Shoe designer Rupert Sanderson has kept his 12-year-old eponymous label profitable while maintaining creativity. Photo provided to China Daily

The first is having a good and reliable product, which is not limited to beautiful designs and catchy names (every shoe is named after a type of daffodil). Unlike handbags and accessories which are not sized - and unlike clothing which can be altered - there is very little anyone can do about the fit of a shoe.

"Women are very loyal to the fit of a brand," says Mak. "Every brand is trying to introduce new lasts and the tricky thing with shoes is that every foot is different."

Then there is the quality of materials and production. Not immediately visible to the naked eye, Rupert Sanderson's basic court shoes (pumps) and flats are made of a single piece of leather, which uses considerably more material and thereby increasing the cost. Each shoe is also handmade in Italy and involves 120 processes.

"It pains me to see simple courts that are badly made and other brands charge you HK$ 8,000 ($1,030) or they charge you python prices for stitched-up water snake and nobody notices!" rants Mak.

Then there are details that would escape the untrained eye - a simple flat would have not just a box-toe but one with pinched sides inspired by "hospital corners", those precise corner folds on hospital beds. Or the brand's iconic laser-cut, unadorned stiletto Estelle that wraps the foot like a booty with the open sexiness of a sandal.

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