In one way or another, top international designers have been working for Chinese brands for decades. What was less common was their willingness to reveal these relationships to the wider fashion industry, with hires usually hidden behind non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). That reticence is now fading, as two high-profile names have broken with tradition and publicised their latest gigs on the mainland.
When Kim Jones and Kris Van Assche, both former creative directors at LVMH brands, revealed late last year that they had been hired by Bosideng and Anta respectively, it was big news, says Emmanuel Hemmerlé. “Previous hires [that Chinese firms made public] were not as well-known or as prominent.”
Hemmerlé, an executive search specialist who has lived in China for over 20 years, says local companies found it even harder to lure big international names to the country after the onset of the pandemic. But now a “new recruitment era” is underway, with Louis Vuitton and Dior Homme alumni designing for mass-market brands headquartered in cities such as Shanghai and Jinjiang. Designers even use their own social media accounts to shout about the new roles.
It wasn’t always this way. “A decade ago, there was a kind of hesitation — or even stigma — attached to saying you were working with a Chinese company. That was largely due to outdated perceptions about quality, originality or the creative culture there,” says British fashion designer Daniel Fletcher who now serves as creative director at Guangzhou-based fashion label Mithridate, noting a shift in how designers view Chinese brands.
Working relationships were traditionally kept under wraps because “designers didn’t fully recognise the long-term value or brand-building capability of Chinese groups,” contends Laura Darmon, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Envision. But now there’s a “clearer understanding that Chinese companies can build brands at scale, with global ambition and professional execution.”
Light-touch collaborations helped set the stage for closer ties between foreign creatives and Chinese corporates a few years back, from Stefano Pilato’s 2020 capsule for Li-Ning to Coperni’s 2024 collab with Mo&Co. Bonds also formed as Chinese-owned luxury brands installed Europeans in top design positions, such as Peter Copping at Lanvin and Gabriele Colangelo at Giada.
The biggest change of all, however, has been the rise of ‘brand China’. Chinese fashion brands like Songmont and Icicle have become increasingly visible and desirable overseas, while cool lifestyle brands including Hey Tea and Pop Mart have raised the bar in terms of product development and campaigns that generate global hype. Once this credibility was established, the need — and desire — for secrecy diminished for many overseas creatives.
Headhunters say the evolution of the Chinese luxury market is another factor. Valentina Maggi, director of creative practice at recruitment firm Floriane De Saint Pierre & Associes, notes that China’s role in the global fashion industry is no longer exclusively commercial. European luxury groups have moved beyond a narrow focus on retail investment, increasingly channelling resources into creative partnerships, research and cultural marketing.
At the same time, a new calculus has emerged among top-tier fashion designers, with some prioritising financial security over reputational risk. Being well paid by a company with a strong standing — Chinese or otherwise — offers stability at a time of reduced budgets, market uncertainty and heightened volatility in the wider world.
“Of course economics play a role. For the designer, it’s a guarantee of resources and longevity; for the brand, it’s a form of legitimisation through name recognition and global press traction,” states Darmon, pointing out that hefty fees can persuade designers to agree to disclose their gigs in China and actively promote them.
Even high-risk deals have a greater chance of being publicised in the current climate. “In my opinion, designers now know how hard it is to maintain a position long term so they’re far more open to taking a job from a brand with little or no positioning and working towards elevating it,” Darmon adds.
Alice Bouleau sees few drawbacks to recent pairings in China but is eager to stress that designers — no matter where they work — should be afforded the time they need to settle into roles and build collections.
“I think any possible backlash these designers get just depends. The industry can be so judgmental. Everyone needs grace and time to do what they do and develop their voice,” says Bouleau, Paris-based founder of talent agency The Arrow, which represents creative directors Paul Andrew and Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymour among others.
Another factor making top talent more receptive to working openly in China is last year’s so-called ‘great fashion reset’, which saw mega-brands from Chanel to Dior embark on high-profile designer reboots, leaving some creatives without a role.
In a market where a relatively small pool of star designers circulates among major houses, senior positions have become not only harder to land but also increasingly rigid and tied to delivering rapid returns on investment.
The result of these shifts is a widening field of recruitment opportunities beyond Europe, often in Asia and especially in China where major designers already enjoy strong name recognition. But how do such deals materialise in the first place — and what is their long-term impact on careers and brand equity?
Kim Jones, Creative Director, Bosideng’s Sub-Label Areal
Founded in 1976 by Gao Dekang, Shanghai-based Bosideng now operates over 3000 stores. In October, the brand best known for down jackets and performance outerwear, tapped Kim Jones to lead a new high-end ‘urbanwear’ line called Areal.
One of the first Chinese brands to make good on its global ambitions, Bosideng currently sells in 72 countries and last year reported sales over $3 billion. Before recruiting Jones, it hosted numerous events during fashion weeks in London, Milan and Paris. There was also precedent for hiring foreign talent in Pietro Ferragina, who now serves as creative director, as well as high-profile collaborations with the likes of French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier a few years earlier.
“[Jones] arrives with one of the strongest pedigrees in contemporary luxury, making this move not a ‘collaboration’ but a brand-defining creative leadership role,” states Maggi. “This marks a new career direction with the opportunity to build an influential narrative from scratch in the world’s most dynamic fashion market.”
Jones’ reputation was established through top menswear roles at Louis Vuitton and Dior, as well as womenswear and couture positions at Fendi. His appointment at Bosideng’s Areal is emblematic of big-name hires of the past who would have been paid a substantial fee and kept quiet about it. Instead, Jones made the role public on his studio’s Instagram account, a move that suggests he’s either not shy about the relationship or was contractually obliged to disclose it.
For Bosideng and brands like it in China, the primary contribution of such hires is “building long-term brand equity and continuous brand elevation,” Hemmerlé says.
Jones’ motivations are less obvious. “I thought it was quite interesting working with a brand that people wouldn’t expect. That’s something I like to do,” said Jones in a promotional video about his new role on Bosideng’s website. Jones could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
Some say the writing was on the wall after his exit from Dior Homme in January last year. At subsequent public events, the British designer often spoke of finding freedom in Asia-based projects after nearly two decades of gruelling full-time routines in Europe.
While the international response to the partnership — and the capsule collection resulting from it — has so far been muted, insiders say it will not dent Jones’ standing among China’s fashion elite. Bosideng declined BoF’s request to comment on the relationship.
Kris Van Assche, Collaborations Designer, Anta’s Sub-Label Antazero
Fixers and matchmakers are often key to Chinese brands securing high-profile designers from the West. Raysun Shi, a consultant at management firm International Brand Investment Corporation, is widely reported to be behind the Kim Jones deal, while fashion media veteran Dan Cui was Anta’s intermediary for Belgian designer Kris Van Assche.
Cui, who has known Van Assche for several years, began working with the Chinese activewear giant after launching a sustainability consultancy during the pandemic. “As a consultant, my purpose is to make Anta’s sustainability initiatives more successful business-wise so I knew it had to be a big name with international impact and a special experience in luxury from a very mature Western brand,” Cui said on a call together with Anta’s chief marketing officer Lydia Zhu.
Zhu conceded that there were challenges finding “a big name in the fashion world” given Anta’s mass market positioning, but said it was the right time to persist.
The Antazero x Kris Van Assche collection launched in November across selected retailers, including pop-ups at leading Chinese malls and multi-brand stores such as Xintiandi in Shanghai and B1ock in Hangzhou, as well as overseas locations like Dover Street Market Paris.
“I am always happy to take on new challenges if they allow me to learn something new. Like here, with Antazero,” said Van Assche in an interview with Chinese media outlet Kism. “The rhythm I was on before never really allowed for analyses. I believe I now better understand who I am and want to be as a designer.”
After serving as creative director at Dior Homme, Van Assche became artistic director at Berluti, a role he held until 2021 when he stepped back to focus on creative projects including the publication of a book.
“It’s probably exciting for Kris…as his last big job was Berluti, which was quite traditional in terms of product,” says Jo Gilmore, managing partner at London-based recruitment company Talent Atelier, adding that Anta got access to talent from maisons with “an incredible legacy”.
For Anta, the partnership presents an opportunity to explore Western markets in earnest. “It’s the first time to open up to wholesale globally so it’s a milestone and a test case to see if it can make an impact in Europe and what the reactions are,” says Zhu.
The Van Assche appointment also underscores Anta chairman Ding Shizhong’s broader global ambitions. Ding founded the sportswear brand in 1991 and built parent Anta Sports into a company with a market capitalisation of around US$28 billion, making waves through international M&A targets along the way.
In 2019, an Anta Sports-led consortium acquired Finland’s Amer Sports, the owner of international brands like Salomon and Arc’teryx. Anta Sports also owns Fila and Jack Wolfskin among others. Earlier this month, the group reportedly offered to buy a stake in Germany-based Puma from the Pinault family.
Daniel Fletcher, Creative Director, Mithridate
Guangzhou-based Mithridate opened 2025 by hiring Daniel Fletcher, a British designer who served as the creative director of Italian house Fiorucci from 2019 to 2023.
Founded in 2018 by chief executive Tina Jiang, Mithridate has three stores in China. She also leads parent company Mithworld, which launched a namesake brand around six years earlier and now has a network of more than 200 stores.
One year into his new gig at Mithridate, Fletcher is learning Mandarin and cites the speed and efficiency of his Chinese counterparts as positives in the job. “You can prototype, develop, and refine ideas very quickly, which is a dream for a designer,” he says.
Under Fletcher, Mithridate has focused on a pop-up strategy and held a Paris showroom. The brand has remained on the London Fashion Week schedule following an official debut in September 2024.
Gilmore contends that Fletcher’s Mithridate role affords him access to bigger budgets than he might otherwise have in similarly positioned brands in the West.
Jean-Paul Knott, Consultant, Ellassay
One international hire who proved his value to Chinese employers long before the rest is Jean-Paul Knott. The Belgian designer started his career at Yves Saint Laurent, where he worked for over a decade, and later held director roles at Krizia, Louis Feraud and Cerruti. Now he works for Shenzhen-based Ellassay.
“He’s been part of our story for a long time,” says Dusen Wang, Ellassay Group’s vice general manager, noting that Knott started consulting for the brand in 2004, even though it wasn’t widely known until years later. “We are building a Chinese-rooted yet globally competitive fashion group and that’s why keeping an international perspective has always been essential to us.” The group’s Laurèl brand unveiled a high-end Atelier line during Paris Fashion Week in October.
However successful — or not — these varied cross-border recruitments prove to be, it’s clear that the tide is turning in favour of Chinese brands, a growing number of which are equipping themselves with the means to play on the global stage. The only downside, suggests Hemmerlé, is that increased international competition could make it harder for young Chinese talent to climb the local design ladder.