Ex-China university lecturer sets up luxury lingerie brand, earning US$770 million fortune

2026.03.22 10:20 Zhang Rongming, a former university lecturer, transitioned from materials science to founding the high-end lingerie brand Aimer in 1993. Photo: SCMP composite/Xinhua/Douyin From a former lecturer to the mastermind behind a lingerie empire, Zhang Rongming’s journey reshaped China’s intimate apparel industry with innovation and a keen eye for market trends. Zhang, 64, from Suzhou in Jiangsu province, eastern China, is the founder and chairman of Aimer, a leading lingerie brand. He excelled in metallurgy and chemistry during his university years, later pursuing graduate studies. In the late 1980s, while teaching at Shougang Institute of Technology in Beijing, he developed high-performance coated blades and earned his first fortune. From a young age, Zhang Rongming, above, always displayed an entrepreneurial spirit. Photo: weixin.qq.com In 1991, Zhang encountered a shape-memory alloy material during a research project; one of its applications was the supportive steel rings used in women’s lingerie. At the time, most bras in China lacked adequate elastic support, making them uncomfortable, while advanced steel-ring technology was only available in Japan. Zhang saw a profitable gap in the Chinese market for steel-ring bras. After countless trials, he developed an elastic memory alloy underwire. Determined to find a partner, he pitched his product to several factories but faced repeated setbacks. Zhang admitted feeling ashamed: “At that time, I had no concept of bras. Even though I was married, I had never paid attention to what type of lingerie my wife wore.” Before branching out into underwear, Zhang was a lecturer at Shougang Institute of Technology in Beijing. Photo: weixin.qq.com In 1992, a nearly bankrupt fashion factory approached Zhang, and they quickly struck a deal. Zhang raised 800,000 yuan (US$116,000) in start-up capital from friends and invested heavily in high-quality lingerie materials, including lace from Japan. He aimed to use technology

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