Will Zhang

Will Zhang is the founder of SND, a growing empire of multi-brand stores with roots in China’s southwest. Short for “selection of non-conformist design,” SND carries a discerning yet crowd-pleasing mix of luxury and contemporary Western brands alongside both high-end and accessible South Korean, Japanese and homegrown Chinese labels. Since launching it in 2013 in his hometown Chongqing, Zhang has rolled out the retailer to 15 locations across cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Guiyang and Shanghai. He was also an early mover into travel retail and resort markets, opening in locations like Qinhuangdao and Sanya, Hainan island. 

Zhang cut his teeth at Dewell, a store he co-founded with a friend during university that specialised in carrying accessible South Korean fashion. With SND, the goal was not only to appeal to a broader range of clients, but to help emerging international brands access consumers in megacities in the country’s deep south and southwest regions, a lucrative but challenging ecosystem for labels to tap into alone.