What do they like about Cynthia & Xiao?

We find color just works. When we started out, the palette was more muted, with navy and grey – the idea being that pieces could be mixed and matched. But as we've grown, we've incorporated more color – lots of it! [laughs] – like yellow, red, orange, neon green… stuff that's really in-your-face. And they sell really well for us. The consumers seem to love it.

What's your best-selling piece?

Our favorite shape is something we call "oversize". For some girls, it could literally be a dress, but you would have to wear something underneath. Let's just say it covers the bottoms and is our best-selling shape no matter what we do. Then again, they also don't want something too long. They like above the knee. If you cover the knee, you look short. And of course, the aim is to look both short and thin. In Shanghai, we always go shorter – a more fitted shape. Sometimes we make longer pieces, too.