Sixteen years ago, German-born Kathrin von Rechenberg left Paris, where she used to work for luxury brands like Chanel, Christian Dior and Christian Lacroix. She didn't leave to make a fortune.

In search of a particular kind of material called tea silk, she came to Shunde, a small city in South China's Guangdong province. She didn't come for fame.

A piece of clothing is a piece of art, and she is the artist, Rechenberg said. And that's why she spent decades to live out her philosophy of making durable art clothing that appreciates with time.

Clothes should be like fine wine

Rechenberg discovered her passion for making clothes at a very young age.

She would take her friend's mother's handkerchief to make clothes for her dolls, and at the age of 11, she made her first dress for herself.

She went to a specialized school for three years to hone her skills in clothes making instead of going to college, as she knew this is what she wanted to do all her life.

After clinching the first prize in a clothes making competition in Germany, she won a full scholarship from the top haute couture school, The School of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in Paris. There, she worked for famous haute couture houses as an honor graduate.

But instead of following in the steps of famous alumni like Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, she simply quit her job in haute couture houses, and made her way to China in the late 1990s.

While there were a hundred reasons to stay, Rechenberg took only one to leave - "I like the material tea silk so much, and it is only produced in China", she said.

For the last decade or so, she has been focusing on exploring the beauty of this material, and made the material a signature of her own label, Xiangyunsha (or fragrant cloud organza, the Chinese name for tea silk).

Today it remains a cornerstone of her collections.

"I first got to know the material while I was working in a Paris haute couture house. One of my classmates, a fashion designer from Taiwan, showed me a piece of such clothing, the Chinese gambiered silk. I fell in love with it at first sight."

Rechenberg said the material's texture is totally new from what she had seen in Paris – it has a papyrus-like rustle, an inimitable black metallic sheen and a look of leather And the complicated procedures in producing this material only made it more captivating.

"The preparation process involves dyeing the silk up to 40 times in tea and other organic ingredients and covering it with mud to dry in the sun. The finished piece is comfortable to wear, and not too glamorous. And the longer you wear it, the more comfortable it becomes."

"It representsa humble elegance and helps underline the personality of the wearer, rather than hiding it," she said.

In tea silk, Rechenberg found a way to express her own philosophy in making clothes, which aims to bring out the confidence and inner beauty of the wearer, or in her words, "functional but not decorative".

"One should not see the clothes first, but the woman wearing them. She looks good when she feels comfortable and makes the clothing her own."

"Such clothes are like the little black dress that would never be outdated, and just like a fine wine, the longer, the better," Rechenberg said.

Good, never almost as good

"I took a lot of years to realize that my customers can't really see what's wrong in the clothes, but I'm always aware, so I have to make a lot of alterations," Rechenberg said, adding that such a vigorous pursuit in getting the right shape sometimes annoys her customers.

"My clients have to be quite patient. Usually, they will have to stand for an hour, sometimes two, for me to get the perfect cut."

For Rechenberg, a perfect cut should be precise and smooth, just like Chinese calligraphy, which is often finished at one stretch. She always avoids complicated decorations, as it is more often than not a way "to cover up the imperfection of the cut".

"Making clothes is like carving a sculpture. It's about taking off things unnecessary, and you have more strength when it is kept simple," Rechenberg said, this inspiration she got from her father.

"My father is quite precise with the sculpture he's doing. And sometimes he will spend hours adjusting the light, just to get the right shade on the sculpture."

"While I couldn't understand why my father is so particular with his work, it sure influenced me subtly," she said.

Rechenberg said the pursuit of precision was rooted in her as she grew up, and saturated into her life attitude as her self-identity took shape. It is also reflected in her life.

"I don't like superficial people. I hate being extravagant and over dramatic. I would rather find a companion in Bach's music rather than going to parties."

It might also explain why Rechenberg insists in being in charge of everything she does to achieve the best possible result - going to Shunde to see for herself how the production of tea silk is going on, and working with her colleagues in her workshop to dye the clothing.

"I try to be both an artisan and an artist at the same time," she said.

Observing such an attitude in the past years, in return, has attracted attention from celebrities who share common perspectives.

Two years ago, famous Chinese singer Gong Linna and her husband, Robert, contacted Rechenberg, asking if she could make outfits for her concert that have been prepared for three years.

"It was my first time to work with a celebrity. Robert and I talked a lot about what the concert is like, and the central idea of the show. He and I share the same working attitude, so it was quite a congenial cooperation."

"I would like to work with those with artistic achievement, rather than pure celebrities. And I think they can understand the beauty of my clothing," Rechenberg said.

Now residing in Beijing for more than a decade, Rechenberg's small studio has grown into a workshop that has over a dozen employees. And she has grown more "picky" on her customers.

"I hated being 'almost as good', it's never good for me, and I hope to sell my clothes to those who respect and can appreciate them," she said.