What has been the biggest challenge in operating your own brand?

The biggest challenge is balancing investment and the payback. Running a brand is pretty difficult. A brand can be influential, but it still might have relatively low sales. But I think I'm doing pretty well. It's pretty difficult to expand a small-scale business to a large-scale one. We will never become a Zara or an H&M; those restrictions were there from the beginning. As independent designers, we pursue an independent style. The materials we use will always make our prices higher, which makes them less acceptable to certain consumers. It's hard to work on a scale like H&M.

Do you think the growing power of China in the fashion world has helped your career?

Yes, a lot. Actually, many people were against the idea when I decided to go back to China; at that time, Chinese design wasn't recognised in the international market. But I think now is a great time for Chinese designers. As China is getting stronger, they have more development space – and they are getting better and better.