Aigul Amirzhanova

Aigul Amirzhanova is the chief executive of Viled Group, Kazakhstan’s largest luxury and premium retail group, and operator of Saks Fifth Avenue in Almaty. Since taking over in 2003, she has built a business that connects global fashion brands to a rapidly growing consumer base in Central Asia’s largest market, where affluent locals shop alongside overseas visitors from the wider region. 

Amirzhanova expanded Viled’s footprint across Almaty and Astana early on, bringing hundreds of brands to the market through joint ventures as well as mono-brand and multi-brand stores in upmarket shopping malls. By 2025, the company’s partner brands included Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Loro Piana, Saint Laurent, Celine and Brunello Cucinelli as well as high jewellery and watch houses such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Graff, Tiffany & Co. and Chopard. Turning the group’s multi-brand beauty boutique Code De Vie into a chain, Amirzhanova opened outlets beyond the country’s commercial and political capitals to regional cities Aktobe and Atyrau. 

In addition to launching the Viled Style concept store, she spearheaded the company’s digital transformation through an e-commerce platform that reaches pockets of wealth nationwide from Shymkent to Aktau. The retailer has also attracted a growing international clientele under her leadership, with the site offering live exchange rates between the tenge and other currencies including roubles, euros and the Kyrgyz som. One of Amirzhanova’s enduring passions at the firm is to integrate Kazakhstan’s own designers into the global fashion industry.