Rong Jake Chen Email & Phone Number

h-ours my project arm with various iterations focusing on design independence, expression and bringing intersectional communities together. The overarching goal of the project is to create visibility and to bridge API communities with the arts and fashion sectors in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Our upcoming project 04 macaque, will aim to promote, represent and create visibility for a diverse set of Asian creative talent, including models, stylists and other creative practitioners. Past projects include:03 eye (2021)Sponsorship of Le Space’s exhibition featuring Magnum photographer’s Nanna Heitmann (@nannaheitmann) and Sim Chi Yin (@chiyin_sim) through community and audience development at Le Space. 02 resilience (2020)Exhibition featuring Australian and Asian fashion designers in utilising waste from their supply chain and/or deadstock, to create objects that reflect a shared theme around COVID19. Featuring, Graedance, Speed, ffixxed studios, Karla Laidlaw, shhorn, Cynthia & Xiao & Jonathan Liang. 01 pop-up (2019)Retail experience featuring POC-led Australian independent designers held at St Collins Lane (Melbourne 3000) including AMXANDER, Mandatory, ffixxed studios, & SZN.

Melbourne, Australia

Beginning as an art project, Graedance launched in late 2022 in form of a gender neutral - design led demi-fine jewellery line, that aims to celebrate the grey areas we occupy within our society's restrictive binaries. Our design principles lie heavily on transformative design that adapts to your changing mood and designs, allowing for talismans that turn into heirlooms. An honouring of untold stories of genders, cultures, sexualities and the power of our intersectional identities.As the creative lead, i'm responsible for all things design and expanding our universe and community, which involves experimentation with new tech such as XR and AI. As the founder, I look after all partnerships, marketing, finances, and hiring. Our first collection has been well received, and within six months have received coverage in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Men's Folio, and was also recently seen on the runway at Australian Fashion Week. Our launch collection is also stocked in Chinatown Country Club, one of the world's most exclusive and fastest growing designer select stores.

Www.Fwcollective.Com

Forward Collective is my umbrella of which I govern all short and long term business and creative consultancy projects. Established in 2015, the agency has grown to encompass various accounts within the apparel and fashion industry focusing on creating sustainable strategies, creative concepts and value chain optimisations for emerging and established organisations.As part of my over-arching goal to create visibility for diverse artists and designers within creative spaces, I've also invested time in providing pro bono consultancy for young, POC-run labels and brands. Clients in the past include Mercedes Benz Australia, Aaizel (Australia), Cynthia and Xiao (Hong Kong), d.d collective (Malaysia) and more. Our services include:* Strategy Development* Process Optimisation* Brand Management* Digital Marketing* Design and Production* Distribution and SalesFor more details, visit www.fwcollective.com

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

School of Fashion and Textiles Lecturer.Taught units on luxury and marketing across both the Bachelor and Masters streams of the Fashion Enterprise program.

Australia

Jonathan Liang is a ready-to-wear contemporary label with distribution in Asia and Europe. As co-founder and head of development, I am responsible for the operations, marketing, HR, finances, and third-party relations across sales, partnerships, and investments. I have developed the core brand direction, all digital and traditional communication strategies, supply chain, and partnerships whilst liaising virtually with the label's geographically dispersed team regarding strategic direction. Selected Responsibilities:• Development of scalable and sustainable supply chain to meet the development of new market categories and growing product mix.• Creation and development of brand’s web and social media strategy inclusive of Chinese orientated channels (Weibo, Weixin/Wechat).• Designed, coordinated and successfully pitched collaborations with major retailers (Uniqlo Japan, Lane Crawford, NAF NAF), electronics organisations (HTC), and other synergistic markets.• Development of extensive global distribution network with partnerships across press, sales agencies, key media and KOLs.• Established CRM (Filemaker) and data analysis processes to create stronger decision-making with a focus on ROI and financial efficiency.

Australia

In Latin, Dūcere means ‘to lead’. This is mirrored in Dūcere’s philosophy; to transform education and change lives through an unequalled approach to global leadership and learning.As a primary academic for Ducere Business School (partnered with the University of Canberra), I was responsible for course development, webinar delivery, and assessment review across the bachelor program within entrepreneurship and innovation. Past unit responsibilities include "Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship", "Business Model Development" and "Applied Entrepreneurship."

Australia

During my time at AMXANDER, I was responsible for all key strategic, creative and financial decisions for the firm. Select responsibilities included project management, merchandise optimisation, global business infrastructure, hiring, sales and coordination of all offline and digital marketing activities. Selected Achievements:• Established all digital touch points as B2C relationship and sales channels to facilitate e-commerce strategy, which generated over 30% of brand's gross revenue in launch year. • Developed China-orientated wholesale network through careful selection of partnerships and a stringent focus on localised PR strategy.• Co-ordinated and established third-party relationships across key local and international media/platforms, including Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, Shanghai Fashion Week, VAMFF (Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival), i-D Magazine, The Woolmark Company, Vogue, GQ and Harper's Bazaar.• Established supply chain and manufacturing infrastructure with a focus on lean production, scalability and sustainability.• Nominated as Australian menswear finalist for the Woolmark Prize, an esteemed international award for young designers, previously won by the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, in 2017/18.• Nominated for the Australian National Designer Award in 2018, alongside being a finalist in Lane Crawford's Creative Callout Program in 2018.• Advocated and organised government support grants for growth expenditures, which saved the firm 30% in cost per annum.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

'd.d collective' is a Malaysian high-street apparel company with 5 retail outlets in Malaysia and Singapore. As the business manager for d.d collective, I was responsible for the improvement of the entire value chain, including the: (a) Development of local and international wholesale market strategy, including increasing brand equity, value perception, and sales amongst target market. (b) Analysis, strategy, and execution of operational improvements across front-line retail, product development, merchandising and marketing. (c) Overall fiscal performance and health of the company. (d) Management and training of team of eight within headquarters, whilst reporting directly to the director. Selected Achievements:• Developed and led company rebranding strategy to reflect changing customer sentiments and signal need for organisational restructure.• Continuously achieved record sales with the highest gross monthly sales reaching +48% above company's 8-year historic performance. This was made possible through operational improvements across the product, merchandising, and marketing departments.• Increased gross operating margin by +52% across the first half of 2016.• Developed new promotional/discount merchandising systems to assist in maximisation of net profit margin, which in turn decreased inventory by 40% in a short time frame to reach optimal stock holding levels.• Planned and implemented new website, which increased conversions via customised UX by +25%. Subsequently achieved 165% of target web sales for month following launch. • Redevelopment of digital strategy across social media, web and EDM platforms, including UI, UXD, content planning and ROI tracking.• Achieved wholesale performance by 500% within first season at the firm, through partnership, curation and development with Asia partners.

Melbourne, Australia

As an academic tutor, I am responsible for the facilitation of tutorials within the Department of Business and Economics. In the past, I have organized and developed tutorial content for subjects within the Department of Management & Marketing including 'Consumer Behaviour'​, 'Product Management'​, ‘Internet Marketing’, ‘Retail Management’, 'Strategic Marketing'​, 'Advertising and Promotions' & ‘Organisational Behaviour’. Achievements:• Developed and assisted in judging the preliminary rounds of ‘The Internet Marketing Business Proposal Competition,’ which subsequently won a Business/Higher Education Round Table Award.• Contributed to the development of subject guides and assessments, inclusive of marketing rubrics and content across responsible units.• An average rating of 4.5 (out of 5) across all 'Subject Evaluation Surveys' with responses accumulated from over 300 students.

Melbourne, Australia

As a project manager, I was responsible for leading a team of five during the development of the client’s e-commerce and POS information systems. The team and I conducted business analysis and subsequently usability testing to provide a customized solution based on client needs. In addition, we developed an optimisation strategy for the client to enhance traffic via a renewed social media strategy.Achievements:• Optimisatised strategy for client has driven web traffic growth and update of client’s online delivery service.• Continuation plan organically increased customer likes, followers and traffic through social media outlets.

Masters, Management (Marketing)

Master Of Science (M.Sc.), Exchange Program

Bachelor, Information Systems