Copycats no more, China’s new fashion leaders are reshaping the global fashion business. Their work reflects a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs and creators—and the rise of an independent-minded middle class hungry for the latest designs.
Join renowned designer Tao Wang and fashion influencer Simon Collins, founder of Fashion Culture Design and former dean of the Fashion School at Parsons, for this stimulating conversation about how Chinese fashion leaders are creating a new fashion world order.
Speakers Bios
Simon Collins is a design thinker, speaker, writer, educator, designer and advisor. Following a career as a fashion designer then creative director for some of the world’s leading brands including Nike, Polo and Zegna, he spent seven years as Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons, where he helped turn the quietly respected design school into a global mega-brand that partnered with luxury groups like Kering and LVMH. In 2016 Collins launched the Fashion Culture Design Unconference in New York, the first major global platform for actual creative discussion, ideas and problem-solving. FCD has become a global ecosystem of unconferences, salons, podcasts and parties. In 2017 Collins launched WeDesign.org a global design education platform with a mission to give the world’s best design education to anyone anywhere in the world via live-link video classes with highly respected professors.
Tao Wang is the founder, CEO, and Chief Design Officer at TAORAY WANG. She is a board member of the Shanghai Ribo Fashion Group, which owns the brands TAORAY WANG and broadcast:bo. With a history degree from East China Normal University in Shanghai, Wang Tao got a second degree in fashion at the top Japanese fashion institute, Tokyo Mode Gakuen. She was handpicked by Junko Koshino, the acclaimed Japanese designer, to head the studio as men’s designer. Wang Tao then left Japan and worked as the Chief Designer at a UK brand. In 2002 she returned to China and spearheaded the transformation of broadcast:bo from a wholesale/distribution business to design-led brand. Wang Tao launched TAORAY WANG to bring her collections to global women who appreciate refined tailoring, sophisticated silhouettes and luxurious fabrics. The brand was launched in New York Fashion Week in September 2014.