The second annual list of “25 Influential Chinese in Global Fashion” unveiled on Saturday by Forbes China, the licensed Chinese-language edition of Forbes, comes amid a changed business environment compared with the last time the list was published a year ago. The global economic recovery is facing question marks, and fashion companies and investors are looking more than ever to China for growth.
This year’s list of 25 influential Chinese in global fashion focuses on executives and entrepreneurs that are leading the charge. (Click here for the full list.) We include for the first time leaders at multinational fashion companies that are playing a crucial role in those foreign firms’ success in China, including Joe Wong at Gucci and Josephine Chien at Cartier. This year we also highlight an e-commerce apparel leader whose marketing success has turned his company into one of China’s most successful e-commerce sites at a time when the field is hotly competitive: Vancl’s Chen Nian.
The much-anticipated listing of Prada of Italy in a multi-billion-dollar IPO in Hong Kong on Friday also underscores how the global fashion industry is increasingly turning its focus to capital markets in Greater China to raise money and boost its profile in the fast-growing region. This year’s list also includes Chinese entrepreneurs that are tapping into stock exchanges in Greater China, such as Bryan Yiu, whose second-hand fashion retailer Milan Station’s IPO was more than 2,000 oversubscribed in Hong Kong earlier this year. This year we also for the first time note members of the investment world that are working as catalysts for some of those listings, such as Jeacy Yan of IDG and Hanji Huang at L Capital, an investment arm of LVMH.
Besides foreign companies marketing their own brands, Chinese entrepreneurs in the mainland have done increasingly well distributing foreign-branded fashion or modifying items to local tastes. Among that group, Zhang Yongli has turned Jeep into a remarkable success in China with hundreds of stores and Terry Siu, who works with foreign brands such as Armani, debuts as our first-ever list member from Macau.
Compared with last year, we have expanded our focus to a wider swath of market segments, notably jewelry, one of few businesses where Greater China’s own brands compete head-to-head with European brands. Among that group, Chow Tai Fook, under the leadership of Adrian Cheng, stands out. It made a big splash at a fashion show in Paris this year and with the launch of a new luxury line last year. The company is also looking to launch a multi-billion-dollar IPO soon.
Members of this year’s list also include two of Greater China’s greatest homegrown successes in footwear: Sheng Baijiao, the CEO of Belle International, who leads China’s top shoe retailer, and also Jack Chiang of Stella International, whose brands are expanding around the world : Stella Luna operates stores in Thailand, the Philippines, Lebanon and United Arab Emirates and “ What For” shops in Thailand and the Philippines.
The ”Fashion 25” list seeks to call attention to individuals born in Greater China that have made a mark in the past year. Rather than a quantitative ranking, the selections are based on interviews with dozens of executives in the fashion field worldwide.
-With research by Chloe Chen, Mao Yanjie, Hilary Flannery, Maggie Chen and Shee Shee Jin
