Designer Jason Wu's upward career trajectory - given a major boost in 2009 by US First Lady Michelle Obama when she wore his silk chiffon one-shoulder, floor-length gown at her husband's inauguration - continues at a rocket-propelled pace, with about 140 stores worldwide stocking the Chinese designer's classy clothing.
But the New York resident's personal circumstances contrast sharply with his glittering professional profile. Wu still lives in the 1,200 sq ft one-bedroom Manhattan flat he occupied during his pre-fame days, a place that once doubled as a workshop for the fledgling Jason Wu Studio.
It is not sentimental reasons that are keeping Wu there: slotting house-hunting time into a schedule that sees him regularly criss-crossing the globe is proving difficult. Later this month the Taiwan-born wunderkind, still just 28 years old, will be on the road again, this time in Beijing for shows and meetings, happy to be feted as the only Chinese designer to enjoy a close association with the wife of the US President.
'When you have such monumental success with one thing, the natural reaction is to follow it up, or people will think you're a one-hit wonder,' says Wu. 'I would like to think that we are better than two years ago. Our shows are a real progression; I was a designer with a company but now we are a brand. I have the Chinese work ethic. My family are business people, my father started his own company when he was in his 20s with one employee and I looked up to him. I like the business side of things as well as design, they integrate for me.'
For this year's autumn-winter collection, Wu took inspiration from the fabulous Versailles palace built by Louis XIV, the Sun King, just outside the French capital, Paris. The interest in Versailles was initially sparked when he came across a copy of Robert Polidori's photo book, Parcours Museologique Revisite, which documents the restoration of the extravagant royal home over a 25-year period.
'I loved the idea of a grandiose project under construction, that mixture of the ornate, the precious and the raw,' says Wu. 'I love the idea of taking things apart and putting them back together and restoring something. There is always a bit of creative interpretation as you can't put things back exactly the same way.
'For my collection I took materials and put them back together, in this case with lace: we had 15 different kinds of lace I would take it apart and re-assemble it like a puzzle, so it looks completely different. It is an expensive exercise but a lot of fun.'
