6 women shaping sustainability in China’s fashion sector

China’s commitment to green development is key to the global climate transformation. Despite its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2060, it remains the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal and a major consumer of oil and gas, which account for a third of global carbon dioxide emissions. But change is on the horizon. Total CO2 emissions are expected to peak around 2025. Each country has a different roadmap, according to the 2023 Circularity Gap Report.

The government has a key role to play in preventing a climate crisis. Marketing agency Daxue Consulting argues that citizens (and consumers) are showing increasing interest in ethical practices and responsible retail, reflecting the gradual overall increase in awareness of this concept in the domestic fashion market. “While sustainability is not yet fully mainstream, this changing landscape has paved the way for the emergence of successful sustainability leaders in fashion,” explained Allison Mallon.

In a recent report, Daxue predicts that growth in China’s fashion industry will be particularly noticeable in sustainable design and production. Such trends will be “crucial to modern Chinese identity in cities: and will ultimately be considered ‘sophisticated,'” Malmsten continued in the correspondence. “We expect easy, green consumption to become widespread, driven by government requirements for green badges and certifications on products to achieve the 2060 carbon neutrality goal.”

As we approach 2025, China should take note of the women who are helping to shape the country’s sustainability agenda – from innovators to brands to researchers in editorial, influence and advocacy.

ShawaYe

Shawway Yeh is one of China’s key fashion and culture opinion leaders, or KOLs. In 2017, Yeh founded Yehyehyeh, a consultancy combining sustainability, innovation and creativity to drive value-based change. She offers creative communications solutions and services to brands and institutions around the world, including the Copenhagen Fashion Summit – where she is a regular speaker, the Green Carpet Fashion Award and the Kering Generation Award. In 2019, Ye earned a Harvard Graduate Certificate in Sustainability and Corporate Innovation.

Her annual Shan Future Forum at Shanghia brings together thinkers, creators, entrepreneurs, and innovators to discuss important issues. Previous speakers have come from Louis Vuitton, Diesel, and Alibaba Group. In October 2023, rewilding and the circular economy were brought to the forefront, with 4 million viewers tuning in to watch the event on Douyin SHFW digital channel. Before founding her agency, Yeh was the editorial director of style at Modern Media Group, one of China’s most influential lifestyle publications.

Jinqing Cai

Jinqing Cai has served as President of Kering Greater China since 2018. In December of that year, the Kering Generation Award was established in China. Designed as one of the key innovation initiatives under the Kering Sustainability Strategy 2025, it aims to drive industry-wide transformation by recognizing and supporting Chinese startups that are making a positive impact on the environment and society and addressing challenges in alternative raw materials, green supply chain, retail and consumption, and the circular economy. Previously awarded startups and well-known companies such as Icicle and Erdos joined forces to contribute case studies.

In February 2024, Kering, together with Tsinghua University and the Institut Français de la Mode, launched Internships Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Sustainable Fashion – Global Perspectives and Chinese Practices. The free course is open to people passionate about sustainable fashion, as well as university students around the world. Cai also serves as vice president Teach for Chinaa non-profit organization focusing on educational inequality across China.

Wang Zhen

Since 2006, Wang Zhen has held a number of positions at Erdos Group, one of the largest cashmere producers. She is currently the group’s CEO, leading a conglomerate that embraces sustainability in every aspect of its supply chain—from goat farming, green manufacturing and design to cashmere apparel manufacturing and retail. The group was the first enterprise in China to be certified by The Good Cashmere Standard® (GCS®) and operates in accordance with the SFA x ICCAW cashmere goat welfare code of practice. In 2022, it launched Erdos Eco Ranch, demonstrating its determination to protect and develop high-quality cashmere resources while preserving grasslands and improving ecosystems.

As an advocate for women in business, Wang served as the 13th member of the Executive Committee of the All-China Federation of Women and was elected as one of China’s Most Influential Business Women via the Fortune media platform.

Dr. Christina Dean

For 17 years, Dr. Christina Dean has been a circular fashion advocate at the forefront of the sustainable fashion movement. She founded Redress, a Hong Kong-based, Asia-focused NGO that accelerates the transition to a circular system, in 2007. Four years later, she launched The Redress Design Award in Hong Kong, putting sustainable design talent in the global spotlight. 10 years later, Dean founded the social impact company The R Collective, which rescues, reuses and recycles luxury textile waste using supply chains in China and Hong Kong.

Throughout her career, Dean has worked with a wide range of stakeholders in the fashion value chain around the world, with particular expertise in Asia, establishing partnerships and projects with governments, academia and companies including VF Corporation and Net-a-Porter . Named A Global visionary according to UBS is a regular speaker at international conferences and her TEDx talks are highly viewed.

Youyang song

Berlin-based Youyang Song is a textile designer with a passion for biomaterials research and sustainability. Her practice is based on the research and design of innovative biodegradable materials, the development of material production technologies, and the design of related products.

Song is the founder of Peelsphere, a materials innovation company that aims to solve the problem of material waste by designing next-generation biomaterials that are 100% biodegradable and closed-loop material. In 2021, Peelsphere won first prize in the Kering European accelerator Plug and Play – fashion for good and won the German Green Design Award. The song was selected for Green Women Power 100 in 2021.

Bonnie Chen

Former model Bonnie Chen from Nanjing has just wrapped up a new role as the initiator of the China Sustainability Project at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The global project, which launched earlier this year, will travel to Venice and then Shenzhen in the coming months, where Chen will move away from her strictly fashion background. She has previously worked for brands including Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani and Gucci, and was the first Asian face to appear in the U.S. Fashion. In 2023, she was the Voices of Fashion China speaker for Vogue China. In the same year, she was a sustainability ambassador at Shenzhen Fashion Week and a juror for the Redress Design Award.

Chen uses his many social media channels – from Weibo:@陈碧舸Bonnie, where he has 2.5 million followers, to the Xiaohongshu (陈碧舸Bonnie) platform, which has 100,000 followers – to advocate for environmental issues. In parallel to her work in the fashion industry, Chen has been actively involved in social activities since 2012, when she founded the children’s mental health foundation Star Bunny Love. She raises funds for autistic children through charity flea markets, fashion shoots and exhibitions.