I love meeting determined, creative young people.

Nhuc Tran, Founder of the hip and fresh online fashion store China Doll Boutique, is one I met recently.

I had the pleasure of meeting her after being invited by Lois aka Bunni Punch at Carrot Top PR to the launch of the We Are Pop Up version of China Doll Boutique, at Boxpark in Shoreditch, London.

Nhuc greeted each and every one of us with the warmest of welcomes and thanked us all for coming along.

I wanted to see how Nhuc’s own journey could help other young people aspiring to pave their way as fashion designers/buyers and/or bloggers to ‘go it alone’. 

I’m a firm believer in the old adage: “If you risk nothing, you risk everything” and Nhuc’s success story is proof that YOU CAN DO IT.

Here’s how it went…

Q. Name/Age/Location

NT. Nhuc Tran, 25, I live in Rotherhithe, southeast London.


Q. Job title

NT. Founder, China Doll Boutique, I sell online and have a China Doll Boutique pop up shop until the end of March in Boxpark, Shoreditch


Q. How did you start China Doll Boutique?

NT. My career history primarily focused on helping smaller fashion brands set up online, so when the contract at my last role was coming to an end, I had a choice to either find another contract or set up on my own.  I had enough experience to know how to do it, and had done it for other companies so knew I could make it work. I decided to go for it. 

I had a tiny amount of money saved up, which I then invested in my business. I did everything on a shoestring budget and did it all myself, working throughout the nights - researching trends, sourcing stock, organising the photoshoots, building the website, marketing and accounting. The website store www.chinadollboutique.com finally launched in September 2011, and in January 2012 I started working on it full time.  A year on and it’s going well – we’ve recently launched a permanent site too!

 Q. Where did the name come from?

NT. I used to write a little beauty blog in my spare time called China Doll Diary so it felt natural to adopt the same name.   I’m a pretty girly girl and liked the idea of playing dress up with something delicate and dainty.

 Q. What advice would you give to other aspiring individuals wishing to work in fashion & styling?

NT. To grab every opportunity to network, to be nice to everyone you meet (it doesn’t hurt to do it!) and to have your own style which you can inject into your work.

 Q. Who or what inspires you?

NT. OOoo this is hard…there’s not just one thing I’m inspired by, it’s a collection of many things… I’m inspired by everything around me. It be could anything from a pretty decorated cake, an art installation, magazines, blogs, home decorating… I love how much effort someone will put into creating something beautiful and I also aspire to do the same.

 Q. What are the main trends that people should keep an eye out for this Spring/ Summer?

NT. I’m all for pastels this season, or monochrome with a splash of colour.

 Q. As a stylist what are your big fashion 'No No’s?’

NT. Fashion should be fun, so trying to wear something you are not comfortable in shows and is a no no for me…

 Q. Who would you love to work with? e.g Photographer/ Designer/ Models, etc.

NT. You ;-)

I have a HUGE girl crush on Cara Delevingne.

 Q. Where can people see more of your work? 

China Doll Boutique

 www.chinadollboutique.com

Follow us on Twitter: @ChinaDollDiary

 * We’re popping up at Boxpark Shoreditch - come and join us from the 18th Feb - 31st March*

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Thank you, Nhuc.

Lucie x

Photography © Lucie Kerley