Family ties

Joanna Chu Liao's design combines different textiles, and often there is leather, fur and cashmere all in one garment. Photo provided to China Daily

"When I was deciding what to study beyond high school, all the best designers were from abroad," she explains. "Hong Kong was their manufacturing center. There were no strong local brands. I didn't want to copy others or design cheap apparel. I wanted to do good quality, high-end designs. I wanted to be the best. But I saw how much of a challenge that would be at the time."

As she wasn't aware of fashion institutes such as London's Central Saint Martins, she chose the University of Toronto.

"I played it safe," she shrugs. "I ended up with a bachelor's of commerce, passed my accounting exams and worked for the Toronto branch of PriceWaterhouse Coopers for 18 months. It was very boring!"

However, she gives credit to her Canadian stint, as it helped her acquire the business acumen to pursue her own dreams in a practical way. After Liao and her husband Philip moved back to Hong Kong, she began working at her parents' factory.

"Our family began producing our own labels in the mid-'80s," she recalls. "We had a German designer on-board. I began by watching and assisting her. She was technically very good, and taught me how to make paper patterns. She was also excellent at beading, and taught me the modern translation of embroidery and beading techniques."

When Liao began to produce her own samples, she gained confidence that her self-taught approach to fashion was going to find its own niche market. "I'm good with sketching and designing," she says. "But I don't sew very well."

Liao also was raising two boys at the same time that she was getting her feet wet in the design world. "It was certainly a struggle," she recalls. "We produced a label for a Japanese company, and provided manufacturing and design services. I often had to fly to Tokyo and Osaka, as well as Paris.

"We were so lucky to have a great Nepalese helper, who is retired now. And I'm very hands-on with my boys. I often work late at night so that I can spend time with them when they come home from school. I grew up without my parents around, and I don't want that to happen to my kids. Family is very important to me, and I believe that kids need their mom. It's tough to find a balance between that and my work."