Simon Collins
Founder & CEO | Fashion Culture Design Series & Principal | The House of Collins consultancy
Simon Collins Founder and CEO of the Fashion Culture Design Series, and Principal of The House of Collins consultancy. He is a creative seditionary, design thinker, speaker, educator, writer, designer and advisor. Following a career as a fashion designer then creative director for some of the world’s leading brands including Nike, Polo and Zegna, he recently spent 7 years as Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design where he successfully turned the quiet design school into a global mega-brand that partnered with luxury conglomerates like Kering and LVMH.
During his Parsons tenure, Collins was named one of the first 500 essential voices of global fashion by The Business of Fashion and as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine. His Chinese CCTV6 show “Creative Sky,” enjoyed a regular audience of 5 million though its five seasons.
In 2014, he published his first book “The School of Fashion,” which detailed the history of 30 notable Parsons alumna, from Donna Karan to Alexander Wang. He also established an onstage Conversation Series where he interviewed guests such as Victoria Beckham, Francois-Henri Pinault and Giancarlo Giammetti.
In 2015, he stepped down from the role of dean at Parsons and joined the school’s Board of Governors. Now, in addition to sitting on corporate and non-profit Boards, he has established the consulting agency, The House of Collins. Through this he advises global brands, institutions, fashion weeks (including NY, China, Seoul), and governments around the world.
Collins writes for publications like the Wall Street Journal, Business of Fashion, The Impression and At Large magazine, and he frequently comments on design in the media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN and NPR. Collins also speaks at major global conferences including the Cannes Lions in France and at the United Nations in NYC.
In 2016, Collins launched the Fashion Culture Design Unconference in New York, the first major global summit for actual creative discussion, ideas and problem solving. FCD NYC was highly successful and is now moving around the world.
Simon Collins has spent his career creating beautiful solutions. He is passionate about great design and he travels the world speaking about his adventures.
