Company Introduction

Company Name: Yangtzekiang Garment Limited

Year of Founding: 1949

Mainstream Products: shirt, trousers, suit

Brief History:

Yangtzekiang Garment Limited (”Yangtzekiang Garment”) was founded in 1949. Chan Shui Kau, the founder, was born into a garment trading family in Guangdong. When Chan started the company, it made shirts for Southeast Asian markets under the brand name of Doctor. In the end of the 1950s, it expanded into European and American markets and positioned itself mainly as an OEM firm. In the early 1960s, Yangtzekiang Garment began making western suits, and opened a retail store in Central. In 1965, the main factory was relocated to a new site on 22 Tai Yau Street, San Po Kong. Later, the factory also occupied no. 20 and 24 of Tai Yau Street.

Yangtzekiang Garment was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange during the 1970s, and at that time, the second generation also began to enter the company to help develop the company’s brand. In 1973, the company became the agent for Wrangler jeans from the USA. In 1977, it created its own brand name called “Michel René”. During the 1970s, the company transferred its production line to countries like Cambodia and Burma because of limited textiles quota for Hong Kong. As China unfolded its “open door policy”, the company successively opened new factories in Wuxi, Panyu and Dongguan to enable through-train workflow from weaving to garment-making. In 1998, the company listed its trading business on the stock market as a separate entity by means of equity carve-out. Then in 1990, it acquired Hong Kokng Knitters Limited. In more recent years, it focuses on retailing and branding, while buying and gaining control of various European brands.