Hong Kong designer Vivienne Tam first China stores to open

Vivienne Tam, Hong Kong’s most famous fashion export, is looking forward to seeing her first stores opening in mainland China following the recent sale of China rights to her eponymous label to a Shenzhen-based company with ambitions of becoming a high-end fashion group.

“People have been asking me for years, “Vivienne, when are you going to open stores in China?’ Finally it’s here. This is another milestone, a new chapter for my brand … it’s taken many years, but it’s exciting. I’ve not been sleeping a lot lately.”

Business of Fashion reported last week that Shenzhen Ellassay Fashion had acquired the China rights to the Vivienne Tam brand for 37 million yuan (HK$43.32 million). The official announcement will be made at a press conference in Shanghai next Thursday.

Shenzhen Ellassay, which listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2015, has been on a shopping spree recently, having acquired Iro, a French contemporary brand, in March for 790 million yuan. That’s on top of a portfolio that includes China rights to German womenswear brand Laurel and American brand Ed Hardy, according to Business of Fashion.

“Our goal is to become a group of high fashion brands,” says Shenzhen Ellassay’s chairman, Xia Guoxin. “As for Vivienne, I’ve know her for years – I’ve always really appreciated her design and how she promotes Chinese culture in the world.”

The company will inject considerable financial investment into the Vivienne Tam brand, which started out in New York and made its name as one of the earliest champions of Chinese-influenced style on the US and global fashion circuit after the designer launched her eponymous label in 1994. Tam, who was born in Guangzhou and emigrated to Hong Kong at age three, has long lauded “China chic”, but never managed to open stores on the mainland, despite an attempt in 2008.