On December 6, the 7th Fashion Communication Forum, themed "Fashion Culture and Communication in the Digital Intelligence Era," was held at Donghua University. Scholars and experts from leading universities including Fudan University, Xiamen University, East China Normal University, and Auckland University of Technology gathered to explore pathways for technological empowerment, innovative cultural expression, and talent cultivation strategies in fashion communication within the digital intelligence era. Ma Yingjuan, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Full-time Vice Chairperson of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Circles, and Geng Shaoning, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Donghua University Committee and Discipline Inspection Commission Head, attended the opening ceremony.
Ma Yingjuan speaking at the opening ceremony
In her address, Ma Yingjuan noted that fashion has become an integral part of Shanghai's cultural identity and way of life. As a leading academic institution and talent cradle in the field of fashion, Donghua University has consistently developed in sync with the city's progress. Ma further stated that the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Circles has long been committed to building a high-level academic exchange system. At this critical stage of Shanghai's accelerated development into an international cultural metropolis and global fashion capital, she expressed anticipation for deeper collaboration with Donghua University. Through initiatives such as organizing specialized forums on fashion communication and planning science popularization activities on fashion culture, both parties aim to jointly explore pathways that integrate fashion communication with the enhancement of the city's soft power.
Geng Shaoning speaking at the opening ceremony
Geng Shaoning welcomed the attending guests and provided an overview of the university's advancements in teaching, research, and industry-academia collaboration within the fields of digital intelligence technology and fashion communication. She noted that serving social progress by leveraging the power of education is both the founding purpose of Donghua University's Fashion Communication Forum and a fundamental mission of higher education institutions. She expressed her hope that the distinguished experts and industry leaders would share their insights, forward-looking perspectives, and practical experiences in the realm of digital intelligence fashion. She also anticipated that the forum would generate more practical outcomes, injecting new momentum into the digital and intelligent transformation of the fashion industry, thereby contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to global fashion communication.
Li Jun, Director of the Office of Humanities and Social Sciences, hosts the opening ceremony
As the digital intelligence wave reshapes the very fabric of civilization, how can historical artifacts be transformed into contemporary fashion? And how can fashion culture achieve its digital rebirth? During the keynote session on ‘Digital China and Fashion Culture’, Meng Jian, Director of the National Cultural Innovation Research Center at Fudan University; Liu Yu, Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center of Shanghai Style Fashion Design & Value Creation at Donghua University; Zhao Chunhua, Executive Director of the Fashion Communication Research Center at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology; Ma Qing, Associate Dean of the School of Media and Communication at Wuhan Textile University; and Ye Changhai, Associate Dean of the College of Humanities at Donghua University, delivered insightful presentations on topics including the fashion translation of civilization's genetic code, innovation in fashion media and culture, and the cultural articulation with social governance.
Amid a reality fraught with both crises and opportunities, in what ways is artificial intelligence transforming the fashion industry? And under the vision of harmonious integration, how can fashion communication advance hand in hand with artificial intelligence? During the keynote session on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Fashion Communication’, Chen Hong, Director of the Strategic Communication Research Center at East China Normal University; Daniel Laufer, Dean of the School of Communication at Auckland University of Technology; Peng Guibing, Deputy Director of the Research Office and Executive Deputy Director of the Shanghai Cultural Relics Rule of Law Research and Communication Center at East China University of Political Science and Law; Peng Congyang, Founder and CEO of Hangzhou Zhiyuanxing Technology Co., Ltd.; and Qi Yuanbo, Young Researcher at the Fashion Culture and Communication Research Center of Donghua University, jointly analyzed how intelligent technologies are revolutionizing visual arts, reshaping fashion connotations, creating cross-cultural aesthetic communities, and empowering the development of the fashion industry.
Returning to the core issue of talent cultivation, what new criteria for talent have emerged from the wave of digital intelligence? And how should universities define the future of education? Returning to the core session on ‘Fashion Industry and Digital Intelligence Education’, speakers offered practical insights for cultivating fashion communication professionals in the digital intelligence era from perspectives including industry-education integration, curriculum system reconstruction, and cultural identity reshaping. The distinguished speakers included Zhao Zhenxiang, Deputy Director of the International Communication Research Center and Director of the Fashion Communication Research Center at Xiamen University of Technology; Liu Qiong, Dean of the School of Literature and Communication at Hunan Women's University; Wu Qi from the School of Fashion Communication at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology; Tian Zhiwei, Editor-in-Chief of <Another Man (China Edition) >; Roger Tredre, a London-based fashion industry consultant, senior editor, and Course Leader of the MA Fashion Communication program at Central Saint Martins; Yang Taolian, Head of the Department of Communication at the College of Humanities, Donghua University; and Han Yanchao, Young Researcher at the Fashion Culture and Communication Research Center of Donghua University.
The forum was hosted by Donghua University and organized by its College of Humanities, the Fashion Culture and Communication Research Center, and the National Language Promotion Base. In recent years, Donghua University has actively integrated digital intelligence technologies into the entire process of fashion communication teaching and research, continuously building a talent cultivation system that integrates industry and education as well as science and education. This effort aims to provide a strong workforce for the high-quality development of the fashion industry in the digital intelligence era and to contribute wisdom and strength to Shanghai's construction as an international cultural metropolis and global fashion capital.
