What happened
Angelica Cheung, the former editorial director of Vogue China, has announced that she is starting her next career chapter as a partner at Sequoia Capital China. On Instagram, she wrote that she would focus on fashion, lifestyle, and entertainment at the venture capital firm, “supporting the new generation of Chinese innovation and international brands expanding into China, but with a much wider scope.” Cheung stepped down from the Condé Nast publications in December 2020. Her successor has yet to be named.
Jing Take:#
The high-profile editor had steered Vogue China to commercial success since 2005, from growing its audience to two million print readers and 35 million digital visitors to launching millennial-focused, spin-off titles Vogue Me and Vogue Film. On top of this, she has played an integral role launching the careers of many Chinese models and designers, as well as consulting global brands on the mainland market. Now, by now joining Sequoia Capital China, the fashion mogul not only has access to more funding, but also a broader network of tech and retail innovators, including Alibaba and JD.com, helping her scale future projects.
For Sequoia, the addition of Cheung better positions it to double down on fashion investments. In January, the VC firm took a majority stake in French fashion label AMI, stating its ambition to develop “young, creative, digital houses, imbued with storytelling and strong and authentic values.” As the company diversifies beyond tech and potentially eyes more overseas partnerships, Cheung’s experience working with international brands would certainly come into play.
Together, the two pave a promising road for China’s homegrown talent. With the country poised to become the world’s largest fashion market — and spiking nationalism turning consumer preferences inward — Cheung’s appointment will certainly help take domestic brands to new heights. Already, local companies are rivaling Western counterparts in the mainland market, and perhaps with a greater inflow of cash and insights, they’ll be better equipped to take on a world stage.
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.