Molly Miao
Molly Miao is a Chinese business executive best known as a co-founder of the fast-fashion retailer Shein. She has held senior leadership roles at the company, including chief marketing officer and, by 2023, chief operating officer.
Career
Miao is one of four co-founders of Shein alongside Chris Xu, Maggie Gu and Henry Ren. In the mid-2010s, the founders expanded Shein’s early wedding-dress focus into broader apparel categories as the business scaled internationally.Shein’s own materials identify Miao as the company’s chief marketing officer during the period when it publicised its “agile” digital supply chain and small-batch, test-and-scale merchandising model. Subsequent business press reporting in late 2023 described her as chief operating officer.
In July 2023, CEO Chris Xu promoted co-founder Miao to chief operating officer; following an internal reorganization, leaders of the Supply Chain Center and the Product Center reported to her, and a new Category Center was placed under her management. Coverage at year-end 2023 likewise described Miao as a core member of Shein’s top management overseeing market operations.
At a mid-year meeting in August 2024 Miao announced a pilot to make the Product Center, Category Operations Center and Global Operations Center operate with profit-and-loss accountability, with a broader rollout targeted for 2025.
In November 2024, 'aijing reported leadership changes at Shein’s Fulfillment & Textile Innovation Center, stating that the new general manager would report to Miao as COO after core supply-chain functions were transferred into the Product Center earlier that year.
Chinese business reports have described Miao’s COO remit as encompassing Shein’s Operations Center as well as oversight of the Product Center and FTIC.