Last year, Margaret Zhang was named the youngest ever Editor-in-Chief at Vogue China, at age 27. I found it incredible how she became so accomplished at such a young age, therefore, in this blog post, I wanted to explore her career journey in the creative industry.
Her journey started in 2009, when she founded her blog ‘Shine By Three’, she initially began this blog as a ‘visual musing’, sharing her fashion and photography musings, including her own film photography. Her blog quickly grabbed the attention of readers internationally.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” – Margaret Zhang, to Vogue, in reference to ‘Shine by Three’.
Ever since ‘Shine by Three’, Margaret has become a well-known figure within the fashion industry. Having worked in multiple areas of fashion, such as working as Creative-Director-at-Large for Asia at THE FACE Magazine, to working behind the camera for the likes of Chanel. She has gained an impressive, multidisciplinary portfolio – exploring filmmaking, photography, creative direction, styling, consultancy, and writing.
In 2016, Margaret co-founded a company specialising in global consultancy called ‘BACKGROUND’, she has specialised in bridging the market between Western and Chinese cultures. BACKGROUND has worked with household names from multiple industries, such as the likes of Airbnb and Mulberry. Her niche understanding of how to advise brands on entering the Chinese market is what set Zhang apart, and what made Vogue China interested in hiring her.
“Her international experience, exceptional multi-platform digital expertise and wide-ranging interests are the perfect combination to lead Vogue China into the future,” Anna Wintour, talking about Margaret Zhang.
Now with 1.5 Million followers, her impact on the industry is undeniable, and it has not gone unnoticed. With an impressive list of awards to her name, just a few include Elle’s Digital Influencer of the Year (2015), to being recognised in Business of Fashion’s BoF500 Index for four years consecutively.
What I find inspiring about Margaret Zhang, is that she is not tied to one career path. She has been able to demonstrate skills in multiple areas, which all allowed her to build her career. Personally, I also have passions in multiple areas such as photography, film, art direction, and graphic design. Therefore, I find it incredibly inspiring how she was able to explore her different interests throughout her career. This is something I aspire to do when I graduate. I enjoy so many different areas of image-making, I would not want to be tied to one path for the whole of my career – I love to experiment with new media formats, learning new techniques along the way. And although Margaret is multidisciplinary – she still has a niche that set her apart. I feel something I can take away from researching Margaret is, that it's important to find something you feel there is a lack of in the industry, specialise in it, and thus fill the gap.
I’m excited to see the direction in which Margaret takes next and will continue to be inspired by her work.
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