Cover (L-R) Nana Li and Jacqueline Zhang founded Nana Jacqueline out of a shared love of old Hollywood glamour, and built it into an aesthetic that speaks to women across cultures
(L-R) Nana Li and Jacqueline Zhang founded Nana Jacqueline out of a shared love of old Hollywood glamour, and built it into an aesthetic that speaks to women across cultures
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The brand that once defined the it-girl aesthetic is writing a new chapter—one shaped less by the party and more by everything that comes after it. Founders Nana Li and Jacqueline Zhang on Nana Jacqueline’s Hong Kong debut and the women they’re dressing now
Shared taste between friends is hardly uncommon—but Nana Li and Jacqueline Zhang took that private chemistry and built something that resonates with women across continents. The two met in Los Angeles during college years, and it wasn’t long before what they had in common felt like something worth pursuing. “She felt like another version of me from a different world,” says Zhang of Li. “Same taste, same instincts. We’d go shopping separately and pick the exact same pieces.” That instinct eventually became the blueprint for the brand they named after themselves: Nana Jacqueline.
The two founded the brand in 2013 over a shared love of old Hollywood glamour and its dreamy, unguarded femininity; their early pieces grew from that—silk charmeuse robes, French velvet pyjamas and mini dresses with rhinestone straps. Those minidresses, spotted on K-pop stars including Blackpink’s Lisa and Jang Won-young, are a signature—they project an image that is sweet, yet confident and unabashedly sexy.
Above Past collections from Nana Jacqueline, inspired by the brand’s love of old Hollywood glamour.
Past collections from Nana Jacqueline, inspired by the brand’s love of old Hollywood glamour.
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The brand entered the Chinese market in 2019, around the time Li moved back to Shanghai; since then, the two have run things from opposite ends of the world, with Zhang holding the creative reins in Los Angeles and Li overseeing supply chain, operations and investment in Shanghai. Today, Nana Jacqueline has grown into a full-fledged ready-to-wear fashion house, with a flagship in Beverly Hills and three locations across mainland China—Shanghai, Shenzhen and Nanjing.
When asked whether the brand adapts its approach for two such culturally distinct markets, Li says, “That assumes the two markets are more different than they actually are. We never design for a specific market—we simply make what we believe Nana Jacqueline should be, and let it grow from there. What we’re really looking for is women who connect with the style, wherever they happen to be.”
Above Nana Jacqueline's pop-up space at IFC’s Lane Crawford
Nana Jacqueline's pop-up space at IFC’s Lane Crawford
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One such woman is American Korean actor and former K-pop idol Jessica Jung, a longstanding friend of the brand. “She can wear a knit, a blazer with jeans and ballet flats and look like a princess doing it,” Zhang says. “When going on stage, she becomes a more elevated, more feminine version of herself. That ease of moving between worlds is exactly what we want every woman who wears Nana Jacqueline to feel.”
Jung recently appeared at the brand’s Hong Kong debut at Lane Crawford—a pink-toned pop-up where an exclusive six-piece capsule of her personal selections, Jessica’s Favourites, sat alongside the autumn-winter 2026 collection.
Above Jessica Jung made an appearance at the brand’s Hong Kong debut.
Above Jessica Jung on stage in a Nana Jacqueline look.
Jessica Jung made an appearance at the brand’s Hong Kong debut.
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The latest collection marks a shift from where Nana Jacqueline began 13 years ago: along with the latest iterations of its signature Mariah dresses—strapless, flowing and full length—the faux-fur coats and sharply tailored blazers speak to a woman with somewhere to be beyond the party. “A signature Nana Jacqueline dress in 2013 would have been a tiny crystal slip with rhinestone straps, very short, made entirely for a night out—that was the life we were living,” Li says. “Today, it’s a full-length Hepburn-style dress under a tailored blazer—wear it to a meeting or an interview, and when you take the blazer off, you’re ready for the night.”
It is a shift shaped as much by their own lives as by their customers’. “When we were younger, getting dressed meant announcing your best asset—showing it, emphasising it, making it impossible to miss,” Li says. “But today, every woman carries confidence in her own way, and we want our craft to do that work for her.”
Above A look from Nana Jacqueline's autumn-winter 2026 collection.
Above Nana Jacqueline’s autumn-winter 2026 collection marks a new chapter for the brand.
A look from Nana Jacqueline's autumn-winter 2026 collection.
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In celebration of that spirit, Nana Jacqueline launched its Soft Couture exhibition at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong—a collection of silk haute couture gowns available in six colourways, including Pearl White, a shade exclusive to the city. A made-to-order service, the brand’s first, runs alongside the exhibition until November 29, offering seven silhouettes across the full colourway range.
“I want Nana Jacqueline to be a brand that grows naturally alongside the women who wear it.” Li says, “and if one day a little girl looks at her mother’s Nana Jacqueline dress and says she wants one too, that, for me, would be everything.”
Cathy Huang is the fashion editor of Tatler Hong Kong, overseeing fashion and lifestyle coverage in both English and Traditional Chinese.
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