A young woman in a brightly coloured beaded dress, a pair of biker boots and a battered leather jacket is strolling down a Parisian street. Her hair is messy and her only discernable makeup is a slash of carelessly applied red lipstick. This alluring image was painted for me by Alice Temperley, who is describing the fictional woman she designs for. A woman, it must be said, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Temperley herself.

Sitting in The Langham Hotel Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui, sipping Earl Grey tea and eating smoked salmon sandwiches, it is clear that Temperley is the epitome of the laid-back, sexy girl, with an effortless sense of style, who we all try to emulate.

Beautiful, stylish and exceptionally successful, Temperley would have no difficulty attracting hoards of Parisian admirers if she so wished, although they would be disappointed to hear that she has been married to her husband and business partner, Lars Von Bennigsen (a man known as “the power behind the prettiness’”), for more than 10 years.  Together, they have built a thriving brand that is sold in 400 stores in 37 countries worldwide, and has long been one of the most sought-after tickets at London Fashion Week.

While the luxury line is called Temperley London, Alice by Temperley is the more accessible collection, and Alice is the smaller diffusion line. All three feature intricate, exquisitely finished dresses that are feted by fashion insiders such as Anna Wintour, and are worn by the most celebrated women in the world. Kiera Knightley, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Emma Watson are all self-confessed fans, although nothing brought the brand into the public eye quite like two Temperley-wearing sisters from a certain Bucklebury Village.

“I was in the bath one morning in early 2010 when I heard my father shouting that I was on the news because I was designing Kate Middleton’s wedding dress,” says Temperley with a smile. “I hadn’t heard anything from them and for a crazy moment I thought, ‘Maybe she bought it off the peg.’”

The Duchess of Cambridge ultimately turned to Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen for her big day, but a shot of Pippa Middleton emerging from the wedding reception in an emerald-green Temperley London dress made the front page of magazines and newspapers around the globe. “What amazed me was how far-reaching that one picture of Pippa leaving the party was,” Temperley says. “Both sisters are utterly charming and very graceful. They often wear my dresses and it is lovely to work with people with such genuine manners. Britain is lucky to have such good representatives.”

Despite Temperley’s aforementioned love affair with all things Parisian, Britain and Britishness is an enduring theme in her life and work. She was brought up on an old cider farm in Somerset where she spent much of her childhood making dress-up costumes for her siblings from print materials from the attic. “My childhood was very English and very pretty,” Temperley says. “Roses in the garden, tea on the lawn, all rather idyllic, but by the time I was 18, I was itching to get to London.”

Despite her love of London, Temperley controversially decided to show at New York Fashion Week for a short period (to the disquiet of certain members of the British press, who said she was abandoning her home country), but she returned in 2011 and now raves about the state of the local industry. “British fashion is amazing at the moment,” Temperley says. “Under Natalie Massenet’s [of Net-a-Porter fame] leadership, London Fashion Week has experienced a real transformation, and I find her utterly inspirational. She understands the contemporary market and has given a fresh injection to every aspect of our work. London now stands as tall as Paris, Milan and New York.”

This connection to all things English is evident throughout Temperley’s body of work. Though her spring/summer 2014 collection – which was shown in Hong Kong in October in an airport-based runway show celebrating the British Airways BA380– was inspired by Sicily, the result was a delightfully English interpretation of la dolce vita. “My brand definitely has an English sensibility to it,” says Temperley. “I love volume and length, and mixing intricate eveningwear with casual touches. It’s a very modern way of dressing. For my latest collection, I was inspired by ’50s couture. I wanted to update it for contemporary women but keep its soft, romantic essence.”

This romantic sensibility and commitment to pure prettiness also makes Temperley the ideal wedding-dress designer, and in recent years Temperley Bridal has dominated the United States and British wedding markets, with celebrities, high-society girls and fashion insiders all flocking to her stores for their big day. “I love designing wedding dresses,” says Temperley. “I’m inspired by classic English eccentricity, vintage lace and silk, and bridal gowns from the turn of the century. It seems to be popular so far.”

Popular is an understatement. With flagship stores in London, New York, Dubai and Los Angeles, and concrete plans to focus on the Chinese market in 2014, the dreamy English aesthetic has clearly got mass appeal.

Despite the unavoidable pressures of running an eponymous global brand, Temperley makes everything – from looking beautiful to designing multi-million-dollar collections while bringing up a young son – seem effortless. “You can never look like you’re trying too hard,” she says, with a roar of laughter. “That’s something I learnt early on. Endless grooming and matchy-matchy dressing looks so dated. I want to teach women to wear clothes that are precious in an un-precious way. Looking lovely is all about having fun. It’s one of life’s great pleasures.”