ASIA!

Esprit

Fair lady

She is often called the most beautiful Chinese woman alive. No doubt Zhang Ziyi, who considers herself a great beauty, will disagree, but if a poll is taken, there is a good chance Brigitte Lin Qingxia will walk away with the top prize.


Fashion forerunners

If Esprit has a nemesis, it is Zara

When the Tompkins were building up the Esprit brand in the US and Michael Ying was building it in Germany, Amancio Ortega Gaona was doing the same for Zara in Spain. Their products overlap – both cater mainly to the below 30s – but their markets seldom. At any rate, the 1980s and 1990s were a period of rapid growth and there were enough room for more than a few young brands looking to establish themselves


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