My mother told me I was always drawing —  in my dreamland —  and all I ever had was a notepad and pencil in my hand. I’m a natural dreamer; that kick-started everything I believe. I knew I didn’t really fit into the education system in Hong Kong. It’s very academically driven there — I think my parents had one look at me and thought, ‘No way, she’s not gonna survive it here,’ so off I went to the UK. 

I was around 14 when I moved to London. My parents chose the boarding school for me because of two things — because the school had a really good art department, and because I used to represent Hong Kong in the junior tennis team. and they had a strong tennis team. I had the best of both worlds, my tennis and my art — I was sorted. It’s a bit shameful because I don’t even touch the racket now. These teenage years were the most memorable time and probably shaped who I am now. 

I remember when I was first introduced to Camden Market. I bought my first secondhand leather jacket for one pound. I was amazed to think you could get a leather jacket for one quid. Chinese culture and people don’t actually appreciate vintage. Antiques are a different thing, but not vintage clothing. I remember telling my Mum, and her freaking out and saying, ‘What do you mean, you got it for one pound? Do you realise somebody may have died in it?’ I will always remember that as my very first memory of cultural differences between the East and the West. 

There’s so much culture in England, and the amount of museums and art galleries is crazy. When I was a student we were constantly asked to go around town — the tutor would brief us on the project and off we went museum- or gallery-hopping, just drawing and drawing. The days we spent on gallery floors just drawing away, that, to me, is heaven. 

What makes London unique is its diversity. It’s not just young and old, but in terms of traditional and modern you can find anything creativity-wise — the fertility you gain from a diverse group of people. I remember my first year studying fashion at Central Saint Martins, the different cultures and people from such different ethnicities were amazing.

PHVLO is a creative platform inspired by my late mentor and tutor, Louise Wilson. I went to see her and said, ‘Okay, what now? I don’t want to teach, what should I do?’ One of the things I started thinking about was how to connect students. I established so many different connections and friends in the industry, and that is invaluable for a lot of young people. We named the platform PHVLO with a pH, to represent chemical balance and neutrality — a vision that we need to make money but we also need to be fair, and have a fairness among all people involved. When COVID improves, my dream is to bring the West and East closer together — that was why I started PHVLO in the UK. We can all work together and connect and have an exchange of cultures. 

Being a fashion designer or an artist, the struggle has always been having your own style and integrity, and balancing it with commerciality. When I worked with the Central Saint Martins students my main concept around sustainability was what I call 360 — the circular system. Nobody can be one hundred percent sustainable, but to be as sustainable as you can, the business needs to be sustainable. What this means for me is how you set the project up but bring it back to ground. Bringing it down to 360 is important — you may get amazing write-ups and press in your first year but how do you sustain it after that?

Coming from two different sides of the planet, a lot of my initial buyers came from the East. I had the best of both worlds in terms of my early ideas and in business operations, I learned a lot from the West and from the East. In terms of production resources, Japan has a lot of great fabrics and innovations. It’s so perfect and detail-oriented, whereas in Hong Kong, it’s so cosmopolitan as well. Things get done quickly, which is very different from the UK. 

Being in Hong Kong the last nine months (due to COVID), it has really given me the opportunity to understand the art and cultural scene here. I think for the longest time Hong Kong has been more of a financial district. When it comes to art and culture, for me, I still see it as very glamour-driven. There’s a lot of really beautiful museums but I feel that, due to the very high cost of rent and land here, there is a need to create something on the glamorous side, to give people the sense of having that financial return. That has been a long-term curation of how artists and galleries work here. 

I still hope to be able to do exchanges with other countries, and between the UK and Hong Kong. A plus to our business model is we consult a lot. We actually connect different designers, creatives and communities, whether it’s to NGOs or young students. In the future, I like how PHVLO can connect western designers and eastern designers to have the whole experience of working together as a creative community — all in the name of creativity. 

The first stop for me will always be Tate Britain — the Tate Modern or just the Tate. Being away from it for a period and then going back, there’s always something new happening. Because of my work, I go to Somerset House a lot. It has a lot of creativity around because it’s always nice to pop into the galleries there afterward. Across the road, you have the National Galleries. What I associate home with the most in London are the galleries that inspire me the most. There’s a small theatre out in Richmond called the Orange Tree Theatre. I was completely surprised when I went there because one of the actresses performing was Judi Dench — the theatre is so small I could almost reach my hand out and touch her… or I could stick a leg out and trip her! I just thought, ‘Wow, this is unreal.’ I appreciate London so much because experiences like this are so grounded in the creativity.

I find more meaning to discovering a secondhand or vintage shop that has been opened by an old granny and that’s not been written into a tour guide. Portobello, of course, has become a very touristy place but it’s always been a soft spot for me — if you love vintage and secondhand then go on Fridays, because early in the morning is when all the traders come in and you can get things a lot cheaper. 

I grew up with my guardian, Penny, who lived in Richmond, and weekends would be spent walking in Richmond Park, even coming across deer – I’m a city girl, literally from Hong Kong, and the first thing I think is, ‘Well… this is not Bambi.’ Where I came from, everything is so fast. Material stuff means a lot, and Hong Kong is quite materialistic and money-oriented. When I went to the UK I realised there are different choices in life: there is nature, there’s Bambi! Kew Gardens is also a beautiful place, and then, of course, the Serpentine Gallery. 

I don’t mind the window. I love to just look outside because I’m a dreamy person. I like to look out into the clouds, and I always envision something popping out from the clouds when I’m on a plane: an alien, or something I can wave to.