DigiFashion Forum 2023

Leslie Holden, is a co-founder of The Digital Fashion Group. Founded in 2020, TDFG is a European-led collaboration between Fashion Academics and Industry Innovators. Working with industry leaders TDFG equips fashion education, professionals and brands with the relevant skills, mindset and strategies for tomorrow’s workplace. Previously, as Head of Fashion at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI) and a member of the AMFI board for over 14 years, Leslie was responsible for the redevelopment of the international curricula focussing on digitalisation and sustainability in fashion. And as design director and entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in the fashion industry Leslie worked for such companies as Dunhill, Stefanel, Byblos, Burberry and Liberty. Leslie sits on the Steering Committee of The EU Worth Partnership Project,. He was for many years an Executive Board member of the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI), and a trustee of The UK Graduate Fashion Foundation. Leslie is an experienced keynote speaker and moderator and recently nominated by Brytehall as in the top 100 of the most influential leaders in digital fashion.

Beata Wilczek is an advocate for digital transformation and systemic change in fashion and creative industries. She specializes in building projects for sustainable and diverse fashion in web3. Wilczek has founded Unfolding Strategies, a fashion consultancy and education lab, and hosts the Fashion Knowledge podcast. Wilczek has an academic background in Social Psychology (MA), Fashion Studies (PhD, ongoing), Digital Cultures and Curating (MA). As an educator, she teaches fashion and design at universities worldwide and in past held Guest Prof. at the University of Virginia (Digital Design), co-wrote an MA program in Social Design and Sustainable Innovation, and gave talks on fashion in London, Tokyo, Mexico City and Beirut. In the years 2007-2017 she worked extensively as a fashion art director, VR film concept developer and curator on projects for such clients as Uniqlo, Diesel, Moncler, Novembre, Marco Brambilla, Space Doctors, Contemporary Museum Wroclaw and European Congress of Culture.

Mr. Kunchou Tsai, Esq. has engaged in legal career for decades and specializes in FinTech, financial regulations, corporate finance, securities laws, international investment and arbitration. He received his law degrees from the top tier law schools of University College London and UC Berkeley. Mr. Tsai has been appointed to the Panel of Arbitrators of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), the Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SHIAC), and the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA). With compelling knowledge in FinTech and capital market, he actively participates in the Fintech ecosystem and often consults the transnational investment and financial projects. Enlighten Law Group, founded and managed by Mr. Tsai, continuously receives recommendations of Legal 500 Asia-Pacific and Chambers & Partners in Banking and Finance practice.

Olska Green is a founder and designer of one of the first sustainable phygital brands in the world -- Ecoolska. Olska is a fashion innovator and eco activist. The main mission for her is to transform all the fashion industry and make it super stylish, affordable and sustainable!

Sean Chiles is a graduate of St. Martin’s School of Art and a co-founder at the groundbreaking online education, The Digital Fashion Group. As Head of Northumbria University School of Design London, Sean was responsible for a unique Master Qualification Programme Framework for Fashion and the Creative Industries, and the Degree level fashion programmes. He is an academic strategist experienced in innovative programme conceptualisation, validation and delivery, an experienced lecturer, visiting professor, and External Examiner for MA and BA programmes around the world. As a divisional board member of Coats Viyella PLC, he set up and directed the first contemporary, computerised, brand design studio in India. He consults on executive and designer recruitment to deliver creative excellence and collections for studios around the world. For the Royal Society Arts Student Design Awards, he introduced the Fashion Promotions Section to represent changes in fashion education delivery, serving as a fashion judge for 13 years, for 7 years was a Fashion & Marketing judge for Graduate Fashion Week in London

Kurt Chang, is a co-founder of LiquidFabric3D and 3DFit.ai. Kurt started his career in the sewn products industry 30+ years ago as an Industrial Engineer. Prior to fully immersing himself in 3D fashion technology, he worked for and with US brand names; CAD/CAM companies and ASTM standards organization; experienced in ERP/CRM/QA/PDM/CAD/CAM/MTM systems and supplier certification programs.

Richard Hobbs, CEO of Brand New Vision. Richard has been in the fashion business for many decades and has always been keen to apply technology into all aspects of the industry. From developing an EPOS system for small retailers in the mid 80s, building an ERP system for a listed jeans company shortly thereafter before moving to Hong Kong working on the design, development and supply chain side and running his own businesses and brands.

Brand New Vision was formed in 2016 to research how tech applications could improve the wasteful, slow and expensive traditional apparel development cycle.  After spending time in California in 2017 during the ICO boom and working on 3D product development the company pivoted to purely digital and blockchain enabled in 2019, launching BNV.ME in 2021. Originally a platform and marketplace for tokenised digital fashion it is now a full ecosystem for the future of fashion with a global team building out products, tools, experiences and services to empower both brands and participants in these new economies of web3.

Raya Khalifeh, Founder of Raiya & Studio Pine. Raya is a creative innovator at the ever-evolving intersection between Fashion, Tech, and Luxury, seamlessly blending traditional fashion & luxury market expertise with emerging tech to create a new breed of “digital fabric” and craft immersive & experiential brand strategies that engage consumers.

Her AI-driven Phygital Fashion & Fabric Lab, champions Digital Craftsmanship and fine-tuned Generative AI in terms of material and texture, empowering brands to preserve and elevate their brand DNA, rich heritage, quality, artistry, while optimizing efficiency, embracing sustainability, and driving innovation.

Francesca Rosella, co-founder of CuteCircuit. Francesca is a visionary entrepreneur, fashion technologist, and creative powerhouse, known for her groundbreaking work at the intersection of fashion, technology, and design.

CuteCircuit is the world’s first wearable technology fashion brand. Francesca’s work at the forefront of the digital and physical intersection, merges the fields of AR, interactive connected fashion and wearable haptics.  Her innovations have been awarded patents for their groundbreaking designs as well as their underlying enabling technologies and construction methods. Francesca received the Everywoman in Technology Innovator Award 2023 for her pioneering work in fashion technology.

Cyril Masia, is a co-founder of LiquidFabric3D and 3DFit.ai. Cyril started developing software 30+ years ago, trained as a Mechanical Engineer. He is an experienced chief technologist that managed teams of full-stack developers, specialized in mechanical simulation based on Finite Element Method (CATIA); Graphical Product Configurators and CAD interoperability; 3D visualization, geometric algorithms, high performance computing, distributed architectures.

Dr Roger Ng is a mathematician (BSc from Caltech), a philosopher (MA from CUHK), a fine artist (MA from CUHK), an engineer (PhD from HKPolyU), a businessman, a researcher, and an educator. He completed many research projects applying Artificial Intelligence in fashion and textiles applications. His research and teaching interests include the Aesthetic Theory of Fashion Design, Application of Artificial Intelligence in the fashion and textiles industry.

Retired from 28 years of an academic career at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Dr Ng focuses on helping young talents to establish their start-up company and design studio. He continues to teach in the joint MA program in Xian as visiting lecturer. Dr Ng completed more than 35+ research projects and published 130+ articles in refereed journals and conferences. In 2020, he launched a joint MOOC course with his partners from ENSAIT of France and FJU of Taiwan.

Dr Ng’s family business was in apparel manufacturing. He was one of the pioneers who set up factories in Mainland China in the 80s. Moreover, he served as the Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Mills Association and the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Textile Council, as well as chairman/member of various advisory committees of the Hong Kong Government SAR. He received the title of the Honorary Chairman of HKCMA, Fellow of the Textile Institute, and the Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Textile and Apparel.

Florence Lu is a veteran fashion journalist and independent fashion curator. She has 30 years of experience in fashion journalism and is responsible for promoting Taiwan's fashion industry. Lu is a former editor-in-chief of ELLE. During her tenure at the magazine, she launched the ELLE New Talent project to help emerging fashion designers who otherwise lack the resources to break into the fashion industry. The project has successfully nurtured a new generation of fashion talent in Taiwan, and Lu has become an intermediary between the global and Taiwanese fashion industries. Equipped with rich experience, Lu has ventured into curating in recent years. She curated for “Fashion of Our Time” by exploring the contemporary history of Taiwan's fashion industry. Lu participated in the organization of “Hip Hop Night at the National Palace Museum” and curated for “Encounter: Indigenous National Living Treasures Meet Fashion”. Throughout her career, she has successfully explored the possibility of transforming history, culture, and craft into contemporary fashion designs.

Meet René Petrevski, Bus. Dev. Manager at STYLE Protocol. René is very passionate and forthcoming in all projects and relations he is involved in. He started his journey with an English BA (Hons.) and successfully completed a Leadership Course over four months. Always having a great interest in web3, he immediately started working for STYLE Protocol after his graduation. René likes to meet new people and start something great together, whether attending events or going on an adventurous trip. His hobbies include finding the next gem in the NFT gaming space, playing a variety of ball sports, and meeting friends around the world.

Recently, René collaborated with Jens Laugesen to get his fashion pieces into the multiverse for London Fashion Week through STYLE Protocol, and brought an AR company on board to give the audience an immersive experience with Laugesen's designs.

René's goal is to connect the web2 with the web3 space.

Rene Fang is the Chief Executive Officer of iStaging Corp. Previously, she held senior leadership positions at Financial and Capital Market companies across Asia and US building transformational companies and leading new initiatives. The last 5 years, she is leading iStaging to success at first as COO and new as CEO.

As a professional manager with many years of experience in global capital markets, and subsequently as the General Manager of Wisers (Hong Kong), an AI-focused company, Rene has a deep understanding of the value and practical experience of integrating innovative technologies across different business domains.

Nico Owsianowski and Cheua-Hei Chan are the founders of aurar. Together they gathered half a decade of experience in developing the future of Augmented Reality and brought those experiences to the public.

With aurar - a Berlin-based startup - they are dedicated to create new channels to experience one’s passion. Combining innovative technologies like Augmented Reality, Blockchain, and Geopositioning the Phygital Experiences created carry even more immersion, interaction, and engagement. The core product is called VZNZ – a mobile application built to easily access virtual stories told in the real world. It bears the capabilities to create unseen brand engagement stories and evolve the way Web3 is leveraged. VZNZ has curated live-events, scavenger hunts, and more – from AR-enhanced DooH campaigns to reactive NFTs and gesture-based smart contract calls the team strives to give access to true tech-innovations.

Nico Owsianowski and Cheua-Hei Chan are the founders of aurar. Together they gathered half a decade of experience in developing the future of Augmented Reality and brought those experiences to the public.

With aurar - a Berlin-based startup - they are dedicated to create new channels to experience one’s passion. Combining innovative technologies like Augmented Reality, Blockchain, and Geopositioning the Phygital Experiences created carry even more immersion, interaction, and engagement. The core product is called VZNZ – a mobile application built to easily access virtual stories told in the real world. It bears the capabilities to create unseen brand engagement stories and evolve the way Web3 is leveraged. VZNZ has curated live-events, scavenger hunts, and more – from AR-enhanced DooH campaigns to reactive NFTs and gesture-based smart contract calls the team strives to give access to true tech-innovations.

Urja Kumbhare is a phygital fashion designer, Co-Founder and Director at Opulentia Designs - a design and product development agency specializing in Digital Fashion Design Solutions. She has majored in Knitwear Design, specialized in Intimate Apparel Design and has a Minors degree in Fashion Technology from National Institute for Fashion Technology, Mumbai, India.

She aspires to make the fashion industry more sustainable and drive positive change in the Metaverse. Her research on Design Sustainability in the Knitwear Industry has been published in the International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovation.

Hena is a strong believer that with unity, a sustainable world can be attained. Her commitment to climate change and spreading awareness towards mental health through Metagen DAO, Envied FutuR, Verse The Party Clubs and Clean Incentive is applaudable.

As the CEO of Envied FutuR and the Board of Advisor for Clean Incentive, Hena’s focus is on finding innovative ways to address climate change and promote sustainability. Be it through Clean Incentive’s proprietary data platform and blockchain technology to translate the use of clean energy in any commodity production into tradeable digital certificates or As the GreenTech Community leader of Metagen, Hena works passionately on many initiatives of Metagen like Harvard Innovation Presidents challenge semifinalist MetaForest and Metaversity classes. Hena Venugopal is Innovation Strategy Director at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), where she is responsible for leading the modernization strategies of SIFMU systems with a focus on Distributed Ledger Technologies. In addition, she specializes in DLT Governance of Project Ion, intending to strengthen production stability and resiliency for the financial services industry. Project ION is one of Forbes Top 10 Magnificent Blockchain Projects.

With a Graduate Degree in Fashion design from the UK, KC Man has had a careers in merchandising, design, buying and product development for different international brands and companies for the past 20 years. Currently located in Asia (Hong Kong), he has launched his own fashion brand for around10 years. During this time he saw a greater market in the virtual space as more businesses are gradually more dependent in the e-commerce and 3D digital space. In 2018 he setup Virtual Touch. Capitalising on the acquired knowledge and expertise in different role of the supply chain he translates it in the Virtual 3D ecosystem to help the way people work and interact in the virtual world to resolved their pain points.

Claire is an entrepreneur, tech innovation strategy advisor, and startup ecosystem contributor based in Taiwan. In 2016, she founded TechMoi, helping more than 30 startups and SMEs with their innovation and product strategy. She also founded FashTech Hub, which is the fashion technology community, for connecting, sustaining and sharing fashion technology with global resources and business opportunities.

Before TechMoi, Claire has decades of experience working in the textile industry, providing digital transformation solutions to leading textile companies as well as government projects. She helped set up 3 color science research labs in National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Beijing Tsing Hua University, and Fu-Jen Catholic University.

Ching has 20+ years experiences in fashion and technology media, beauty brands and tech startups. Through times, she has witnessed digital transformation in the media and fashion industries. Ching has a passion for identifying future trends, uncovering new ventures and building communities in sustainable fashion, digital fashion and Web3 ecosystems.

Ching created DigiFashion Forum in order to bridge the digital and real world in the fashion value chain, as well as to support education, businesses and designers, to foster a positive impact and find solutions to some of our most complex social and environmental challenges in the fashion industry.

Ching has worked on a large number of editorial management and digital marketing projects, specialized in B2B marketing strategy, management consultancy, PR, publishing, fashion & tech journalism.

Innovation catalyst in SaaS, AI/ML, digital fashion, Web3 and the Metaverse. Sustainable and circular economy advocate.