How would you describe your design background?
I come from a family that has always valued the arts, design and culture, so I feel like my design education preceded my formal one. My mother was a designer of women’s apparel and interiors – she worked for Christian Dior in Paris as well as other fashion houses in London and New York.

How did growing up in such a family educate you and influence you as a designer?
Because my family had such a strong appreciation for aesthetics and creativity, we spent a lot of time in galleries and museums. We also helped our parents renovate their 18th-century country house. This led me down a more creative path.

Before launching your own label, what experience did you have in design?
After graduating from Wellesley College I worked in the accessories department of Polo Ralph Lauren and attended design school at night. But I soon realised working was the best education. I learned a lot from Ralph about the technical side of the craft and about materials as well as from his uncompromising standards of quality and workmanship. Spending so much time in Italian ateliers laid the foundation of design I rely on.

When made you decide to launch your own label?
I launched Kotur from my apartment in 2004 with just one style and one customer. Bags have always been a passion of mine and I’ve a sizeable collection of vintage pieces. My first full line of bags were made from vintage brocade fabrics from the 1960s and 70s. The fabrics were striking and there was an assortment of different colours and patterns so I made them into evening clutches, thinking they could as easily be worn with jeans. As luch would have it, a US boutique, Scoop, bought almost all my stock in the first season and asked what else we made. Then followed other prototypes such as minaudieres and clutches in materials such as snakeskin, metal, leather. The line just kept evolving from there.

Why did you decide to base your label in Hong Kong rather than in the US?
We launched Kotur in the US first, before signing on with Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong. We are a Hong Kong company, but I’m very much an American living in Hong Kong. It was important to stay close to the manufacturing base. We’re now sold across 300 doors in 10 countries. Today, where you are based doesn’t matter so much in terms of distribution: we all operate on a global scale.

How does living in Hong Kong influence you as a designer?
On a creative level, I’m inspired by Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia and constantly reference the region in the collection, through hardware and materials. To me, it’s all still new. I might show my Chinese friends the Mandarin locks and they’re not as excited as I am because it reminds them of their grandmother’s chest rather than a cool bag. But, in countries like Italy, it’s very successful for me because there such hardware is viewed as exotic and interesting. My collections are shaped by the materials I can source in this region. I didn’t set out to have a snakeskin collection, for example, but with the great resources available here it gave us a niche and a good opportunity to define ourselves. So living here has played an integral role in the collection.

You recently collaborated with Shanghai Tang on a home collection. Do you intend to branch out into other fields of design?
We have a way to go before accomplishing our goals for the handbag collection and it’s important to stay focused on that. As much fun as I had collaborating with Shanghai Tang, it was more of a one-off endeavour. I hope one day to perhaps branch into jewellery.

Kotur is available in Hong Kong at Harvey Nichols, The Landmark, Central, tel: 3695 3388, as well as online at koturltd.com.