Ksenia Gerasimova

Wearing a one-piece white dress with a beige knitted belt on her waist and a pair of brown Roman sandals matching with her round creamy rattan bag, Ksenia Gerasimova showed up at a Starbucks for this interview as if she was joining her besties for a leisurely afternoon tea.

The Russian, who is better known as Ksenia by her friends, is the brand manager for the Shenzhen office of Daniel Hechter, a French fashion and lifestyle brand that is most famous for its menswear.

The company, the headquarters for Daniel Hechter’s Chinese market, is based in Houhai in Nanshan District, which the fashion professional sees as one of the most fashionable areas in Shenzhen.

“Shenzhen is very diverse in terms of fashion. For example, Houhai people are dressed up as they usually have many luxurious occasions to attend; Shekou gives out European vibes where most people live a lifestyle similar to people in Europe; People in Nanshan and Futian prefer formal and fashionable wear as they focus more on business with so many office buildings; In Luohu you can find Chinese local, modern styles which are also beautiful in their unique way.”

The 25-year-old’s keen observation of fashion and ability to appreciate different kinds of beauty can largely be attributed to her overseas study experience in Singapore and her role as a brand manager.

Born and raised in Moscow, Ksenia decided to find more opportunities in a completely different environment from where she grew up. So she went to Singapore after high school and got her bachelor’s degree in business and management from the Singapore campus of the University of Bradford.

The multicultural atmosphere in the university and in Singapore as a whole shaped her into a person who is able to appreciate the beauty of different cultures. “When we worked for a group project in college, we were not allowed to have a teammate who shared the same nationality with ourselves. The school wanted us to speak with different people and learn different mentalities in order to make our business process efficient.”

Ksenia’s education laid a foundation for her as a professional in fashion. She has been working for Daniel Hechter’s Shenzhen office for three and a half years. At the company, she is responsible for the stylistic and strategic adaptation of the brand to the Chinese market. “We currently have 150 stores in top locations in China, including Hong Kong and Macao. My task is to convey to the consumer and popularize such traditional values of our brand as the importance of human happiness and the importance of relationships between people,” Ksenia told Shenzhen Daily.

The brand manager said that she feels grateful for working in Shenzhen, a city that changes every day. “The city is new, modern and keeps developing. As a young professional you need to be in such a dynamic environment,” she said.

She also noticed that Shenzhen is embracing the design and fashion market with a host of local fashion brands springing up. “I’m not surprised to see local fashion brands in Shenzhen. I know the government is building platforms like Shenzhen Fashion Week for local brands to promote themselves. It’s competitive but it gives us opportunities to learn from each other and grow together,” Ksenia said.

As the only foreign employee among her 120 or so fellow workers, Ksenia tries her best to communicate with her colleagues in Chinese. She told Shenzhen Daily that she is benefiting from the fact that Shenzhen is a city of migrants. “It’s my pleasure to work with my Chinese supervisor and colleagues who are from different regions of China and most of them are more experienced than me, so I learnt a lot from them and learnt different Chinese cultures.”

Like many other companies, Daniel Hechter’s Shenzhen office also had a hard time during the pandemic. However, Ksenia said sales started picking up since June thanks to the city government’s effective prevention and control measures which make people feel safe when they go out and shop. The brand manager told Shenzhen Daily that their online stores on Tmall and WeChat helped them stay strong during the pandemic.

With a father working in fashion, Ksenia was exposed to various fashion shows and events, and has shown a strong interest in fashion ever since. For her, fashion is part of her lifestyle and she sees fashion as a form of magic. 

“Fashion is a way to express yourself and how you want people to look at you. It helps you express your mood, attitude and makes you feel better,” she said.

However, she stressed that we should not take fashion too seriously. “Fashion is a game how you play with yourself and how you feel about yourself. Enjoy it! Enjoy being different and exploring yourself,” she said.

For those who are struggling to form their own fashion styles, Ksenia suggests that they should understand and accept their body shapes, find the colors that best suit their skin tones and the look that presents their lifestyles.