Lisa Tsang's life in fashion was influenced by her maternal and paternal grandmothers, who were a seamstress-milliner and a crocheter-knitter respectively. Inspired by their skilled workmanship, Lisa took cues from her maternal grandmother's ability to create garments without any patterns, calculating and cutting directly into the fabric, a trait that has been instilled into her approach on design.

Lisa moved to London and enrolled in a BA (Hons) Textile Degree at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design where she embarked on her journey to becoming a knitwear designer. After earning her degree, she gained invaluable experience and expertise from working with Kenichi Nakayama, assisting him as a knitwear designer for different projects such as the opera production by Oscar Wilde held in Germany and textiles design for Giorgio Armani.

After a decade-long tenure as a knitwear designer in Hong Kong, Lisa finally felt prepared to establish LisaT in order to pursue her vision for creating couture knitwear and lifestyle concepts within knitwear designs. She approached Lane Crawford with her first collection as soon as her company was established in 2006 and they became her first stockist.

LifeAndStyle: How would you best describe the LisaT concept and the woman it caters to?
Lisa: LisaT lifestyle concept designs are timeless and made using the latest manufacturing constructs, using only the most luxurious Italian yarns and fabrics and sold at affordable prices, hence "Affordable Luxury". I wanted to not only break new ground with my business model but also, more importantly, extend the design frontier with new shapes, new technical innovations and new concepts. Inspired by the sheer opulence and skills from the Golden Age of Couture, I redefined the status quo through avant-garde knitwear that involves manipulating organic surface designs of the body.

My target customer is a self-assured, sophisticated individual who recognises good quality and refined workmanship who is looking for a trusted range of lifestyle products to suit their every occasion and every stylish need.

LifeAndStyle: What tends to inspire you with regards to your designs?
Lisa: My innate passion for textiles from different cultures evolved through time and was nurtured by various key influences throughout my personal travels to Morocco, UAE, India, Cambodia, Indonesia and China to name a few. Inspirations vary immensely from season to season. The journey of discoveries and all visual stimuli gathered from places that I have visited, experiencing different cultures and appreciating their textiles and artifacts, current exhibitions, vintage shows, artists or simply being surrounded by nature are all inspirations to me. I love visiting vintage markets wherever I travel and fascinated by sculptures of all kinds.

LifeAndStyle: Your Lisa T Spa brand provides a designer spa collection to many leading hotels and resorts worldwide. What's the new must-have piece for Spa 2011?
Lisa: The new must-have piece for Spa 2011 is "20 ways of wearing one sarong". The glamourous multi-colour sarong ticks off all the summer's trends: stripes, colour blocking with shades of burnt orange, purple orchid, ceylon yellow and navy, and prints in the form of a delicate paisley. Not only is it super glamourous, but it comes with a handy guide on how to wear it with a total of 20 different looks, from a short draped mini to a long halter dress for the evening.

W: www.lisat-cashmere.com

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