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.

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.