J.Crew Group Inc., the apparel retailer whose customers include U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, is planning its first Asian store in Hong Kong targeting tourists from mainland China that totaled 28 million last year.

The retailer may open the Hong Kong store as early as next year and is also looking for sites in Beijing and Shanghai, Chief Executive Officer Mickey Drexler said in an interview in Hong Kong.

Closely held J. Crew joins casual clothing rivals including Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) and Gap Inc. (GPS) in courting increasingly wealthy Chinese shoppers in the former British colony. China’s apparel market is forecast to more than triple to 1.3 trillion yuan ($204 billion) by 2020 from 2010 as rising incomes fuel demand, the Boston Consulting Group Inc. said in a report last year.

Founded in 1983, J. Crew has more than 200 stores in the U.S. and Canada and is preparing to expand in Europe and Asia. Drexler said today that the company will open a store in London next year, ahead of Hong Kong.

The U.S.-based retailer will also sell items including clothes and shoes at Lane Crawford stores in Hong Kong and China beginning in October, according to a June statement from the companies.

Shareholders of J. Crew in March 2011 voted in favor of a takeover by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP. Drexler, known for engineering a turnaround at Gap Inc. earlier in his career, is also a board member at Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Source from: http://www.bloomberg.com ‘)}