In Ma's spring/summer 2014 collection, jackets pair with miniskirts and balloon sleeves to add romance and casual appeal. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Although Ma famously counts Lady Gaga and Laure Shang as customers - Lady Gaga wore her white jacket and pencil skirt to greet US President Barack Obama in 2011 and Shang wore her custom designs for an album cover shot in Iceland - the designer recalls that fashion was a tough industry to crack.

"It was a nightmare," she says. "I was begging people to give me a break. That period taught me to never believe people who say that I can't do it."

She is also somewhat tired of being labeled a Chinese designer, as she feels that it imposes limitations upon her. "It's a fact that I am Chinese," Ma shrugs. "And China has one of the biggest fashion markets in the world. But what we design doesn't have much to do with traditions or kitschy dynastic symbols. I am more influenced by contemporary society. Chinese motifs like dragons and phoenixes belong to another place and time. It is a misunderstanding of Chinese culture. Yet in the West, these motifs are considered exotic.

"I incorporate the core of Chinese elements. For example, a Chinese painting is two-dimensional while in the West it is three-dimensional. That 2-D is a personal feeling and informs my designs philosophically. I take Chinese elements and express them in modern ways. My cuts and fabric choices are Chinese.

"Fashion equals power. For me, the ensemble that Lady Gaga wore is just as elegant as a little black dress. The pencil skirt brings out the silhouette of a woman that has universal appeal in the East and West."

For Ma's Spring/Summer 2014 collection debut at W Hong Kong, pencil skirts and crop-tops showing bare midriffs are presented in black and white, with icy blues and lemon yellows rounding out the color palette.

Body-hugging shifts lend a sexy edge to dresses cut just below the knee. Below the hip, jackets paired with mini skirts straddle formal and casual. Balloon sleeves and sheer fabrics add romance and volume to the collection, while precise fabric cut-outs in abstract patterns give the garment a chameleon quality as the body moves.

Ma credits a stint at Alexander McQueen's for showing her the importance of technique.