Making fashion accessible for all women

One of Zhang's favorite creations is inspired by headdress in the Peking Opera which aims to convey the oriental beauty. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Having worked in the lingerie industry for more than 10 years, Zhang realizes that many luxury brands often tailor their apparel for people with figures like supermodels. This in turn spurred her to set up her own fashion line, Mavinia, which is committed to creating stylish clothes for "average-sized people".

She adds that while there are many big Chinese underwear brands that are successful on the sales front, most do not have international influence and recognition.

"It is my dream to create an international Chinese brand of influence that would help women avoid the mistakes I have made in the past. I hope with my products, they can look their best and at the same time Chinese culture will be known around the world," she says.

Among Zhang's biggest fans is Yue-Sai Kan, the national director of the beauty pageant in China. Last August, ahead of the Miss Universe China finals, Kan shared with her 1.4 million Sina Weibo (China's version of Twitter) followers that Zhang "is a really talented designer".

Dubbed as China's Oprah Winfrey as well as Estee Lauder, the American businesswoman who owns her eponymous cosmetics empire, Kan has gone to great lengths to popularize the 64-year-old beauty pageant in China since she took over in 2011. And Zhang looks to be the masterstroke in drawing the attention of the audience and the media.

It takes Zhang about four months to dress up the participants of the beauty pageant. From sketches to production, Zhang and her team of tailors are constantly making adjustments to achieve the perfect weight and wearability of each outfit, ensuring that while the contestants are able to flaunt their figures, there is little risk of a wardrobe malfunction during the finals which is aired live online.

"It's really about how you can expose yourself, as compared to other fashion design theories that revolve around how you can hide your body," says Zhang.