Gearing up for Shanghai Fashion Week from 8 to 13 April, TALK caught up with Coko Wan, one of Shanghai's most buzzed about accessory designers.

The ‘Wow Factor’ is one thing that Coko Wan doesn’t shy away from.

In her Shanghai Fashion Week debut in April 2009, Wan impressed crowds with her multifunctional bags, which can be playfully transformed into different garments, like capes, coats, dresses, vests and tops. It was a fashion twist that made many take notice of the 27 year old’s eye for the amusing.

“I want to show how different colours and materials can go together, and bring some possibility of surprise in a product,” says Wan, who is originally from Suzhou but is based in Shanghai.

At the upcoming 2010 Shanghai Fashion Week. Wan will show her 2010/2011 winter line, which includes bags with mix-and-match fabrics, textures and colours.

She has combined chiffon with heavy wool, fur and silk, and other unconventional match-ups. The London College of Fashion graduate, who sees the late Alexander McQueen and Italian brand Marni as her fashion icons, says she has even incorporated sequined flowers, small plastic birds, feathers, pom poms and candy-coloured fur in her 80 new accessories to make them “more interesting."

In addition, her 2010/2011 winter line also includes about 60 garments, which Wan says are more grown up than last year.

“This collection is still about humour and colour, but the tone is much more subtle,” she says.

In China, there aren’t many designers like Wan. She says about 95 per cent of China’s fashion industry focus on garments.

But, as she points out, not paying attention to accessories is a fashion tragedy.

“You have to have style as a whole. When you pay attention to everything – hats, belts, jewellery, leggings, shoes – the whole styling is more exciting. It’s better to look at fashion from head-to-toe, to give a woman a more complete style, I think,” Wan says.

Wan is available at Bund 18, 18 Zhongshan Dongyi Lu, or online at www.chictalk.com