Love, Bonito names head of Hong Kong and Taiwan

Love, Bonito has appointed Christina Wang (pictured main image) as head of Hong Kong and Taiwan. She hails from the world of luxury fashion and has worked at key brands such as Givenchy, Wolford, and Dunhill. She has a wealth of experience in new business development, where she conceptualised and implemented omnichannel strategies across markets and timezones.

Last August, the brand expanded into Hong Kong with a dedicated website following the positive response from its pop-up store at H Queen's. It also took over Hong Kong's iconic trams with "Travel in Style with Love, Bonito", a social media campaign that offered 500 winners a limited-edition pre-loaded Love, Bonito branded Octopus card and a Love, Bonito website shopping voucher.

At the same time, the fashion brand has also named Tomoko Okada (pictured below left) head of Japan. Okada spent the last two decades with renowned brands such as eBay, Yahoo, and Delivery Hero. During her time there, she led teams in acquiring large chains of retailers, restaurants and strategic partners. Moreover, Love, Bonito said that with her strong diplomatic experience and negotiation skills, she was constantly approached for revenue consulting with large corporate partners.

Both Wang and Okada will be focusing on strengthening Love, Bonito’s omnichannel offerings in the North Asia region, with plans to grow local teams and set up physical stores in the respective markets. "We have seen tremendous growth across various markets in the last few years and with Wang and Okada onboard, we want to further capitalise on their long-standing expertise and understanding of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan to better provide for our customers," CEO Dione Song said.

Meanwhile, Love, Bonito also brought on board its very first chief people officer, Lisa Askwith (pictured above right), who has over 20 years of experience across various industries from retail, consumer, technology to pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Love, Bonito, Askwith ran her own HR consultancy where she supported various companies from multi-billion dollar ventures to start-ups, helping them find new ways to tackle challenges and support growth.

Askwith will leverage her expertise to spearhead and strengthen Love, Bonito’s people and culture strategies, especially in the areas of people development, people experience, talent acquisition, people operations and organisational development.

Song said the company believes that great and lasting organisations are a construct of its people and the way the structure and processes are built should be done with intention, care and heart. She added that the team knew from the day it met Askwith, that her belief and passion in helping people succeed would be key for Love, Bonito as the brand scales and grows internationally. " Her wealth of experience in people management and track-record in transforming businesses with people at the heart will be pivotal to our success," Song said.

Rachel Lim, Love, Bonito's co-founder, said people have always been the heart of the organisation and she is excited for what's to come. "With the right people in the right seats, I am convinced that we are one step closer to our vision of building a female ecosystem. These ladies making the senior bench will also add to the count of our female leadership roles here at Love, Bonito and we want to continue pushing for such representation to provide role models for our younger generation and to combat gender stereotypes and preconceptions," she added.

Last October, the brand raised US$50 million in Series C funding, led by global investment firm Primavera Capital Group. Adastria and Ondine Capital participated in the funding as well. Love, Bonito’s current investors include Openspace Ventures and Kakaku.com.

The funds will be used to bolster efforts in existing omnichannel markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. It also plans to expand its communities in omnichannel markets through its extended category offerings and community outreach, and by strengthening its loyalty program with more relevant brand partnerships and collaborations. It will also look to enhance its technology and data infrastructure to support its growth. The brand also jumped on the NFT buzz in January, collaborating with visual artist Kristal Melson, also known as KrisonAutopilot, to create its very first NFT named "Tiger Bloom".

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