How young Chinese fashion investor Wendy Yu is boosting British brands with insight on China’s millennials
Her father owns a door manufacturing empire but Wendy Yu has become an astute investor in fashion platforms, a sought-after adviser for designers doing business in China, and is now gearing up for big things with Mary Katrantzou
She is often seen sitting in the front row at London or Paris Fashion Week with a quirky handbag on her lap, sparkly shoes on her toes and in spectacular full evening dress, if the mood so takes her. Her Instagram is full of artful photos of her wearing glamorous gowns in beautiful locations, or sitting in conversation with various fashion industry movers and shakers such as Angelica Cheung and Diane Von Furstenberg.
Wendy Yu is not only passionate about fashion, she has quietly become London’s sounding board for young British designers negotiating the labyrinthine ways of entering or doing business in China. A clever networker, the 27-year-old is part of a cohort of wealthy Chinese millennials who call London home and are investing their inherited fortunes in the city’s luxury sector.
Asia invests in European fashion brands
She has also become a patron of the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Trust, contributes to many philanthropic causes in the creative and artistic spheres, and is in frequent demand for her knowledge of Chinese millennials and their tastes. She is an unofficial ambassador for British fashion in China.
“I can speak as a client as I know what appeals to me and my peers,” she explains. “We have a totally different idea of what is relevant and what is cool. We love to mix and match emerging designers with more established houses. Head-to-toe one brand is just not cool.”
Her support is not just advisory; she is also an investor through her business Yu Capital, founded in 2015. She has put money into Bottletop, an ethical sustainable fashion brand which, through high-profile collaborations, designs luxury accessories with rural artisans around the world. She was also early on board with Asap54, a fashion and beauty search app based on image recognition that was founded by Daniela Cecilio, the wife of Farfetch founder José Neves. The app, which reached one million downloads two years ago, will be upgraded to a concierge platform early next year with lots of new services.
There are other investments, such as Didi Chuxing, for which she says “I successfully cashed out of,” and she has just put money into Tujia.com, China’s equivalent of Airbnb. But she adds: “My tech investments are quite cold and solid and not as personal as the fashion ones. I see fashion at this stage as strategic to my portfolio because I am passionate about it.”