The story
Launch in Paris
The idea of creating a luxury brand strongly embedded in the Chinese culture came to the designer Dennis Chan while visiting the Dunhuang Caves along the Silk Road in 1997. He co-founded with Guillaume Brochard the luxury jewellery company Qeelin in 2004 in Paris. Qeelin's first collection, the Wulu, became a hit after actress Maggie Cheung wore it at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2009, Qeelin opened its first store in Paris, inside the Palais-Royal.
Acquisition by Kering
In January 2013, the French luxury group Kering acquired a majority stake in Qeelin, the group's first acquisition in China. By then, Qeelin had 50 employees and 14 stores worldwide.
The acquisition enabled Qeelin to accelerate store openings (7 new stores in the first year), and to launch its first high jewelry collection. In 2015, Guillaume Brochard left the company, and Christophe Artaux became the CEO of Qeelin.
Timeline
2004: Launch in Paris.
2004: Qeelin gained worldwide publicity when actress Maggie Cheung wore the Wulu during the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
2009: Parisian store opened in Palais-Royal.
2013: Qeelin was acquired by Kering.
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2015: Qeelin started distribution in the USA.
2018: Chinese actress Gulnazar became Qeelin's brand ambassador.
2019: Chinese Actor Xiao Zhan became brand ambassador.
2020: Chinese actress Liu Shishi became Qeelin's brand spokesperson.
2020: Chinese actor Chen Feiyu became Qeelin's Millennial ambassador.
2022: Chinese actor Liu Haoran became Qeelin's brand spokesperson.
2023: Korean singer and actress Im Yoon-ah was the first South Korean artist to become Qeelin's brand spokesperson.
2023: Chinese actress Liu Shishi became Qeelin's Global brand spokesperson.
2024: Chinese singer and actor Lay Zhang became Qeelin's Global brand spokesperson.
2024: Korean singer and actress Im Yoon-ah was the first South Korean artist to become Qeelin's Global brand spokesperson.
From Wikipedia’s article on Qeelin, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4