Opinion | It's about living in it

Designer Roksanda Ilincic stands out in a crowd - and not just because of her chic clothes. The 1.82-metre-tall Serbian designer could easily pass as a model with her long limbs, picture-perfect features and Rapunzel hair. That she looks equally stylish in her prim 1970s-style orange dress - her own design, naturally - is an added bonus for a woman who counts celebrities such as Ginnifer Goodwin, the Duchess of Cambridge, Tilda Swinton and Gwyneth Paltrow as fans.

"When I started, my clothes were all about what I wanted to wear. Now it's evolved to appeal to all ages, and a variety of shapes and sizes," she says. "You have women ranging from Michelle Obama and Lady Gaga to Courtney Love wearing our designs. What links them is not the way they dress but that they are strong women with their own minds."

Ilincic was in town recently to showcase her work at the British Council's London Showrooms Hong Kong, with other British designers such as Peter Pilotto, Jonathan Saunders and Nicholas Kirkwood.

While the offerings at the event included everything from hourglass beaded dresses to everyday sequins, her designs were a highlight thanks to their simple architectural lines, bright colours, playful touches and old-fashioned elegance. As a clothes horse and mother herself, Ilincic designs her clothes so that they are easy to wear and comfortable.

"Fashion doesn't stand on its own. You cannot create something that's just for a museum - it's about living in it. It's important to understand the time and culture you live in and combine that in your work, together with emotion and personal beliefs. It's different when you design from your own experience," she says.

Ilincic was born in Belgrade in what was then Yugoslavia. Her father was a businessman while her mother, a pharmacist, was passionate about fashion and would often take her on trips to the seamstress as a young girl. In the early 1990s, during the Bosnian war, she studied architecture and applied arts at two universities.