Dear LionRock investors and friends,

We are pleased to announce the appointment of David Chu as our Senior Advisor of LionRock Capital.

Mr. Chu, born in Taiwan and raised in the United States, is one of the first Chinese entrepreneurial fashion designers, with extensive fashion and lifestyle brand experience.

Mr. Chu founded Nautica – the globally recognized men’s outwear and sportswear brand in 1983, and had been with the brand from 1983 to 2003.  Throughout his 20 years with Nautica, Mr. Chu expanded the brand to encompass all lifestyle categories including apparel, accessories, home and fragrance. Under his leadership, Nautica grew into a US$1.2 billion-dollar lifestyle brand with worldwide distribution and shop-in-shop presence in over 500 department and specialty stores, winning recognitions from fashion editors and top retailers. Nautica was successfully sold to Vanity Fair Corporation (VF Corp.) in 2003 for a total consideration of around US$700 million.  

Mr. Chu was the Chief Creative Director and board director of the global travel luggage and accessories brand Tumi, Inc. (2007-2009) where he expended product line into luxury sector and women’s accessories, repositioning brand from business travel to lifestyle. The market value of Tumi grew from US$200 million at time of first investment in 2007 to US$1.8 billion in 2016 on exit to Samsonite. Mr. Chu acquired the Danish silverware brand Georg Jensen A/S and served as Chairman, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of the brand. He is currently still a board director of Georg Jensen A/S. Mr. Chu revitalized the brand through collaborations with world-renowned designers including Marc Newson, Kengo Kuma, and Zaha Hadid. Mr. Chu is highly recognized for his fashion and lifestyle leadership experience and was named in 2015 as one of the top 20 influencers by the world-renowned design magazine Wallpaper for his creative influence.

We are looking forward to working together with Mr. Chu on upcoming exciting investment and partnership opportunities with global consumer lifestyle brands.  

Best,
LionRock Capital