Colourful is a bit of an understatement when it comes to describing Frau Ana’s outfits. Eye-searingly bright seems more apt, but the 28 year old (pictured right) makes no apologies for her attention-grabbing style.

“Fashion is fun, art and music. It’s life; it’s colourful!” she says. “I love all colours! For me colours are the perfect expression of fun and life.”

And fun and life are exactly what Ana hopes to convey through her clothes, which she says are inspired by the pop culture of her ‘90s adolescence, in particular the larger-than-life television stars of the era (David Hasselhoff is one that springs to Ana’s mind), the vivid, block-coloured aesthetic of Game Boy games, the energy of dance music and her favourite comic books.

“My designs always say a lot about me, because they have been growing together with me as I grow up,” she says.

“You can be a designer anywhere in the world, as long as you are inspired you could sit in the middle of the desert and design the most amazing things.”

But no matter how grown-up she gets, Ana maintains what she calls a “childlike innocence” in her designs that makes them more approachable and mainstream than other lines that appeal to edgy, punkish style-mavens.

More importantly, while we’re on the topic of comic book heroes, who would win a fight between Superman and Batman?

“Superman,” Ana replies without hesitation. “Because he wears the colourful costume, and that gives him the master power!”

Like many expats who wind up in Shanghai, Ana came to China seeking the opportunity to make a name for herself on her own terms, without having to undergo the long and painful fashion apprenticeship that is often the norm for young European designers.

After graduating from design school in Hamburg, Ana made the move to Shanghai and hasn’t looked back. Design, after all, is about inspiration, and according to the vivacious German, there’s plenty of that around here.

“You can be a designer anywhere in the world, as long as you are inspired you could sit in the middle of the desert and design the most amazing things,” Ana says. “But Shanghai has such a great energy that I feel you can make everything and anything happen here.”

It’s hard not to get swept up in the dazzling energy that defines both Ana the person and Frau Ana, the collection. There’s something incredibly likeable and refreshingly, well, normal, about a fashion designer who nominates her mum as her single greatest style inspiration and lists her favourite pastimes as dancing and “hanging out with my friends.”

But Ana’s greatest passion is fashion, and by that she means much more than just clothes. As her personal look testifies, accessories, make-up and attitude are what makes a style come together. “My clothes are not just about one dress or shirt,” she emphasises. “It’s about creating outfits, including accessories. For me it’s not about one great piece, it's all about the whole look and the styling.”

And what about those of us not blessed by the supermodel gods with perfect clothes-hanger genes? Can we get some Frau Ana fun and colour in our lives too?

“For me it’s very important that my clothes are comfortable to wear, so I use a lot of jersey fabrics for example. I want everyone feeling good in my clothes. They aren’t just made for the runway,” she says.

Although, for right now, they are made mainly for women – sorry fellas – but Ana is working on getting more menswear pieces into the next collection, as well as a line of evening wear. And it seems we won’t have to wait too long to see it. “I am already working on the next collection in my head,” Ana says. “Frau Ana can’t stopping thinking about fashion!”

Web: www.frau-ana.com