“Live Your Best IP” 20 years in Chinese Fashion

Abstract

In 2008 during a trip to Beijing I gave a talk to a small group of 20 fashion students at Tsinghua University. At the time I was Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York. At the end of the talk I asked if there were any questions, 20 pairs of eyes stared nervously at the table and there wasn’t a sound. It turned out that asking questions of a visiting professor was thought of as somehow disrespectful and it took a great deal of persuasion to get anyone to speak up. Jump forward to the state of Chinese design in 2018 and the world is a very different place. There is a Chinese Design Day during New York Fashion Week. Chinese designers are the largest international contingent showing during New York fashion Week. Chinese students now make up the largest international group in Parsons. Chinese designers have been part of Parsons highly prestigious MFA in Fashion Design and Society in increasing numbers since its inception in 2010. Featuring interviews following long and indepth conversations with with some of the leading voices in Chinese and global fashion including Angelica Cheung (VOGUE CHINA), Masha Ma (Chinese designer), LuYan (Chinese supermodel and designer), Shelley Fox (Director of Parsons MFA) I will trace this ascendancy and explore what is coming next.