Alison Chi, daughter of famous interior designer, finds her own niche

You can choose your friends but, it seems, rarely can you escape your DNA.

Alison Chi tried, embarking first on communications studies in Paris, then real estate and hospitality in New York, before being drawn to interior design. Perhaps that is not surprising, considering her father is Tony Chi - influential tastemaster, style virtuoso and inductee into the Interior Design Hall of Fame.

Yet it's not her celebrated dad with whom Alison has joined hands to introduce her new luxury lifestyle brand, Tzelan, but with her lower-profile mother, Tammy Chou, who has held the reins of Tony Chi and Associates for more than 20 years, infusing her own sense of beauty and elegance.

As if to play down the link - albeit while sharing hip Manhattan office space with the family firm - the pair maintain that they are "just a mother and daughter on a life-long mission to rediscover integrity in interior design".

Tzelan, in fact, is Tammy's Chinese name, interpreted in English as "a space of purity", which seems fitting with the brand ethos of the company, which is only a few months old.

Alison, as managing director, and Tammy, as brand ambassador, are joined by a team of interior, product and graphic designers who work with them to realise unique designs with "a certain function they can't find [elsewhere]".

"We take a holistic approach to the way we design, thinking about all aspects of a product and not just the aesthetic form or colour, to create a bespoke feel," Alison says.