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For Fournier, Shanghai Trio is more than a fashion brand. It is also a way to promote the culture of a country where she lived for more than a decade, found her career and had two children.

Fournier moved back to Paris with her family in 2005 and then on to London in 2007. Each city has inspired her in a different way.

"Beijing and London are similar because people really try, they can be crazy. Last year here I saw girls in Beijing wearing very funny shoes. But in Shanghai you don't see this kind of thing. They are elegant and chic. It's the same in Paris," she says.

"In London, you don't see two people looking the same. When I arrived in London, I said, 'Wow, this is good,' because they know how to mix everything: the old, the new, and the colors. They are not afraid."

Now Fournier visits China every three months and manages her Chinese team via Skype.

Although she no longer lives here, she still finds ways to experience the country's culture.

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"It's a paradox. I find out more about Chinese history and culture outside China than inside sometimes because of the museums," she says.

"You see a lot of collections in the British Museum that inspire you. You can know things but you cannot feel them. While in China, you feel things, which is a big difference."

sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn