HK44: James Chen – Catalytic Philanthropist improving vision of the poor and needy globally

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:

“𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝑂𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦.”

“𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑐 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟. 𝑊𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠.”

“𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠.”

“𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ‘𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑦’. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑠.”

“𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝑂𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝 𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠.”

“𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑁 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠.”

“𝑇𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ. 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢.”

“𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝐾 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑙.”

“𝐻𝐾 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝐾 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑.”

𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞:
Ariane Zagury is the founder of Rue Madame Fashion Group.

An investment banker by training, Ariane Zagury was raised in a family of textile retailers in France, developing a taste for fabrics and fashion during her formative years. Graduating from the Universite Paris Dauphine in 2003, Ariane started her career in some of the most prestigious financial advisory groups, namely Rothschild & Cie, Paris and Credit Suisse. Rising swiftly through the ranks, she was named Director of the Foreign Exchange Desk at Goldman Sachs in London.

August 2008 brought a major shift in her life when she relocated to Hong Kong. Ariane was immediately struck by the women’s fashion sense and style, yet she was disappointed by the lack of fashionable, feminine and wearable designer brands on offer locally. To fill this void, in 2010, she opened her first concept store named “Rue Madame.” She collaborated with Patricia and Nathalie Samson who have had distinguished careers in the international fashion world, owning well-established concept stores in Paris.

Over the past few years, Ariane has become a trusted fashion adviser, bent on finding the perfect look. She creates personalized wardrobes that are compatible with the lifestyle of each of her customers. Furthermore, Ariane insists upon providing the best products and services at a reasonable price. This combination has made Rue Madame one of hottest fashion concept store in Hong Kong, securing the fidelity of a steady clientele.

Her enthusiasm for fashion and her unrelenting attention to detail have drawn the attention of renowned international brands. The management of American Vintage and Phase Eight have recently appointed Ariane as partner and entrusted her with the development of stand-alone shops. She has officially set up the “Rue Madame Fashion Group” and was named as one of the “2013 Local Heroes” by Hong Kong premier magazine, Ming Pao Weekly.