Natacha Van is a distinguished fashion designer and the founder of her eponymous brand, established in 2015. Born in Hong Kong, and with a multicultural heritage that blends Cambodian, French, and Chinese influences, Natacha’s background has significantly shaped the identity and aesthetic of her designs.

Natacha discovered her creative talents at a young age, exploring various artistic disciplines such as ceramics, oil painting, textiles, and photography during her studies in the UK. She further honed her skills in fashion styling, photography, and fashion design, graduating from the prestigious Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Within just two years of launching her brand, she showcased her collections at the major fashion weeks in London, New York, Milan, and Paris.

A recurring theme in Natacha’s work is the concept of fairy tales. Drawing inspiration from diverse myths and stories, she aims to educate and inspire the next generation, encouraging them to engage with contemporary societal issues. Each collection is imbued with a narrative that reflects both Natacha’s personal experiences and her artistic vision.

Currently based in Hong Kong, Natacha continues to embark on an evolving creative journey, both for herself and her brand.

KAWAkEY is a genderless label founded by an art collective based in London and Helsinki, led by fashion and textile designer Key Chow and artist-photographer Jarno Leppänen. Since 2016, their collective has been creating fashion, textiles, photography, films, and performances – showcased worldwide at fashion weeks, film festivals, performance venues, and galleries. Rooted in Scandinavian and Asian heritage, KAWAkEY reimagines everyday wardrobe staples through bespoke fabrics and hand-drawn prints that evoke emotions and ideas.

Key graduated from the Royal College of Art in London with a Master’s degree in Fashion Menswear (Knitwear). He was nominated as one of the Vogue Talents by Vogue Italia and was a finalist at the H&M Design Award for his graduate collection, which was also selected for exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo in Paris and Kensington Palace in London. Afterward, he worked for J.W. Anderson before founding KAWAkEY. He is a recipient of Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award.

With more than three decades of experience in various corporate leadership roles with firms like Procter & Gamble, Avery Dennison, Cisco and now the Fung Group, Martin understands how to work with corporate leadership to turn ideas into new businesses which generate real revenue and profits.  In addition to teaching at Fuqua for nearly a decade, Martin has been collaborating with university programs in the US and China to deliver business focused experiential learning programs for nearly 20 years.  

With a strong background in organizational development and business innovation, Martin loves to find new ways of creating new value and developing talent along the way. During his last 20 years in Greater China, Martin has been building partnerships with corporates like Intel, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Honeywell, etc. to create and deploy new tools that bring startups, corporates and academic programs together to benefit all.

Alexander Li was appointed the Director and Head of Retail, Hong Kong & Macau at Hongkong Land Limited in September 2023. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the Company’s retail portfolio and operations in Hong Kong and Macau.

Prior to Hongkong Land, Mr Li held several senior roles at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, most recently serving as Group Strategy Director. Earlier in his career, from 2015 to 2017, he was in senior audit and finance positions within the Jardine Matheson Group.

Mr Li holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Cambridge and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the EMBA-Global Asia Program jointly offered by Columbia Business School, London Business School and the University of Hong Kong.

Currently serving as an Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong, Esterina is also the Associate Director of the Institute of Global Governance and Innovation for a Shared Future, Co-director of the New Frontiers in Professional Communication Lab (NFPC), and the Associate Director of the Sales and Marketing Consulting Unit (SMCU).

Esterina is a Junior Adjunct Professor of Intercultural Communication and Language Variation at the Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia in Italy, an International Research Fellow at SEGi University in Malaysia, and an invited External Member of the Research Centre for Professional Communication in English at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her PhD in Applied Linguistics from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which focused on digital transformation in the luxury sector, underscores her expertise in this field.

Her industry experience is equally impressive, having taught media and business communication at the university level and worked for Italian fashion and tourism companies. Currently, she is also involved in contract research and consulting projects which highlight her commitment to advancing the luxury sector’s social responsibility. Esterina is frequently invited to share her expertise on luxury, fashion, sustainability, and discourse studies by institutions across Asia and Europe. Her notable contributions include a Tatler feature as an expert in digital and luxury, a study with KPMG China on luxury consumption, and a feature in KPMG France’s first luxury report.

Since 2014, Esterina has collaborated with the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong and the Italian Institute of Culture in Hong Kong, supporting events related to academic research, fashion, sustainability, and culture. Her recent engagements include speaking at the Fashion Summit, hosting fashion and communication series, and presenting at the Fashion Film Festival Milano event in Hong Kong.

Anna is Founder and Creative Director of pioneering sustainable denim brand E.L.V. DENIM. Prior to founding the brand Anna had been a fashion editor for twenty years at publications such as Exit, and i-D Magazine. She then went on to be Fashion Director at Lula, and Fashion Director-at-Large at Australian style title fashion RUSSH before deciding to focus solely on the brand in 2022. Taking everything she had learnt across her styling career, plus the common sense of everyday sustainability, Anna began developing E.L.V. DENIM.

Admiring denim as a functional and long-lasting fabric, Anna didn’t understand why the denim industry was producing 4bn pairs of jeans a year from virgin fibres. She decided to rework existing jeans into new modern, sophisticated styles that can be tailored to fit every ‘body’

As the founding deputy director, Dr. Daisy Yiyou Wang leads the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM)’s award-winning programmes in curation and research, exhibition management, collection, conservation, publication, exhibition design, multimedia, and learning. Prior to her tenure at the HKPM, Dr. Wang has served as Chinese Art Specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, Curator of Chinese and East Asian Art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Boston, and Getty Museum Leadership Fellow at the Asia Society Museum in New York. A specialist of the history of art collecting, Ming lacquer, and Qing court portraiture and textile, Dr. Wang has published in China and internationally and received a number of awards, including a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, a Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship, and a Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Award. Dr. Wang co-curated the ground-breaking exhibition Empresses of China’s Forbidden City, which was named the “Most Influential International Exhibition from Chinese Museums” in 2019 and the “Best Thematic/Historical Show” in 2018 by the Boston Globe. She co-edited this exhibition’s catalogue, which received the Smithsonian Secretary’s Research Prize. A leader in international museum professional exchange, she has served as the founding Chair of the American Alliance of Museum’s China Program.

Jennifer Droguett Espinosa is a Colombian and Chilean Sustainable Fashion Designer and Creative Director with a decade of experience in luxury fashion, specialising in sustainable, circular, and regenerative design and culture. She earned a BA in Fashion Design and Technology from AMFI in Amsterdam in 2015 and began her career at the renowned Viktor & Rolf atelier. After relocating to London, she worked for House of Holland and with emerging talents including Richard Malone, Supriya Lele, and Phoebe English. In 2019, she founded her circular label Anciela to pay homage to her cultural heritage. Anciela gets its name from her grandparents, ANgel and GraCIELA.

Prof. Joanne Yip is a distinguished researcher with a focus on medical and functional clothing design. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Textile Technology and a PhD from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Prof. Yip’s research has been recognized globally, with her being ranked among the world’s top 2% scientists by Stanford University. She has successfully secured over HK$30 million in research grants as the Principal Investigator and has collaborated with other researchers on projects with funding exceeding HK$35.2 million.

Her major contributions are in the fields of medical textiles, healthcare products, and intimate apparel and activewear. She has conducted several research projects aimed at improving the quality of life for people and enhancing patient care. These include developing functional clothing for patients with spinal deformities and an AI-assisted training gear to monitor and enhance exercise performance.

Prof. Yip’s societal impact is evident in her work with adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. She has been instrumental in designing alternative non-invasive methods to control posture and reduce spinal curve progression. Her work has been recognized by professionals in the medical field, leading to further collaborations and research grants.

In 2019, Prof. Yip founded Active Biotechnology (HK) Ltd, a start-up aimed at improving spinal conditions and posture. She has filed 13 US, China and Hong Kong patents.

Jack Wong joined Intertek in 2025 and is heading Hong Kong Softlines. Prior to joining Intertek, he was the Director of Quality Assurance at Tech-Five, where he oversaw a team of experts offering quality assurance, sustainability and business assurance solutions to companies across industries.

With over 17 years of experience in the quality assurance industry, including leadership roles at TÜV Rheinland Greater China, Jack has a proven track record of providing strategic product assurance guidance to international and domestic brands. His expertise spans compliance, sustainability, and circular economy practices, with a focus on driving measurable benefits for corporations.

Jack is a frequent speaker at workshops, where he can showcase how innovation, sustainability, circular economy, backboned by compliance, can bring benefits to corporations and sectors. Thanks to his excellent stewardship and entrepreneurial spirits, active engagement with trade unions such as Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association.

His recent innovative study covers how apparel innovation is shaping and advancing silver economy, benefiting senior adults and their caretakers; as well as assessing high performance garment using science-based initiatives.

Joshua Wong leads the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability function at The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, owner and operator of the luxury hospitality brand, The Peninsula.

With over 10 years of experience in luxury and sustainability, Joshua drives the company’s Sustainable Luxury strategy, integrating responsible practices into core operations while managing evolving environmental and social risks.

Trained in Environmental and Climate Science, Joshua combines technical expertise with business insight to deliver solutions that support long-term growth. He works closely with C-suite and senior executives to ensure sustainability is not just a compliance exercise but fully embedded in the business and brand, through regular Board and employee engagement.

His recent work focuses on sustainable finance, including securing green financing and developing strategies that enable the company’s transition to a low-carbon future. He also leads key community development initiatives such as the “Hope For” projects and vocational training programs for underrepresented communities.

Dr. Joey Chan is Market Director for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan at lululemon athletica inc., an athletic apparel company. Joining lululemon in 2021, she currently oversees market operations and drives all aspects of store performance, ensuring that business and omni-retail performances are aligned with brand executions.

With extensive experience in luxury fashion, beauty, watches and jewelry, Joey is a store-operations and retail-manager veteran. Prior to her current role, she led retail performance, operations and strategy at Cartier. Her background also includes retail-management roles at L’Oréal, Chloe, Prada, and Lanvin.

Joey holds a Doctor of Business Administration from the Swiss Business School, where she earned a Master of Applied Business Research. She also holds a Master of Science in Marketing from Napier University, UK, and a Bachelor of Psychology from the University of Alberta, Canada. Beyond her professional and academic pursuits, she is passionate about sustainability advocacy and enjoys mindfulness and fitness practices including meditation, Pilates, and running.

Dr James MacDonald is the CEO and co-founder of Solena Materials Limited, an IP spin-out from Imperial College London where he developed the technology together with his co-founders. Solena Materials uses cutting-edge computational protein design, deep learning, and automation to create high-performance, sustainable biomaterials. Under his leadership, Solena has pioneered new approaches in the development of protein-based fibres designed to replace natural and petrochemically derived materials.

Raymond Wong is the Founder and CEO of C&R Wise AI Limited. As a passionate software developer, he leads his team in developing innovative software solutions to solve complex business challenges. He is a sought-after speaker on AI topics, sharing insights into emerging technologies and their applications. Mr. Wong holds an Executive Certificate in Artificial Intelligence from the MIT Sloan School of Management, a Master of Philosophy in Computer Science, and a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honors) in Computer Engineering from the University of Hong Kong.