How do you find a balance between technology and the craft of fashion?

In a way there is some technology in craft. That’s because, often, an artisan is also an artisan of technology. Technology is about moving forward, pushing the boundaries and discovering new ways to work, and that’s ultimately what artisans do; pushing boundaries and discovering new things. It’s about finding smarter ways to work.

What do you notice when you see women and men in your shoes?

In my opinion, no one really wears my shoes by accident. It’s nice to see how they take the shoes and make them their own, and how they put their outfit together. When I design shoes, I’m thinking of legs, not just the shoe itself, but how it will look on a pair of legs.

When I sketch my designs, I always draw the legs, but I never draw up to the face, so for me it’s like finding the missing piece of the puzzle.

Plenty of women and men collect your shoes. Do you think they are driven by an obsession? 

People, myself included, have a tendency to buy things out of obsession. They are happy to own them but not necessarily wear them. But I think there are some people less like that. For myself, I will buy things but might not use or wear them right away; I may discover them in a week or a month’s time.

I have ordered shoes and not worn them for years, but I am still so excited to have them, and will wear them for two weeks straight. The buying process may be an impulse and you feel an excitement—sometimes you just need to have them.

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Do you think the “see now, buy now” model works in fashion?

In theory, "see now, buy now" is a nice format, but it’s proven to never really work. Technically speaking, it’s too complicated; it takes time to produce a collection and to show it at the same time.

You need to give time for print media to create content, but I think it’s just tapping into the mentality of people who are so driven by the immediacy and speed of the internet.

When do you shop?

I shop, but never get to in Paris. I guess I shop on my holidays. I don’t have a lot of free time here, and in the rare chance that I have some time off, I’d rather go to see an exhibition. Since I travel so much for work, I end up browsing when I’m in other countries. I have no time for shopping—zero, zero, zero—in Paris. So when I travel, I like to shop.

What do you shop for?

I love hunting for objects. Sometimes I’ll swing by Drouot, an auction house that’s right by the school where I drop off my children. I go in with a very professional mentality, because objects are a big thing for me. I come from a family of three sisters, and one of them is a bit of a shopaholic, so sometimes I get dragged around by her [laughs].

What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed since you started your business?

I think the whole industry has changed, but the real change has been the rise and use of the internet and social media.

Do you go on social media?

No, never. I mean, as much as I understand it, I realise the power of Instagram, but I just don’t do it myself. It’s for my sanity.

Instagram works off people’s addiction, and I see the amount of time people around me spend on it. It takes a lot of time and I essentially don’t have enough hours in a day as it is.

What’s your take on women’s style in Hong Kong?

I think Hong Kong women are pretty spoiled. Don’t get me wrong—being spoiled is a compliment in my words. They are so spoiled by choice; they have access to anything and everything in between.

Take the Parisian woman, for example. My definition of “la Parisienne” is a woman who has been exposed to fashion, fragrance, jewellery and all of that—these things have existed in Paris for hundreds of years. People from all around Europe would come to be dressed by the French couturiers since the early 1910s. Having been exposed to all these magnificent things, in my opinion, is what makes the Parisian woman unfaithful and spoiled.

That might seem that I’m saying something terrible about Parisians, but it’s very much the opposite. I don’t know one Parisian woman who would be in a single brand from head to toe; perfume, shoes, jewellery—all of them come from a different label.

The Parisian has been unfaithful to brands because she wants to be an individual, and women in Hong Kong are similar in how they approach themselves and their identities.

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