She moved to New York in 1985, beginning her career in 1989 with a signature collection of pleated scarves. Her first ready-to-wear line was presented in 1993 to critical acclaim. Her original designs have won numerous awards and she has created artwork and installations for exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum. Her costume design includes Feng Yi Ting (Spoleto Festival), Misfortune (Bregenz Festspielhaus/ROH), Semele (La Monnaie/Canadian Opera Company) and The Bonesetter’s Daughter (San Francisco Opera).

She is regularly featured in all the major international fashion and lifestyle magazines, and appears as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Art School, the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parson’s in New York. With bespoke clothing ateliers in Shanghai and New York, among her private clients are Susan Sarandon, Jackie Chan and the late Jessye Norman.