As the middle class grows more affluent, Irene Lau sharpens Lane Crawford's focus on luxury retail in China

Lane Crawford, one of the world's established department stores, is the latest among the brands and chains to be lured by China's growing young middle class.

Irene Lau, vice-president of Lane Crawford China, is betting big on the future of the luxury retail business in the country. She believes millennials (those born in the 1980s and 1990s) will be the next strong driver of the 167-year-old company's growth.

Lau has an almost instinctive sense of where the future is heading. "Millennials love living a quality life. ... They like traveling, care about their individuality and have different pursuits to match their lifestyle. To woo them, we're brought iconic fashion such as denim, street styles and premium sporty brands to them," she says.

In the beauty segment, she analyzed the latest trends among Chinese consumers and brought in high-end cosmetics and wellness brands such as Tom Ford, Valmont and BKR, which used to be hard to find in China.

Featuring top-notch designers' portfolios covering clothing, cosmetics, fine jewelry, home and lifestyle products, the store now has over 1,000 brands to offer.

Lau joined Lane Crawford in 1988. Ever since, she has never ceased to catch up with the next generation.

Combining her taste for fashion and her ability to respond promptly to market trends, she brought a new vitality to the luxury department store.

In 2007, she took the lead and built Lane Crawford's new branch on the Chinese mainland. By 2014, four stores were set up in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu under her leadership.

Now, the company has more than 800 employees on the mainland and posted double-digit growth in sales revenue last year.

In 2015, she became vice-president, proving that the perceived glass ceiling in corporate hierarchy is not unbreakable. She is ambitious to make the 100-year-old chain a go-to destination for China's quality-minded young consumers.

"We are devoted to bringing the trendiest products to consumers as Hong Kong-headquartered Lane Crawford has abundant and exclusive resources and supplies from all over the world," Lau says.

"We have a buyer team covering the world's top fashion shows around the globe. They buy the items using their vast experience, so our customers will always have the most fashionable products as soon as they come out."

Apart from featuring well-known designers and brands, Lane Crawford launched the "Created in China" program in 2013 and the "Creative Callout" program in 2015 to look for more creative and talented designers among the emerging talent.