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| PIERRE VERDY / AFP / GETTY |
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Joanne Ooi • Radical Retailer
"People really feel like the train is about to leave the station in China, and it's going to be like that for 20 more years," says Joanne Ooi, marketing and creative director for Shanghai Tang, the Hong Kong-based luxury-lifestyle brand founded in 1994.
That feeling of possibility lured Ooi to Hong Kong from New York City 10 years ago. "I loved this crazy Wild West place," she says. Born in Singapore and raised in the U.S.'s Midwest, Ooi, 37, trained as a lawyer before moving to Hong Kong, where she opened her own clothing showroom, East from Seventh. It was a success—until the Asian financial crisis hit. "That's when I decided it was time to go into retail," Ooi explains. In 2001 she joined Shanghai Tang, which, she says, "had this dusty business producing cheongsams. Chinese people don't want strictly traditional clothing. That's why we added a modern twist." Ooi has helped boost sales—up almost 50% since 2003—and aims to double the number of stores to 30 worldwide in the next three years. Yet she is still more inspired by China than by fashion trends. This year she plans to launch a label with monks from Henan province. Once again her customers will learn something new about an ancient Chinese tradition.
—By Kate Betts |
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