Sue Wong Company History

 

In the business world, it is not uncommon for a CEO to be described as a ball of fire, someone who is high energy and dynamic - traits so necessary for success. Fashion designer and CEO Sue Wong is a ball of fire who has been able to blend her relentless energy with creativity, organization and humanity. Today she remains the same optimistic and generous person I met nearly 20 years ago when she was just embarking on what is now a multimillion-dollar corporate success story.

Long before Sue Wong was born in rural communist China in 1949, her father Wing Wong had already decided that he would find a way to bring his future family to the United States for a better life. Because he was forced to escape first, he had to leave his then-pregnant wife behind. Sue spent her first five years growing up in rural China with her mother. Later, the two of them also escaped, first to Guangzhou and finally to Hong Kong where she completed her initial formal education. Sue did not meet her father until September 1955 when she and her mother immigrated to Los Angeles.

As a youngster, Sue wanted to pursue a career in fine art as a painter. Although she was awarded a prestigious scholarship to California Institute of the Arts after high school, a career in the fine arts was not an endeavor supported by her traditional Chinese parents. In light of their courageous escape and new career options in the United States, they hoped she would become an accountant or teacher, or have some other “stable” job.

This fashion designer and businesswoman was never formally trained in her industry. Within a month of enrolling in a fashion program at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, she was awarded a scholarship from Arpeja, a hip fashion company for younger women. After her classes she would spend three hours every afternoon sketching for the lead designer, and in less than a year she decided to trade in her education for a full-time job as a designer in Arpeja’s sportswear division.