PS: Tell me about your early relationship with fashion. I know your grandmother was a big influence growing up and she inspired your love of the craft. How did you develop this passion and hone your vision as a designer?
GP: As early as 2 years old, I remember my maternal grandma telling me about the beautiful clothing from her youth. She'd tell me about flowers and butterflies embroidered in those clothes. At the time, there was no color in garments, no ready-to-wear clothes. Women, like my mother, made clothes [i.e., paddock blankets] for their family. But she had glaucoma and couldn't see very well. She had trouble even putting the needle through the thread, so I always thought about how to help her when I was growing up. So that was a big impetus. But my grandmother planted the seed early on.
As a young girl, I also remember this instinct of wanting to look beautiful. One day, when I was in fifth grade, my mother had this fabric that she thought was so beautiful. She wanted to save it, but I took it and made a blouse out of it. I didn't really know how to sew. So all the lines were crooked. Still, as soon as I was finished, I wore it out and all my neighbors gave me compliments. That was an early affirmation.
By the time I was 15 years old in 1986, I was getting ready to take the high-school exam and saw that there was a fashion-design major. It was unbelievable because the year 1982 became the first time China had a profession for people like me. I became the earliest fashion-design student and therefore the first fashion designer in China.
