Daisy King poses with a neck warmer, one of her brand’s popular products.
executive impact

One Chinese woman's passion to bring feel-good factor of silk to Japan

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By Kathryn Wortley

Daisy King is one of the many foreigners who came to Japan for a year, only to find her raison d’être, leading her to still be here a decade later. Three and a half years ago, she set up her business, Daisy King: Love Silk More, a brand of silk items for the bedroom and bathroom. 

Born in Suzhou, China’s center of silk production for the past 5,000 years, and the daughter of one of the city’s oldest silk manufacturing families, King has long been an evangelist of the benefits of silk. But it was a chance interaction in Tokyo that inspired her to leave a budding career in fashion to chase her dream of bringing Suzhou’s greatest export to Japan.

King has been undaunted by the challenges she has faced, including raising awareness of silk, establishing a client base and continuing to roll out new products, largely by herself. What started as a small adventure has now turned into a successful brand with a solid lineup that stretches from silk futon, pillowcases, silk room wear, underwear and more. 

Savvy Tokyo met her to uncover her entrepreneurial journey in Tokyo.

What brought you to Japan?

I was working for a Japanese company in Shanghai. I liked Japanese fashion and Tokyo seemed so romantic because I watched Japanese dramas on TV. I wanted to learn about fashion and a new culture so, when I was offered the chance to work in the company’s Tokyo office, I took it.

What did your role involve?

I was in charge of arranging cloth manufacturing in China. Once or twice a week, I went to the airport to collect the products and take them to clients. It was a hard job. At first, I couldn’t speak Japanese and China was always late in sending the products, so I had to take a lot of responsibility to meet clients’ deadlines. After one and a half years, I lost my job due to the global economic crisis.

Click here to read more.

© Savvy Tokyo

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2 Comments
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Rich Chinese kid comes to Japan to help Japanese learn more about silk, eh? Hmmmm, with old Dad's money, that ought to work out.

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Rich Chinese kid comes to Japan to help Japanese learn more about silk, eh? Hmmmm, with old Dad's money, that ought to work out.

Even with daddy's money, setting up a company and succeeding is not easy.

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