EASTERN INFLUENCE: The OmniaLuo fashion range makes a splash at the New York Fashion Week (COURTESY OF LUO ZHENG)

Luo Zheng, China's award-winning women's wear designer, was all smiles as she heard the applause for her clothing collection at this year's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, which was held on September 5-12.

After the lights had gone out and the runway was silent, Luo told Beijing Review that she was not expecting such a warm reception for her OmniaLuo range. She said that not only did the audience give her a big ovation, but there were also people already starting to show an interest in her plans of opening stores in the United States. "It really surprised me," she said.

Luo was the first women's wear designer from the Chinese mainland to present her designs, called "Beauty Blossoms," at the prestigious New York fashion event, which brings together the world's top fashion designers.

A blog entry posted at a website called The Shophound,a website about the shopping and fashion scene in New York, said that the OmniaLuo fashion collection "turned out to be a lovely surprise. We can't tell if OmniaLuo will make any inroads with American retailers, but it shows promise."

The words were encouragement for Luo. She was trying to get her brand on the list of participants in the New York Fashion Week, which focuses more on commercial aspects than the fashion events in Milan and Paris. Luo said that she hoped her design ideas would find some business opportunities in the United States.

This is the first step for the OmniaLuo brand to penetrate U.S. market, said Pamela A. Solly, Partner of Cirrus Financial Communications, which handles the investor relations in the United States for the Shenzhen-based OmniaLuo Inc.

"I think there is great potential," Solly told Beijing Review after watching the OmniaLuo show. She said that Luo's designs, which incorporate Chinese culture, are "sophisticated, elegant and feminine." She expressed her confidence in OmniaLuo's market prospects, saying that it would be "well received" in the United States.

Expanding in China

While working toward establishing itself in the United States, OmniaLuo is still aiming at the domestic market as the battleground to grow its business and expand its market shares.

Established by Luo with the initial start-up capital from her family in 1996 in south China's Shenzhen City, the company has witnessed a rapid growth in the past 12 years and opened more than 200 stores throughout China, Luo told the audience at the China Impact Forum organized by China Institute on the eve of her first New York show.