Hat designer to the nouveau riche

Wearing the craziest hat in the crowd - a hot pink feather creation - it was impossible not to notice Elisabeth Koch. Seated at a table, her portfolio in-hand, the 31-year-old Beijing-based hat designer quashed any notion that David Shilling was pioneering couture hats in China.

Founder of Elisabeth Koch Millinery, Koch has been developing her business and her brand in Beijing for the past two years. "I started making hats when I got to Beijing," she said. "I used to be a banker and I just remember thinking to myself: 'I gotta leave this banking world and do something I really want to do.'"

Her success can be attested by the prevalence of her hats in top Chinese fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Insider, among others. Famous Chinese film stars have worn them. Zhou Xun and Li Bingbing of recent spy thriller The Message, wore her hats in the film.