What happened
: Angelica Cheung has announced she is stepping down from her role as editor-in-chief at Vogue China next month. So far, Condé Nast China has yet to announce a replacement. Cheung cunningly predicted the rise of independent Chinese designers and was able to feed this trend by championing names like Huishan Zhang in the publication. Given her global positioning, she could amplify these names both at home and abroad, which, combined with her business acumen, established her as one of the most powerful names in the Chinese fashion industry. In recent years, Cheung has held court during Shanghai Fashion Week while inviting new talents to take personal meetings. Her appearances always caused excitement at the event, which she had previously often ignored.
The Jing Take
: As of 2019, Vogue China had earned a print run of two million and 35 million unique digital visitors. But the dominance of print media in China is waning, having been threatened by the rise of digital KOLs. After 16 years as the founding editor, Cheung’s exit is a strategic move (it follows several other high-profile departures this year). Nevertheless, the announcement has sent shockwaves throughout the Chinese fashion industry, and readers are left wondering what the former editor’s next move will be. Netizens on Weibo are hotly discussing the departure, asking: What will she do and why is she leaving? Most industry insiders agree that she will move into consulting. However, content on her TikTok account, including modish family dance routines, indicates that she may be angling to give China’s KOLs a run for their money.
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.