Wu designs hold world approval

Jason Wu's Sping/Summer 2014 collection. He has capitalized on his early lucky breaks.

"Fashion is about predicting the future what we show on the runway dictates what trickles down into the fashion cycle. It's a big job that we are doing. You always have to be on the lookout. With all that is happening here in China, it would be foolish not to come and look regularly."

Although Wu's rise to international fame came suddenly, he has been in the industry for some time, learning the trade the hard way. As a teenager, Wu designed dresses for toy dolls and action figures for a Japanese company, a job that brought a steady income and involved regular trips to southern China factories, where he learned the nuts and bolts of the production process.

That basic knowledge was finessed through spells spent studying fashion in New York and Paris, giving him an intimate understanding of the way the industry operates. By his early 20s, Wu was a full-fledged designer, with the brazen confidence to launch his own label.

The youthful-looking boss now oversees a staff numbering more than 40 in New York City, liaises with Hugo Boss womenswear designers and executives, and, all the while, thinks up new creations and formulates ambitious expansion plans.

There is a five-year goal to double the number of outlets selling Jason Wu clothes to 400, develop stand-alone stores, launch accessory and beauty lines and expand online sales. The price of owning a dress with a Jason Wu label ranges from $1,000 to $20,000. The new Miss Wu line has more modestly priced pieces that range from just under $200 to $800.