He says Folli Follie's revenue from the Greek domestic market is low, and so it has had to learn how to localize in each of its international markets.

"Witnessing Chinese consumers' appetite for fashion and a posh lifestyle is a part of our vision. We then took careful and methodological steps to establish the brand in China."

Those steps include setting up flagship stores, retail shops in department stores, in airports, on aircraft, and e-commerce websites. About a year ago, Folli Follie also started franchising to increase its store numbers in China.

The company's pragmatic approach to the Chinese market has attracted the attention of a strategic investor, Fosun International, one of the largest privately owned conglomerates in China.

In May 2011, Fosun bought a 9.5 percent equity stake in Folli Follie through a private placement, in a deal settled at 84.58 million euros.

"Our strategic alliance with Fosun has been the gas pedal of our growth in the Chinese mainland market," Voutsas says. "Their connections within the retail industry, with department store owners and with the Chinese media helped us greatly."

Voutsas says Fosun does not interfere with the day-to-day operations of Folli Follie, but uses its expertise, such as its relationship with landowners, to provide opportunities to establish retail outlets in prime locations.

Fosun's help in Folli Follie becoming a sponsor of the China finals of the 61st Miss World pageant in 2011 in Wuxi, Zhengjiang province, was another boon.

The 20 Chinese contestants all wore Folli Follie accessories, including jewelry, watches and handbags to match their outfits, and one of the judges for the contest was Ketty Koutsolioutsos, co-founder of the brand with her husband Dimitris.

After the contest, Miss China went to selected Folli Follie stores in 15 Chinese cities to promote the brand for a year.

"It was Fosun's connections that gave us this opportunity, and it turned out to be an extremely successful advertising campaign," Voutsas says.

Born in Greece to American and Greek parents, Voutsas completed an MBA degree in London, where he worked at the global management consultancy Accenture and the tour operator Amathus UK.

In 1999, he joined the Folli Follie Group, and now, when he is not traveling the world, splits his time between Athens at company headquarters and Geneva at home with his family.

Voutsas says he first went to China 10 years ago, visiting Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai to carry out research on the Chinese consumer.

"I could see an increasing appetite for fashion in China, from one city to the next. I saw an excitement when I spoke to people about the future."

Over the years, Folli Follie has played a key role in influencing the lifestyle of the rapidly changing Chinese consumer, which Voutsas says he realized after one incident in the summer of 2011.

"I was walking along the street where our department store is in Athens, and I saw a Chinese tourist holding a Folli Follie handbag in one hand and eating an ice-cream with the other."

He stopped and watched her for a few minutes. The Chinese lady was staring into the windows, slowly eating her ice-cream and gazing at a large poster of Gaile Lai carrying a handbag the same as hers.

"I saw that she really enjoyed her ice-cream. I saw that she was experiencing the feel-good factor for having purchased the bag.

"I thought, this lady probably comes from a mainland city in China, where we had planted a seed in her mind with the Folli Follie brand. She became a customer of ours, and eventually planned this visit to Greece. As a part of the trip, she came to the department store of Folli Follie to experience the result of the seed we planted."

Despite Folli Follie's success in China, the company is not complacent about its achievements and is constantly on the lookout for ways to address changing market demands, Voutsas says.

One recent initiative has been an advertising campaign featuring an Asian model and a Western model wearing Folli Follie accessories launched this spring.

Voutsas says the new campaign depicts an "East meets West" theme, so the brand will make Chinese consumers feel connected to the world.

"We realized that international travel is increasingly popular with Chinese consumers."

In the poster campaign, the models are sunbathing, riding a motorcycle, taking photos, walking on Santorini island's tiny whitewashed alleys and stairways - and enjoying ice-cream cones.

Looking ahead, Voutsas says he is confident about Folli Follie's growth prospects in the Chinese market. One long-term goal is to introduce Links of London, a British jewelry brand that the Folli Follie Group acquired in 2006.

Contact the writers at

cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn and zhangchunyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/15/2013 page20)