In 2012, two women in Hong Kong left their respective offices -a French luxury group and an American investment bank- to trade notes at a coffee shop that had closed for the night. Unfazed by warnings, the brazen 24-year-olds ensconced themselves in a dimly-lit corner and chatted animatedly about the latest finds they had acquired on their travels, lamenting the dearth of access to unique design locally. A series of covert late-night break-ins ensued, and armed with all but a fistful of napkins, the pair quit their jobs to set out full-time to find a solution. The rest, as they say, is history.

United by a refreshingly no-nonsense approach to achieving goals, Ling Cai (left) and Vicky Wu (right) combine otherwise contrasting personalities to form the dynamic duo that is the foundation of ZAOZAO. Having cut their teeth at institutions like Gucci, Oscar de la Renta, Lanvin (Cai), Goldman Sachs (Wu) and Harper’s Bazaar (both), they also bring unique perspectives to the table with their varied backgrounds. Singaporean by blood, Cai was raised in London and Hong Kong before skipping oceans to study fashion at NYU. A native of New York, Wu is American-born Taiwanese who expatriated to Hong Kong as an erstwhile financier after earning her degree in the sciences at Harvard.

To keep up on their latest adventures, you can follow them on their social media handles @liingy and @thevickywu