Tsai Mei Yueh is a wedding dress designer from Taiwan who has gained fame in the international fashion society, having won Best Fashion Designer and Best Wedding Dress in the China Fashion Week.

She says every Chinese bride should have her own marriage dress and refuses to copy international brands. She uses her name as her brand because.

"Chinese fashion should be named in its own language". Tsai tells METRO reporter Yang Wanli about her views on wedding dresses.

What made you want to become a wedding dress designer?  I loved making dresses when I was young. Our neighbor was a tailor when I lived in Taiwan. On the mainland, most brides rent wedding dress because to buy them is expensive and they only use them once.

I still remember a journalist from New York Times who asked me why Chinese brides rent wedding dress instead of buying them. I told him it was not because we were poor, simply because most Chinese aren't aware of how important wedding dresses are.

I tell every bride that a wedding dress is not just a dress but also a precious memory.  Compared with Western women, do Chinese women have a different attitude towards wedding dresses?  In 2004, I cut a second-hand wedding dress with scissors to show people that what a new bride needs is not a dress but the time of her life.

A wedding dress marks the transformation from girl to woman.  Brides in the West don't rent wedding dresses, nor did women in ancient China. We have lots of stories and tales about Chinese mothers making wedding dresses for daughters. But the importance is lost to most modern men and women.

Did you make your own wedding dress?

Yes, (laughing) but it was out of fashion. I still have it.

Of course it was white, but actually it was an unfinished design and some decorations were still not done by the time I was married. My wedding dress was a traditional one with puff sleeves, which is seldom seen now.

You have a store on taobao.com. How does that work?

I have a belief that every bride should have her own wedding dress and I make dresses everyone can afford.  People in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen can go to my store, and for customers in other places they can now use our online services, which is more convenient.

As you can see, our dresses on taobao.com are priced 700 yuan to 6,000 yuan ($100 to $880). Not expensive for a wedding dress that can be tailor-made to suit the bride. Is Beijing a big market of wedding dresses?  Sure it is. As the capital, Beijing is a large market for bridal dresses. Most customers here prefer tailor-made dresses.

Some choose luxurious ones, while others like simple and classic styles with lower prices. In recent years, more and more young brides are willing to try shorter wedding dresses. In China, about 10 million couples get married every year in China, spending about 20 million yuan on wedding ceremonies.  Is it true that you never copy anyone else's dress design?

Yes. There was once a customer who held up a magazine and told me she wanted her wedding dress like one made by Luis Vuitton. I threw the magazine away and told her how important a wedding dress is to a bride. She should not wear a copy of a big international brand but one that really fits her. The customer was convinced and accepted my idea. What is the newest trend in wedding fashion?

The fashion for wedding dress is mostly related to materials and decorations rather than style, mainly because designs run in cycles. This year, I made a series of dresses to express the concept of fairy tales. They are colorful and romantic. The colors used in my latest design are lighter, like green, yellow and pink.  Any tips for Chinese brides?

Chinese women have different figures compared with Western women. Most women here are petite and dainty, so choosing a wedding dress with a proper hipline is essential. I suggest they select a dress with a hipline three inches under the chest. Of course, a dress that really fits you is the perfect one.