OpinionCouple behind matchesfashion.com share their secrets of success

Despite an inarguably large appetite for fashion, Hong Kong has been slow off the mark in terms of online retailing, with most customers still preferring the bricks-and-mortar experience.

A feature of the company's website that has been popular with Asian clients is the My Stylist team who engage and advise directly with online clients. "Up until very recently, all our marketing was very organic and word of mouth," says Ruth as she sips tea at a private club in central London, her distinctive silver hair worn loose with a slick of lipstick and a fashionable button down pyjama-style top.

"We do have a lot of Asian and Hong Kong customers who have travelled to the stores and engaged with us and then gone home and engaged online."

"It's expanded as people move around and are more global, but probably mainly because of the selection we have," husband Tom says. "Ruth has managed to maintain a sort of stability and consistency in the kind of consumer that we want to appeal to."

The couple opened a boutique in Wimbledon in 1987, selling reasonably priced casual clothes ("lots of T-shirts and jeans"), before moving towards luxury fashion. Twenty six years on, the company has expanded to stocking more than 400 brands, shipping to more than 200 countries and hitting 15 million page views on their website each month. A large buying team is now helmed by Ruth.

"Consumers come to us because we have a different offer and we engage with newness and freshness," says Tom.