Nine to five

Arlene Flared Dress in Jacquard.Marco Visconti dresses and tops are designed to pair with jackets but don't match too obviously. The overall aesthetic is feminine while not being too sexy in a boardroom environment. Photo by Joyce Yung

Walking through Marco Visconti's studio in the San Po Kong district, dressmaker's dummies and racks upon racks of sample clothing dominate. Yet it is much quieter than expected, with sales people and designers efficiently going about their business.

In a workshop within the studio, technicians are busily composing patterns on a computer or ironing out a seam on a mock-up top. The rear storage facilities are packed with huge rolls of fabric from around the globe, ready to be delivered to the label's factory in Shenzhen.

The boardroom contains hundreds of hanging fabric samples neatly arranged by material. Shen explains that one of the challenges of designing a collection is that Marco Visconti's price point is very competitive, and the choice of fabric is crucial to ensuring a successful profit margin.

"I go to Europe about six times a year to visit trade shows, for an overview of upcoming trends," Shen says. "For inspiration, I like watching movies and shopping. Many window displays are like art pieces themselves."

Though Marco Visconti is a relatively new brand in Hong Kong, it has already garnered loyal customers evenly split between local residents, mainlanders working in the city and expats. There are expansion plans after an encouraging Hong Kong Trade Development Council initiated retail trade show in Xi'an recently.

"I think our brand would work well in Beijing and Dalian, where there are many fashion conscious working women," Shen says.