Designer Wan Yingnu (above) says she never considers buyers in the process of designing because she does not want to be distracted. Photos provided to China Daily

With time spent living in China, the US and France, and a love for French literature and Chinese furniture, Wan Yingnu bridges East and West in both her lifestyle and jewelry designs

Clad in a silver Alexander Wang dress and elaborate gold Ofira cuff bracelets, Wan Yingnu strolled down the catwalk in Cannes, surrounded by models, for an event organized by the Foundation for AIDS Research recently.

The granddaughter of Wan Li, a former chairman of China's National People's Congress, she was a guest at the show, one of many social events on the socialite-cum-entrepreneur's calendar.

"This is one part of my work, and sometimes I just feel tired," says the 32-year-old, who recently changed her name from Wan Baobao to Wan Yingnu. Today she looks quite a different picture, wearing a T-shirt, ripped jeans and no makeup.

Her main occupation these days is her own jewelry business, although the road to choosing this as her career has taken many twists and turns.

Her designs have proved popular in China and now she hopes to expand the business into Europe and the United States.

"I just came back from Europe, and I have talked with some high-end department stores. They are confident in accommodating my brand, and I believe you will see my products in Paris and London within the year," she says.

She launched her Hong Kong-based brand Bao Bao Wan Fine Jewelry in 2007, acting as both designer and manager. Her jewelry is sold online and at Lane Crawford, a Hong Kong-based department store.

She has also designed a necklace, bracelet and earrings set for Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook and created a cuff bracelet for Swarovski.

She's a designer whose work has graced the pages of Vogue and Bazaar, a businesswoman and also a celebrity.

It's a combination that many would attribute, at least in part, to her grandfather and the money and connections that come with his name, and Wan acknowledges that.

On returning from Cannes she posted a photograph on Sina Weibo, China's twitter-like service of her on the catwalk, with the caption: "I know you will say the woman is so short and really ugly. If it is not for her grandfather, nobody will even know her. Ha ha, I am used to it! You can just say that. Come on!"

But she has undoubtedly made a name for herself too through hard work and talent.

Born in Beijing, and having studied abroad since the age of 16, Wan defines herself as a translator between Western beauty and traditional Chinese design.

Her jewelry features common Chinese elements such as bats, pagodas, tai chi, pandas and penguins, and often uses black and white diamonds, and white gold.

One of her latest designs - Action of Love - was produced in partnership with Yoox Group, an Italian online fashion retailer, which launched its Chinese online store yoox.cn in October last year.

It features a pendant in the shape of a tulip, hollowed out with a baroque pearl inside. "The swaying pearl in the heart of the tulip is just like the heartbeats when people fall in love," she says.

Using 18-Carat gold and pearl, Wan says it is cheaper than most of her work and designed for the mass market in accordance with Yoox's wishes.

"I never consider consumers in the process of designing because I do not want to be distracted," she says. "However, I can make some changes in the material to cater to different consumers and partners."

Wan's experience abroad began in 1997 when she entered the arts school Sarah Lawrence College in New York, majoring in photography and French literature.

During a summer holiday, she read Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas twice and cried over it.

"It was then I decided that I should go to France and learn some French literature. Right now, I am a big fan of Sartre and Albert Camus," she says.

In her last year of college, she did just that, studying under professor Joel Sternfeld in Paris.

In 2003, Wan was invited to the Crillon Ball, a party for debutantes. She was the only Chinese at the ball and her appearance is often regarded as the beginning of her becoming a Chinese celebrity, although she doesn't believe it was.

"Whether I joined in the ball or not, I think I would be living the same life I am now," she says.

Although she didn't study jewelry design, Wan says she had a natural interest in beauty and art even as a child and that her knowledge of history and literature has helped to add a spiritual connotation to her work.

"I found my talent in jewelry when I was a little girl, going shopping with my friends in markets in Beijing," she says.

"I liked to pick out bracelets for my friends that I thought suited them. My friends were always happy with my choices and said I should do something in accessories."

In 2005, Wan bent to her mother's will and moved to Hong Kong to work for a financial institution. She quit that job after just three months and began studying for a gemologist degree at the Gemological Institute of America in Hong Kong, while attending fashion parties and charity events in her spare time.

That led to her launching her jewelry business with the approval of her parents.

Now Wan's life is taken up with flights between London, Paris and Beijing - where she has an office in one of the city's old hutong courtyard houses north of the Forbidden City - as well as interviews and business meetings, but she still finds time to relax.

"After a busy period of work, I take a rest," she says. "I go to different places to visit museums and see architecture. Furniture stores in Shanghai are also one of my interests."

yaojing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 06/14/2013 page28)