The man who helped Karl Lagerfeld make the Great Wall a catwalk for Fendi, and brought global fashion brands to China
Terence Chu is behind some of China’s most extravagant fashion events. The Hong Kong former graphic designer has helped numerous international brands break into the country’s notoriously difficult and competitive market
Led by German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, glamorous models paraded down the Great Wall of China in 2007. The image of their red dresses gliding over the imposing fortification helped put China, a country with an insatiable appetite for luxury, on the global fashion map.
The idea behind Italian fashion house Fendi’s striking first foray into China came from its then CEO Michael Burke and Hong Kong graphic designer Terence Chu.
The founder and CEO of Shanghai-based luxury event and marketing company Apax Group, Chu has helped numerous international brands break into the notoriously competitive Chinese market.
One year after the Great Wall coup for Fendi, French luxury firm Hermès held their first fashion show in China at the opening of World Financial Centre in Shanghai. This was another of Apax’s projects.
Fashion, at the end of the day, is not art. It is commercial. It’s about business logic. But China’s fashion scene does not have a clear business foundation.
Since its establishment in Hong Kong in 1992, Apax has become the go-to company for overseas luxury brands’ promotional events in China. Chu, who relocated his company’s headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai in 2002, says nothing is impossible in his view.