When Dries Van Noten held his final show as designer for his eponymous label in Paris back in June, famed fashion journalist Suzy Menkes posted an image of herself on Instagram with some guests from the show, including Joyce Ma. The caption read, “With Joyce Ma from Hong Kong who was the first to recognise in a global way the talent and imagination of Belgian Dries van Noten. She was also one of the first to view exceptional talent and she [saw] Dries from the beginning as a designer with international vision and talent.”
The Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based Ma had a major impact on the fashion industry, from bringing fashion talents into the local market to establishing one of the biggest luxury boutiques in Asia, Joyce Boutique, and we share five things to know about this industry icon.
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Business runs in Ma’s family
Joyce Ma and Walter Ma in 2005 (Photo: Getty Images)
Ma, who was born in Shanghai in 1941, is the fourth generation descendant of the prominent Kwok family, who is famous for owning the Wing On department store in Hong Kong. At 21, she married Walter Ma—the heir of a well-known family in the same business, who owns the Sincere department store in Hong Kong.
She worked as a secretary at her in-laws’ department store, and in 1968, she set up a fashion counter to sell foreign fashion labels. After a year, Ma decided to start her own business: she rented a shop in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Central, called it Joyce Boutique, and began to introduce international designer labels to Hong Kong.
Ma cemented the concept of the designer label in Hong Kong
Jil Sander, Rei Kawakubo and Joyce Ma in the ’90s (Photo: courtesy of Joyce)
There was little concept or access to global fashion brands in Hong Kong during the ’70s and ’80s. Luxury European labels such as Chanel, Dior, and Louis Vuitton were mainly sold to the United States and Japan markets.
It is this backdrop that Ma introduced brands such as Balenciaga, Lanvin and Yves Saint Laurent in Hong Kong through Joyce Boutique. When the Japanese avant-garde designer trio Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons by Rei Kawakubo first entered the Paris market, Ma was also early in recognising their luxury potential, which resulted in a fruitful friendship.
Ma also pushed for the likes of Jil Sander, Oscar de la Renta and Missoni for their elegant and chic style, drawing the map of Hong Kong’s fashion world. American department stores Sak’s Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s showed praise for Joyce Boutique at the time too, which earned Ma the reputation of being “Asia’s number one buyer”.
Ma took major risks to share her avant-garde vision
Michele Lamy, Joyce Ma and Rick Owens (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
As well as iconic Italian brands such as Prada, Gucci and Giorgio Armani, Ma’s unique perspective allowed her to be an early champion of Belgian designers Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester and Martin Martin.
Ma had a saying that she would always be a pioneer rather than a follower, which is evident by her contribution to Hong Kong fashion—she opted for good taste over big brand names to shape Hong Kong’s luxury market. In the ’90s, she opened a 17,000-square-foot flagship store in Central’s The Galleria and founded the magazine Joyce.
The space housed thoughtfully curated furniture and artwork, and it not only sold designer clothing but combined beauty and living retail too; it even had a café—a practice that was later imitated by several luxury brands in Hong Kong.
Ma handled crises and retired in 2007
Joyce Ma and Yohji Yamamoto in 2007 (Photo: courtesy of Michelle Leung)
Although Joyce Boutique is different today, it survived the financial crisis in 1997 and the difficulties that would follow, including over-expanded deficits and the loss of agency rights due to the globalisation of luxury brands. Ma handed the reins to her daughter Adrienne and transferred 51 per cent of the group’s stake to Wheelock and Company Limited in 2000. In 2007, she retired completely and continued with her hobbies of yoga and meditation.
Ma has a magnetic presence
Suzy Menkes and Joyce Ma (Photo: Instagram / @suzymenkes)
Hong Kong fashion writer Michelle Leung met Ma at Van Noten’s retirement party this year and shared with Tatler that when she asked Ma for a photo, she was more than happy to oblige, and was pleased to hear her native language when Leung said “thank you” in the Shanghainese dialect. Leung added that she spoke fluent English, French and Italian, led a well-dressed purchasing team and had the presence of royalty.
While there will never be another Joyce Ma, this fashion icon brought legendary fashion to Hong Kong in a memorable way, changing the luxury scene forever with her influential tenure.
This article was originally written by Meiji Ray in Chinese on July 9, 2024. Here’s the link to the article.
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