HONG KONG, China — Founded in 1988, I.T swiftly established itself as a stockist of hard to find international brands throughout the Nineties in Hong Kong. Quick to seize the opportunity presented by China's economic emergence, the company now numbers 30 store locations, more than two thirds of which are in China, representing significant market share in the region. I.T stores each have a distinct character, although they share a modern approach, with a sense of curiosity in product assortment.

I.T continues to stock the best of the international luxury brands and avant-garde fashion brands, in addition to its own labels, which include 5CM, A Bathing Ape and B+ab.

BoF spoke to Deborah Chang, vice president of international business at I.T to learn more.

BoF: What are the factors behind I.T’s success?

DC: I think we have a very unique business model as a group. We nurture brands in our multi-brand environment to start up with, and then we can spin off to a freestanding environment when the brand is more established in the market. We think that freestanding gives a stronger image for the brand and a more in-depth introduction for the collection that we might not be able to present within a multi-luxury brand environment. This strategy is mainly for international brands, but of course we also have our own private labels.

BoF: How have you approached the company’s expansive store roll out?

DC: We have more than 30 I.T stores across China and Hong Kong, and every I.T store has a different layout or shop ambiance. It gives us a very dynamic environment for each location and the merchandising mix is always different. I want them to have a different feeling because in Hong Kong alone, we have about ten I.T stores. Hong Kong is not such a big city, so we don’t want the customers to feel bored. I want them to have new experiences every time they go to a different I.T store, and it’s more encouraging for people to visit different I.T stores. They won’t think, “Oh, I’ve seen the shop in Central, I might just skip the one in Tsim Sha Tsui.” They will understand from the shop environment and the merchandising mix that every store has a very distinctive characteristic. I think this is the magic of our DNA.

BoF: Why do you think I.T has managed to build itself to such a wide network of stores?

DC: I think the growth drive nowadays will be in China – and China is such a big country, it’s even bigger than the States, in terms of size. That’s where the expansion is coming from and there are a lot of cities we need to explore. We do market research trips to different cities to see how people dress and their needs. But at the same time, we work closely with the local team. We have an office in both Beijing and Shanghai, so all these local people, they are able to give us different insights about different cities.

BoF: Why is store variation so important to I.T?

DC: We just don’t want to replicate ourselves and we are not something like a franchise model and we are not doing fast fashion, so that every store would look the same. It depends on location; at one location we might want to focus on more contemporary or affordable luxury brands. We want to have the right merchandising mix for all the brands we carry at that particular location. Some other locations we might want to focus more on the luxury side, so we put all the luxury brands alongside each other, together, so that you get a lux and premium shop ambience. That’s why we wanted to have a different store concept, a different merchandising mix, just to suit the location perfectly.

BoF: How do you ensure I.T appeals to so broad a range of geographies and consumers?

DC: There’s a very magical point in being able to balance our DNA, keeping at the fashion frontier but at the same time, catering our local market. I think we are doing quite a good job at that. We will not settle for something too commercial just for the market, but at the same time, we do need to respect and accommodate what the local customers might need in terms of size, in terms of colour, in terms of style and preference. And also especially for the weather, as we do have extreme weather across China. All the elements will be added up.

BoF: In addition to localised store environments, how is I.T engaging with its consumers?

DC: We put a lot of effort into the social media platforms. It’s an efficient way to promote the brand, especially in China, as China is a distinctive market. We are working comprehensively and extensively with all these social media platforms to nurture the people in a more modern way. It’s like magazine content that we are trying to create. I.T won the award of the first runner up of Best Weibo account in all of China and Hong Kong.