6 women shaping sustainability in China's fashion industry

China's commitment to green development is essential to the global climate transition. Although it has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2060, it remains the world's largest carbon producer. the biggest producer and consumer of coal and major consumer of oil and gas, which represents a third of global carbon emissions. But change is on the horizon. Total CO2 emissions are expected to peak around 2025. And each country has a different roadmap in this development, according to the 2023 Circularity Gap Report.

The government has a crucial role to play in preventing the climate crisis. Marketing agency Daxue Consulting argues that citizens (and consumers) are demonstrating a growing interest Ethical practices and responsible retailing have advanced, reflecting a gradual awareness of this concept in the domestic fashion market. Although sustainability is not yet fully mainstream, this changing landscape has paved the way for the emergence of successful sustainable leaders in the fashion industry, explained Allison Mallon.

In a recent reportDaxue predicts that the growth of China's fashion industry will be particularly notable in the area of ​​sustainable design and production. Such trends will be crucial to modern Chinese urban identity: and will eventually be considered sophisticated,” Malmsten continued in correspondence. We expect easy eco-consumption to become more widespread, driven by government requirements for ecological labels and certifications on products with the aim of achieving the 2060 carbon neutrality objective.

As China heads towards 2025, here are some of the women helping shape the sustainability agenda in China, from disruptors and brands to researchers, writers, influencers and advocates.

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Shaway you

Shaway Yeh is one of China's leading fashion and culture opinion leaders or KOLs. In 2017, Yeh founded Yehyehyeh, a consultancy combining sustainability, innovation and creativity to drive values-based change. She provides creative solutions and communications services to brands and institutions around the world, including at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, where she is a regular speaker, at the Green Carpet Fashion Award and the Kering Generation Award. You completed the Harvard Graduate Certificate in Corporate Sustainability and Innovation in 2019.

Her annual Shanghia-based event, the Shan Future Forum, brings together thinkers, creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators to discuss major issues. Previous speakers have come from Louis Vuitton, Diesel and Alibaba Group. In October 2023, she highlighted rewilding and circularity and was watched by 4 million viewers on SHFW’s digital channel Douyin. Before founding her agency, Yeh was the group editorial director of Modern Media Group, one of China’s most influential lifestyle publications.

Jinqing Cai

Jinqing Cai has been president of Kering Greater China since 2018. In December of the same year, the Kering Generation Award was established in China. Designed as one of the key innovation initiatives under Kering's 2025 Sustainability Strategy, it aims to drive industry-wide transformation by recognizing and supporting impactful Chinese startups. positive environmental and social and which address the challenges of alternative raw materials, green supply chain, retail and usage, and the circular economy. Previously award-winning startups and well-known companies such as Icicle and Erdos have joined to contribute case studies.

In February 2024, Kering, in collaboration with Tsinghua University and the French Fashion Institute, launched a program Practices Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Fashion Sustainability: Global Perspectives and Practices in China. This free course is open to people passionate about sustainable fashion as well as university students from all over the world. Cai is also Vice President of Teaching for Chinaa nonprofit organization that focuses on educational inequality across China.

Wang Zhen

Since 2006, Wang Zhen has held various positions at Erdos Group, one of the largest cashmere producers. She is now the group’s chairwoman, leading the conglomerate that integrates sustainability into every aspect of the supply chain, from goat farming to green production and design, to manufacturing and retailing of cashmere garments. The group was the first company in China to obtain Good Cashmere Standard (GCS) Certification and operates under the SFA x ICCAW Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cashmere Goats. In 2022, it launched Erdos Eco Ranch which demonstrates its determination to protect and develop high-quality cashmere resources while preserving grasslands and enhancing ecosystems.

As an advocate for women in business, Wang was the 13th member of the executive committee of the All-China Women's Federation and was selected as one of the China's most influential businesswomen by the Fortune media platform.

Dr. Christina Dean

For 17 years, Christina Dean has been advocating for circular fashion and being at the forefront of the sustainable fashion movement. In 2007, she founded Redress, a Hong Kong-based, Asia-focused NGO accelerating the transition to a circular system. Four years later, she launched the Redress Design Award in Hong Kong, highlighting sustainable design talent on a global scale. Ten years later, Dean founded social impact company The R Collective, which recovers, reuses and recycles luxury textile waste using supply chains in China and Hong Kong.

Throughout his career, Dean has worked with multiple stakeholders across the fashion value chain, globally and with particular expertise in Asia, building partnerships and projects with government, academia and corporates including VF Corporation and Net-a-Porter, among others. Global Visionary by UBS, she regularly speaks at global conferences and her TEDx talks have been widely attended.

Song Youyang

Based in Berlin, Youyang Song is a textile designer passionate about biomaterials research and sustainability. Her practice focuses 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 material innovation company aimed at solving the problem of material waste by designing the next generation of biomaterials, 100% biodegradable circular materials. In 2021, Peelsphere wins first prize from the Kerings European accelerator Plug and Play fashion for good and won a German Green Design Award. The song was selected for the The Power of Green Women 100 in 2021.

Bonnie Chen

Former model Bonnie Chen from Nanjing is fresh off her new role as the initiator of the China sustainability project at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Launched this year, the global project will travel to Venice and Shenzhen in the coming months and will see Chen shed her pure fashion background. She previously worked for brands including Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani and Gucci and was the first Asian face to appear in the American magazine. VogueIn 2023, she was the Voices of Fashion China speaker for Vogue China. The same year, she was a sustainability ambassador at Shenzhen Fashion Week and a jury member of the Redress Design Award.

Chen uses her extensive social media channels, from Weibo: @Bonnie, where she has 2.5 million followers, to her platform Xiaohongshu (Bonnie), which has 100,000 followers, to advocate for environmental issues. Alongside her work in fashion, Chen has been actively involved in social causes since 2012, when she founded the children's mental health foundation Star Bunny Love. She raises money for autistic children through charity flea markets, fashion photoshoots and exhibitions.