the daughters of forever 21

The Los Angeles Times has a profile on Linda and Esther Chang, the daughters of the Forever 21 empire, who joined the company a little over a year ago. They might just be the secret weapons behind the fast-fashion chain's success: Meet Forever 21's stylish sisters.

As Forever 21 continues to rocket into the 21st century, competitors are undoubtedly trying to decode the fast-fashion chain's successful formula.

Low prices? Trendy merchandise that cycles in and out of stores on a daily basis? Super-size stores modeled after the 86,000-square-foot location that recently opened in Cerritos?

Forever 21 has all that, but the real secret weapon may be a couple of women who look as if they're barely out of high school. Linda Chang, 28, and her sister Esther, 23, the Ivy League-educated daughters of Forever 21's Korean American founders Don and Jin Sook Chang, seem to have the stylish eye and marketing savvy to take the $2-billion brand into the future and make it a competitor on a global level with European fast-fashion giants H&M, Mango and Zara.

Over the years, I've read quite a bit about the company's humble beginnings, and how the company's Korean immigrant founders, Don and Jin Sook Chang, built the brand into mall fashion giant (making some enemies along the way, and on the backs of sweatshop labor, apparently). But this is actually first I've ever heard about the Chang sisters. They apparently are the future of this empire, which isn't going away any time soon.