Chinese billionaire designer Lillian Xu has Australia in her sights unveiling her first collection in Australia

Chinese billionaire designer Lillian Xu has Australia in her sights unveiling her first collection in Australia

A FASHION designer who is heir to a billion-dollar manufacturing enterprise is launching her namesake brand in Australia.

Lillian Xu could have chosen a life of luxurious leisure — bankrolled by her billionaire father — but instead, the creative and entrepreneurial 24-year-old has thrown herself into launching her own fashion brand, Lillian Xu. The designer will hold her unveiling in Sydney tonight.

“Having a father with a business background has made me very aware of making sure I have a sound business structure in place,’’ says Lillian.

Lillian’s father, Peter Xu, built a modest metal processing factory in the Chinese city of Kunshan into a multibillion-dollar enterprise supplying components for computers and medical equipment to companies around the world, many of them Fortune 500 companies

Lillian says her collection encapsulates the essence of its namesake founder. It is stylish and elegant and reflects Lillian’s world view while refusing to be stereotyped into east or west.

In a move that democratises ‘haute couture’, Lillian’s ‘Ready to Couture’ concept plans to introduce quality and design at a ready-to-wear price.

“I call it Ready To Couture because I want it have the hallmarks of fashion master like Mr Christian Dior, but produced and manufactured at a good price,’ she says.

“Kunshan (Lillian’s hometown in China) has really inspired me as has my grandmother’s love of style and beauty, both of which made me determined to follow a fashion path.

“My grandmother was one of the first generation of ‘socialites’ in China, before the Cultural Revolution.”

When she was 16, Lillian came to Australia, studied and observed our culture and by chance, during her studies, met Lucas, her soulmate, business partner and now husband. The pair have a five-month-old baby, Lyndi.

When Lillian finished high school her father insisted she take a gap year to travel, so she spent six months in San Francisco before returning to Australia to study sociology at the University of Melbourne. She calls both Kunshan in China and Melbourne home.

A year into her sociology degree in Melbourne, Lillian found herself looking for more creative ways to express herself and began draw before going on to design clothes.

“As I’ve travelled I’ve observed, taking in different cultures and lifestyles,” says Lillian. “Everything I design I ask myself: would I want to wear it; would it make me feel comfortable in my own skin.

“The appreciation of beauty is universal and I don’t want to separate my customers by race or background but prefer to look at what is happening in world culture. I want to connect to women all around the world.

While her billionaire father willingly agreed to lend financial support, he insisted that she and husband Lucas must do it alone, so they would ‘learn from experience’.

With Lucas in charge of the financial side of the business and managing the brand, Lillian set to work in her Melbourne and Kunshan studios, hiring the people who could take her sketches from the page to a pattern.

Fabrics were sourced from Europe, Korea and China as well as establishing her own manufacturing base in China.

“I have established a great Australian design team and a factory in China so now I just need to keep designing and working so I can ultimately open stores all over the world.”