She has relaunched her website sianhoffman.co.uk, finally elevating what was originally a basic showcase for her work into a thing of remarkable beauty, and a must-see for connoisseurs of opulent fetish pictorials.

The transformation has been achieved in no small part by Sian’s use of stunning imagery by fashion and commercial photographer Tim Bret Day.

Day’s distinctive style, developed through shooting for the likes of The Face, Elle, Harpers, Marie Claire and Agent Provocateur, perfectly complements Sian’s designs, which are always sensual and often explicitly kinky.

The designer says the new combined site representing both her brands “has been many years in the making, and is the first time my corsets have been easily available to purchase.” She confesses she often thought it would never happen, and even now, is “still in progress”.

“The process has been very slow because everything I have done is self-funded and my standards are high,” she explains. “But with enough dedication (some may say obsession!) you get there in the end.”

Hoffman clearly has a great sense of what makes an eye-catching image for a website or editorial page, so she must have been delighted by the opportunity to collaborate with someone of Tim Bret Day’s calibre. How did this partnership come about?

“It is really important for me to work with likeminded individuals who I can trust in creating my artistic vision. I was very lucky to be approached by Tim as we have a great respect for each other’s work.

“As well as being a very talented and successful photographer, he is also extremely open-minded and a pleasure to work with. We hope to work together again.”

I imagine more than a few other folk out there will be nursing similar hopes!

So how did it all begin for this woman who is regarded today as one of corsetry’s most outstanding exponents?

As a teenager, Sian says, she had already developed “quite a strong interest in fetishism and provocative dress” and had experimented with her own style and ways of transforming herself.

‘Aged 14 or 15, I found Story of O in a bag of books my mother had from her employer. I had no idea how much effect it would have on my future work’

She recalls: “When I was around 14 or 15, I came across the book Story of O completely by accident, in a bag of old books my mother had from her employer that she’d offered to take to the charity shop.

“I discreetly took the book for myself, having no idea how much effect it would have on my future work.

“Around the same time I was discovering vintage BDSM illustrators such as John Willie and his original Bizarre magazine, and researching into the Modern Primitive movement, a group who explore their bodies through extremity to reach new levels of consciousness and spiritual enlightenment.

“I would travel into London solely to purchase the new Skin Two magazine, and was excited by this underground world of the fetish scene and crazy experimental fashion. I was dreaming of the day I’d be old enough to attend Torture Garden.”

Subsequently she decided to study fashion at university, although, she admits, “fashion didn’t really interest me.” She had originally decided to pursue a career in costume design “but my tutor during my foundation course persuaded me to choose fashion because I was apparently good at it”.

“So I went to Middlesex University to do Womens- wear. It lasted a year. I hated it but didn’t regret doing the one year as I learnt valuable sewing skills that allowed me to teach myself the skills I have now.”