How I Got There

The toughest challenge when I started out was getting factories to take us on. We were a start-up, young girls making shoes, and most factories wanted to take orders for 10,000 pairs of black kid shoes. We were doing something very different, using a lot of different colors and fabrics. We moved very quickly--for our first collection I opened a store in London and then a year later I opened three stores in America.

When I was at Vogue, I could never find what I was looking for, and Jimmy was a cobbler who had a workshop in the East End of London and he was making handmade shoes for private clients. I would send him ideas of things I wanted, he would make them and then I would photograph them and I would give him a credit in the magazine. So his name became known and I thought that was a good platform to start a business from--a name that has already had credits in Vogue. But Jimmy's talent lies in making shoes, not in designing a full collection, so we divided the responsibilities, where Jimmy would just see his private clients and do the bespoke business and I was responsible for everything else: ready-to-wear, wholesale, opening the shops, PR, production. Jimmy ended up selling his shares, and we bought his name. Today he just sees his private clients. Sandra Choi, his niece, and I do the designing together, which we have done since the inception.

Being a woman has been key on the creative front--at the end of the day, I totally relate to our customer because I am the customer as well. I know exactly who she is, what she wants to wear, how she wants to wear it. On the business side, it was incredibly difficult because when I was dealing with banks or leases on shops, I still found the world to be quite sexist. Now that I have a track record it has changed a lot, but you really notice it when you are a start-up.

The toughest challenge is to be able to let go of control as the business expands, to disengage. In the early days I did absolutely everything, and now we have departments. My vision is, I would love to be able to accessorize a woman completely: cosmetics, sunglasses, jewelry, lingerie, swimwear, that kind of thing. Our company is worth about $200 million. We are aiming to have 50 stores within the next couple of years; once we have 50 we are going to sit down and see how many more we want to build over the next few years.

Being a working mum is incredibly difficult; you are always guilty. I used to stay really late at work but now I have to make sure that I leave at 6 p.m. because my daughter goes to bed around 7:30 and if I am not home, I miss her. It is a constant juggling act. I think that being a working mother, the time you spend with your daughter is actually good quality time because you are really dedicated to her when you are with her. I hope in the future she will be proud of me.

WILINA LIM WEI-LING