How this Hong Kong designer of stunning gowns went from intern to his own couture label

Just over a year ago, Hong Kong-born fashion designer Alvin Ho was ready to pack his bags and leave his dreams behind in London for good. Yet with rigorous ambition – and many sleepless nights of sewing – he defied the odds in an era dominated by fast fashion and launched his independent couture label in the style capital. Today, the 23-year-old is the creative force behind House of Alvin, a company that creates gowns of fantastical glamour. Think Marie Antoinette, the Swan Lake ballet and the delicate beauty of luna moths. The label had styled a few internet personalities for film premieres – such as for The Little Mermaid – as early as 2023, but Ho’s business only really began to proliferate towards the end of last year when his designs caught the eye of industry stylists. This landed him opportunities to create gowns for the London premiere of Wicked: For Good (2025), the 2026 Bafta awards and a feature in Tatler magazine’s September 2025 issue. House of Alvin also specialises in bridal couture, with one of Ho’s wedding gowns most recently being featured in the June issue of British Vogue. “I have been sewing since I was 14, and I’ve done a few unpaid internships,” Ho says, recalling his initial encounters with fashion. Growing up, he often took part in interschool fashion projects, where he first honed his skills with textiles. Because his school in Hong Kong did not offer a fashion-focused programme, Ho used online tutorials to teach himself the intricacies of advanced garment construction, such as corset boning and multilayered tailoring, while internships gave him the opportunity to observe behind-the-scenes action. Choosing not to go into fashion at university When the time came to pursue higher education, Ho made a choice that may surprise many: he chose to study business rather than fashion design. After completing his undergraduate business degree at King’s College London, he earned a master’s degree in entrepreneurship from University College London (UCL) last summer. Even today, he keeps a part-time teaching job at UCL to nurture his passion for business studies. Although he recalls making dresses in his university days as a form of “escapism”, he does not regret the decision to study business at all. “Honestly, the fashion aspect is probably like 20 per cent of [my job],” he laughs. He also oversees all the marketing, client relationships and internal administration at House of Alvin. Avoiding a traditional fashion education also shielded Ho from creative burnout. “There’s so much competition and pleasing your lecturers,” he says of his peers’ experiences. “It’s just not an environment that I think I would have thrived in anyway, and I do believe that my style – princess, romantic vibes – just really isn’t what most fashion universities would like their students to make.” For Ho, the world around him is an endless source of inspiration. While it was his acclaimed 2025 collection Antoinette 1999, which reinterprets the decadent and rebellious styles of the French queen, that spearheaded his label into popularity last year, Ho would never want to shut himself in a box. “I’ve been in a very art nouveau phase right now, and I’m kind of moving away from the Rococo style and going into less architectural dresses,” he says. “Theatricality is something that I absolutely love … creating something that doesn’t look like it exists in this current climate or political sense. It’s like a way of finding my own world in this crazy universe.” Pricing his dresses and fast fashion dupes House of Alvin was officially incorporated in May 2025 in the UK, transitioning from a beloved personal hobby into a structured business entity. Before this milestone, Ho faced the classic dilemmas of an emerging designer, often losing money on early custom commissions because he did not yet know how to price his labour. An average custom piece takes between three and five months to execute. To illustrate the scale of production, Ho points to a signature butterfly gown made from “the world’s lightest fabric” – organza – which required over 2,700 hours of continuous hand-sewing completed by seven artisans across three months. Another of his most challenging projects took place in December last year, when he created dresses for two influencers at the same event. “We had to make two dresses in two weeks for that … me and [my colleague] Ling did not sleep for three days leading up to it,” he says. Today, Ho’s team usually works on three commissions at once, allowing them to have an intimate relationship with their clients. Each couture piece is made to order by private inquiry, with pricing determined by construction, materials and fitting requirements. A mark of a couturier’s success is when fast fashion brands copy their designs. That has happened to Ho multiple times, but the difference has been vast. “There are a lot of techniques that we do use to make our pieces look the way they look. Fast fashion companies are prioritising scale and efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and you’re simply just not going to be able to get what we do in that sense.” Tips for upcoming designers As an ambitious creative who faced discouragement, setbacks and even plagiarism in his journey, he offers three concise pieces of advice to aspiring fashion designers. First, use social media. One notable catalyst of his company’s success was a viral reel in which Ho analysed the complex, theatrical fabrics featured in the film Frankenstein (2025). Posting simple screen recordings from his home captured millions of views and brought his business a new wave of affluent clients. Second, lean heavily into a distinct visual identity. “What my followers have always told me is when they see a House of Alvin dress, they know it’s me – that is honestly the biggest compliment,” he says. Third, keep things simple when starting out and work within resource and budget limits. Ho says he used a basic sewing machine for eight years before upgrading to an industrial model. He also only began working with genuine silks very recently. “I think a lot of people can overcomplicate [things] and go into perfectionism as I had done before, deciding that the uphill battle to become a full-fledged atelier or a million followers is too hard to reach – when, in actuality, I do believe that most people have a shot.” For now, Ho is concentrating on building up his business in the UK, adding that the fashion hotspots remain situated in London, New York and Paris. However, he cites Hong Kong-born fashion designer Robert Wun as evidence that the Hong Kong fashion scene is evolving. Hong Kong admirers of House of Alvin likely have just a few years to wait before the designer graces the city with his gowns. With an ambition to expand House of Alvin within the next three years, Ho envisions a true homecoming for his business, returning from across the sea with his fairy-tale designs.

How this Hong Kong designer of stunning gowns went from intern to his own couture label

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Alvin Ho is the 23-year-old creative force behind House of Alvin, which creates fantastical gowns for events from red carpets to weddings

Alvin Ho is the 23-year-old creative force behind House of Alvin, which creates fantastical gowns for events from red carpets to weddings