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He cites Tunisian-born couturier Azzedine Alaia as a personal hero.

"One can choose Chanel or Dior, but it's always Lu Kun who makes one feel like a Shanghai lady," said Luo Zilin, a Shanghai-born model and longtime friend of Lu's. She won the Miss Universe China beauty pageant in 2011.

Always elegant and extravagant, his ensembles often reference 1930's Shanghai and are rarely ignored by the wealthiest women in town.

The only child of a working-class family, Lu became a tailor because his mother thought it could provide a safe and comfortable living for her son, who underperformed at school.

The "little seamster of Shanghai", as many of his loyal customers refer to him, became the first designer from the city to have his own fashion show in 2004. Much of his subsequent success owes to word-of-mouth, he said.

In what ranks as a milestone in the local fashion industry, he surprised his hometown with a series of colorful and modern qipao at the show 11 years ago.

It would be nine more years before Dior presented its first haute-couture show in China - another major milestone in the city's fashion industry.

xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn