“Let’s Talk Impact” Podcast With Simon Collins

Who is Simon Collins?

English New Yorker and current resident of Shanghai, Simon Collins leads creative business innovation for global organizations. He has been a board member, creative director, dean and creative advisor for; Nike, Parsons School of Design, WME IMG, Fila, NYU Stern, Zegna, New York and China Fashion Weeks, NYC Gov, Shanghai Gov, etc. He currently runs the House of Collins Shanghai innovation consultancy, he is Chief Creative Officer of Design Innovation Institute Shanghai and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. His academic appointments also include; Academic Director for Parsons School of Design in China, and Advisory Professor at Donghua University.

He gives keynote speeches all over the world including the United Nations in New York, the Cannes Lions Festival in France and the Alibaba Design Week in Hangzhou, as well as Shenzhen, Sao Paolo, Seoul, London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok and the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen. His areas of expertise include Design Innovation, Sustainability, international Sino/US collaborations and relations, New Fashion, and Design Thinking for industry. His social media channel offering design advice has a wide following with 30,000+ viewews for popular videos.

His career as a fashion designer and creative director includes Fila, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Zegna. As Creative Director of Nike in Asia he created partnerships with Comme des Garcons and Hide Nakata. From 2008 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. His tenure included moving the entire School of Fashion downtown to a newly constructed building, launching the MFA in Fashion Design and Society, and opening the new Parsons Paris.

Collins was featured in the inaugural Global 500 in The Business of Fashion, and the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine. Through 5 seasons his Chinese CCTV6 show "Creative Sky" enjoyed a regular audience of 5 million.

In 2014 Assouline published his book ‘The School of Fashion’ which detailed the history of 30 notable Parsons alumni, from Donna Karan to Alexander Wang. He established his live onstage Conversation Series with guests including Victoria Beckham, Francois-Henri Pinault, and Giancarlo Giammetti. In 2015 he joined the Parsons Board of Governors and chaired the Advisory Board for Global trend group WGSN. He established The House of Collins consultancy to advise brands, institutions, fashion weeks in New York and China, and governments around the world. He joined the Advisory Council of the NYU Stern Luxury EMBA and was appointed an Honorary Ambassador for the China Institute in New York.

His many writing credits include the Wall Street Journal, Business of Fashion, The Impression, At Large magazine, and multiple design, business, and fashion books globally. He frequently comments on design in the media, including China Daily, CGTN, NBC, CNN, NPR, Forbes, Business of Fashion, WWD and The New York Times.

In 2016 Collins launched the Fashion Culture Design Unconference in New York and in 2017 he launched the WeDesign.org 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.

In 2020 he moved to Shanghai to manage the growth of WeDesign China. He has since sold both WeDesign and FCD to Chinese investors. In 2020 he opened The House of Collins Shanghai office to advise Chinese and global clients, brands, and institutions. In 2020 he was appointed the first international Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University where he leads projects with Kering Group and Diesel OTB.

He is currently Chief Creative Officer at the newly created Design Innovation Institute Shanghai. Housed in a beautifully renovated Art Deco building this design and innovation hub is transforming industrial innovation in China and beyond. Simon Collins’ international career is focused on successful industry design innovation, global relations, and creating beautiful solutions.

What is the “Let’s Talk Impact” Podcast?

The Let’s Talk Impact podcast is a collection of insights from educators, entrepreneurs, investors, activists and community leaders seeking to demystify access to capital, resources, knowledge and illuminate pathways toward successful impact ventures in NYC and around the world hosted by Justyna Kedra, founder @ WERULE. The podcast is a collaboration between WERULE and The New School’s Impact Entrepreneurship Initiative.