Angelica Cheung

Career

Angelica Cheung is the editor in chief of Vogue China and has played an integral role in the development of China’s fashion industry. Cheung launched the title’s first issue in September 2005. It sold out of its initial print run of 300,000 and had to be reprinted twice.

The youngest of Vogue’s editors-in-chief, Cheung was on the precipice of leaving her career in fashion to become a lawyer when she was offered the role. “At 36 or so, I was grown-up, experienced, worldly, and thought now was the time to finally become a lawyer.” Cheung had previously worked as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs. Vogue China now has a print circulation of approximately 1.6 million, and following the launch of its tablet and web presences, its reach has never been wider. The publication puts out 16 issues per year to meet demand and, according to Forbes, prints a full 200 more editorial pages than its American counterpart.

Her ability to balance the experience and renown of industry figures from the West, whilst appreciating the need for the magazine to be authentic to its own readership, is at the heart of the publication's success.The daughter of a Chinese diplomat, Cheung was born in Beijing in 1966 and studied at Peking University where she obtained degrees in law and English language and literature. She subsequently received an MBA degree from University of South Australia. Beginning in 1993 as a writer at Eastern Express, an English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, Cheung started her career in journalism. As a journalist in Hong Kong, she worked on all aspects of life there in the run-up to the handover to China in 1997. In 2001, she was namend editor-in-chief of Marie Claire in Hong Kong and, in 2003, editorial director at Elle China in Shanghai. When publisher Condé Nast wanted to launch Vogue in China, the company asked Cheung to take the lead. Since 2005, she has been editorial director of Vogue China.