you get your start as a fashion designer?
I've always liked fashion, but growing up [in Hong Kong and Canada], I never studied it formally. I started by doing styling, but I was always undecided on whether I wanted to study fashion seriously. When I was 23, I started making my own collections, even though I had no official fashion training. I made a few pieces from scratch and, luckily, Neiman Marcus and then Bergdorf Goodman bought the collection in 1999. At the time, it was all about evening dresses with beaded lace, lots of hand work, hand finishings and details. I wanted the pieces to be sold on the contemporary floors, but Bergdorf placed me alongside brands like Oscar de la Renta, so my work was immediately seen as formal eveningwear. It was quite popular, so I continued doing it for six seasons.
Why did you decide to go back to school when your line was such a success?
I went to Paris in 2002, where I secured an internship at Lanvin for six months. Everyone I worked with at the studio had done a masters at Central Saint Martin's College, so they encouraged me to check it out. I knew it was difficult to get in, but I met the course director with my portfolio. They accepted me and I moved to London for two years.
It was interesting because it meant that I was thinking about design in a different way. I didn't want to learn anything I already knew. I wanted to gain a whole new perspective and learn about building a concept rather than the technical aspects of fashion design. It was about taking an idea and researching it.
Did your style change after your experience at St Martin's?
Yes, dramatically. In the past I preferred clothes that were more refined, more feminine, more glam - Hong Kong people love glamour. What really changed was my appreciation of raw pieces that were less produced, broken down and unique. London is about concept and shaping that, rather than workmanship. I focused more on taking an idea and making it interesting, so it was a different process altogether.