The ballet Romeo and Juliet (composed in 1935 and first performed in 1938), one of the seminal works of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, sets Shakespeare’s story of doomed lovers from opposing clans to a modern soundtrack that includes every emotion from romance to drama to humour.
I learned ballet for 14 years, from when I was four to when I went to university. Ballet was a huge part of my childhood and adolescent life – we’re talking going to practice four times a week. I actually wanted to be a ballerina when I was a child.
I was born in the United States, raised in Hong Kong and went to university in the UK, and we also used to go there on holiday. The first ballet I ever watched was Romeo and Juliet in London. It was produced by the Royal Ballet. I was around 10.
Obviously I didn’t really understand the story at that age, but I loved the outfits, the elegance, the music, the feeling when you go in there and everyone seems so serious – and I was in awe of how the dancers were on the stage.
Seeing the dancers, I thought they were so beautiful. They wear a lot of chiffon, flowing stuff, and I’m drawn to that. It triggered me to start what I’m doing now. A lot of the designs are influenced by the elegance of ballet.
We try to design pieces that are comfortable – which is important for dancers but also for modern-day women, especially in Hong Kong’s scorching hot weather.
We actually have a lot of clients wear them for dancing: the high slit and stretchy, breathable fabric make it easy for them to move.
With a background in dance, I understand that myself. I want my clients to feel comfortable and confident when they wear qipaos, similar to how a ballerina is when on stage.
Being someone from Hong Kong, it was cool to see how they integrated all these cultural aspects into the ballet. Now that I’m doing Chinese culture as a business, I’m even more alert to that.
Ballet requires a lot of perseverance and discipline. “No pain, no gain” is definitely true both in ballet and running a business. Running a business requires a lot of grit, discipline and hard work. There is no overnight success; you must put in the effort to see results.