Designer Dorian Ho is dressing the world's women from his Hong Kong home
	Dorian Ho's international appeal is evident on the catwalk at the Fall/Winter 08 launch

It was an inauspicious start to the launch of Hong Kong fashion designer Dorian Ho in New York. "I had just finished my show and was on a flight back to Hong Kong the day of 9/11," Mr Ho recalled. The tragedy prompted a rethink of his plan to break into the overseas market. Instead, the designer decided to focus first in Australia, where he made his international debut at the 2001 Mercedes Australian Fashion Week – nearly 10 years after he first entered the fashion business.

Armed with a marketing degree from the United States, Mr Ho returned to Hong Kong in 1993 to run the family garment business, which manufactured for global brands including Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. But six months into the job, the budding designer decided he wanted to strike out on his own. Mr Ho started his first retail label, Doriano, in the southern Chinese mainland province of Guangdong, initially handling marketing, with his partner coming up with the design.

Persistence pays off

"I saw the huge potential of the China market and wanted to set up business there," Mr Ho said. But lacking the technical training, he knew it was going to be a steep learning curve. The first two years were spent living and breathing in the company's Guangdong factory to immerse himself in the design part of the business. The effort paid off. His clothing line was a hit, even though they cost more than half of the average monthly wages then. By the time he sold Doriano a decade later, it had 50 outlets in Guangzhou and Shanghai.

"It was time to move on and explore the international market," Mr Ho recounted. The designer launched his eponymous evening collection first in Sydney. Ironically, it was at this international launch that he first caught the eye of leading Hong Kong fashion retailer Lane Crawford, which picked up his line. Then in the fall of 2003, he returned to New York for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council-sponsored Fashion Week, where he was pleasantly surprised to attract not just American clients, but also those from the Middle East, Asia, including Hong Kong. His collection was soon picked up by New York's Saks Fifth Avenue.

Mr Ho admitted to taking the more unusual and difficult career path of starting in the ready-to-wear business and working his way up. But he said launching his couture business now has taught him even more, through working closely with clients of all shapes and sizes.

Western flair

Mr Ho's designs are not obviously Asian, and in fact, have a decidedly Western flair, which, his clients, who "tend to have a Western background," appreciate. Hong Kong fashion designs, Mr Ho noted, have more international appeal compared to others in the region, attributing it to local designers' wider exposure abroad.

Dorian Ho has since branched into three lines, including a bridal collection. His next move is to break into the European market next year, and he has been carefully gauging how his collections would work in the design capitals of Paris and Milan.

"My designs have focused on clean lines, which is suitable for the US market." He is considering going back to his earlier designs, which included more detail such as beading. Europeans may have dominated the couture business so far, but Mr Ho believes there is room for Asian designers, like him, to make a name for themselves in the industry.

Hong Kong advantages

While he realises that creating the one-of-a-kind piece is where designers make their name, he said he is, at least for now, focused on "dressing as many women as possible." With his own factory in Shenzhen to produce his collections, he wants to make the most of his company's advantages.

With an eye firmly on the international market, the designer, though has no plans to move out of Hong Kong. "Hong Kong has all the advantages. It's close to the mainland, and has easy access to everywhere else. You have the factories next door to support you. Sourcing is the easiest out of anywhere. Why would I go anywhere else?"

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