Shanghai Welcomes Conde Nast Centre

The Condé Nast Center of Fashion & Design has opened in the heart of Shanghai's fashion and retail district, with an impressive line-up of classes and courses already on the schedule. Students at the center will be able to choose from one-day sessions to nine-month full-time programmes, which are especially designed to give them an intensive grounding in the workings of the fashion industry.

Subjects covered include fashion media and digital communication; fashion marketing and branding; e-commerce for fashion and luxury; fashion illustration for beginners; experimental fashion illustration; the little black dress (design, cut and make a classic style); dress for success; the universe of perfume; and fashion photography and styling. Additional courses in visual merchandising, retail, digital marketing, jewellery design and fashion design are also in the process of being developed.

"We are delighted to welcome our first participants, and to assist in creating the next generation of talent in the fashion industry," said Dominique Simard, executive director of the center, of the 250 students that have already signed up. "We will be capitalising on the considerable authority and expertise which Condé Nast is known for, offering unrivalled access to what is recognised as a hard-to-enter industry, improving the participants' chances of achieving their career goals."

The center will also offer a special scholarship programme called Advanced Fashion Design, which will be open to applicants from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and will be supported by luxury retailer ATTOS. Scholarships will be awarded in December to those selected by a panel including Angelica Cheung, editorial director of Vogue China; Susan Jenkyn Jones, senior academic director of the center; and Timothy Goh, CEO of ATTOS.