About

Ralph Lauren, the popular US fashion brand, is focused on an ambitious growth plan in Greater China and its in-house Asia Pacific legal team has been a key player in facilitating such ambitions. Led by general counsel – international Shih-Jern Liang, who is based in Hong Kong and manages the international legal department covering the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions, the team is composed of four other lawyers, two paralegals and one assistant who have all contributed to Ralph Lauren’s growth plans by supporting the opening of over 35 new stores in the past 12 months as well as the opening of the company’s first branded food and beverage outlet in Hong Kong called Ralph’s Coffee. Planning to continue their prolific record in the future, the team expects the increasing US-China trade tensions will likely raise challenges for the retail sector generally in terms of supply chain and tariff matters but ‘the Asia Pacific legal team will support the business in mitigating these challenges including reorganising our supply chain’, says Liang. He also shares with us his philosophy for hiring and retaining legal talent in the team: ‘We hire technically sharp and intellectually curious people who subscribe to our corporate cultural focus areas; we retain by offering a high degree autonomy and opportunity for learning new areas, as well as an attractive benefits package’.