The man behind the red carpet

Actresses Tian Hairong, Carina Lau and Zeng Li (left to right) attend the opening of Tadashi Shoji's Beijing boutique store. Photos provided to China Daily

Japanese-born American designer Tadashi Shoji creates simple, elegant gowns that have been worn by some of the world's biggest stars. He tells Gan Tian why all women look good in an evening dress.

Fashion stories about clothes seen on the red carpet tend to focus on those who made a splash: Whose dress was see-through, who has the deepest cleavage, and who dresses like an alien.

Japanese-born American fashion designer Tadashi Shoji says a red carpet dress for an actress should be elegant and simple.

Shoji designs formal and elegant evening dresses for celebrities who walk Hollywood's red carpets. Celebrities who have worn his creations include Katy Perry, Dita Von Teese, Shakira, Paris Hilton and Kate Beckinsale. In China, such A-listers as Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing have graced red carpets in his dresses.

When the designer opened his first boutique store and held his first show in Beijing last week, it attracted Oscar winner-Octavia Spencer, Hong Kong actress Carina Lau and Taiwan singer Julia Pong.

"Usually, I don't deal with Hollywood celebrities directly. My assistants would handle that," Shoji says, in an exclusive interview with China Daily. However, some of them, such as Spencer, have become Shoji's friends.