Title
Visiting Professor, Tsinghua University
Biography
Simon Collins is a world-renowned design master currently residing in Shanghai.
Simon Collins is a creative design master, speaker, author, educator, designer, founder, television host, and design consultant. He is also the former Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York and the former Creative Director of Nike Asia.
As the founder of the global design education platform WeDesign, Simon Collins established the Fashion Culture Design (FCD) forum, a pioneer in fashion culture and design. He has hosted numerous fashion culture salons and series of conferences, chaired the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, and delivered keynote speeches at global forums, including the United Nations. His insights have been featured in Forbes, Business of Fashion (BoF), Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), China Daily, and The New York Times, among other media platforms.
Simon Collins has served as a designer and creative director for world-renowned brands such as Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Zegna. During his seven-year tenure at Parsons School of Design, he successfully transformed this traditionally low-profile institution into a globally recognized design education brand. He facilitated collaborations with luxury conglomerates such as Kering and LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton). As Dean of the School of Fashion, he relocated the entire school to a new building in downtown Manhattan, launched the Master’s program in Fashion Design and Society, and established Parsons Paris, the school’s Paris campus.
During his time at Parsons, Collins was named to the BoF 500 list by Business of Fashion and included in Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” list. He served as a guest judge for five seasons on the CCTV6 movie channel’s program Creative Sky, which attracted an average of 5 million viewers per season.
In 2014, Collins published The School of Fashion, in which he detailed the career journeys of 30 notable Parsons alumni, including Donna Karan and Alexander Wang. He also launched a talk show featuring guests such as Victoria Beckham, François-Henri Pinault, and Giancarlo Giammetti.
In 2015, Collins joined the Board of Trustees at Parsons School of Design and became the Chairman of the Advisory Board for WGSN (World’s Global Style Network). He provided consulting services for WME|IMG during New York Fashion Week. He also founded his own brand consultancy, The House of Collins, offering advice to brands, institutions, fashion weeks, and government agencies worldwide. Additionally, he joined the Advisory Board for the Luxury EMBA program at NYU Stern School of Business and was appointed Honorary Ambassador to the China Institute in New York.
Collins has published articles in The Wall Street Journal, Business of Fashion, The Impression, and At Large Magazine. He frequently contributes design commentary to China Daily, Women’s Wear Daily, NBC, CNN, and NPR, and has delivered keynote speeches at international platforms such as the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
In 2016, Collins founded the informal FCD forum in New York. This became the first significant international platform for discussing creativity, exchanging ideas, and solving problems. It has since evolved into a global ecosystem of informal forums, salons, podcasts, and project activities.
In 2017, Collins launched the global design education platform WeDesign, aiming to provide the world’s best design education to everyone through real-time interactive online courses taught by renowned professors. By the end of 2020, Collins continued to lead WeDesign, integrating design to create even more possibilities.
Throughout his career, Simon Collins has crafted numerous remarkable solutions. He is deeply passionate about exceptional design and enjoys traveling the world to share his extraordinary journey.
