Introduction:
Rong Jake Chen is the founder of two-time Woolmark Prize nominee, Amxander - a successful menswear brand based in Australia. He is also the director for Jonathan Liang, a ready-to-wear womenswear label based in Paris.

He was born in a small city in Fujian (China) and moved to Melbourne when he was 4 years old. Then studied at the University High School in Parkville in their accelerated program subsequently studied his bachelors in Henformation System at the University of Melbourne. Upon graduating, he decided to enroll in the Masters of Management program at Melbourne Business School. During his post-graduate studies, He did an exchange at HEC Paris, one of the leading business schools in Europe for a semester.

AMXANDER was born as a small experiment – playing actively with graphics and prints, in small run t-shirts and sweatshirts. Jason Pang, the other co-creative and business partner at AMXANDER, and he met by complete whim and kicked it off – thinking it would be fun to test the local market. As this slowly progressed through time, they began working into contemporary collections about 5 seasons ago, which was always part of our plan. Our vision is simple – to create a sense of escapism for men and women, who want to imbue another idea of ‘identity’ onto themselves.

Work within the apparel/fashion industry was something novel and was vastly different from what all my friends were doing at that time, so He pursued it further. He definitely enjoys the flexibility of the role and the achievement he feel when something good happens. He have been with ‘Jonathan Liang’, a contemporary womenswear label, since 2011. He have been consulting and acting as the business manager for a Melbourne menswear label, AMXANDER, since 2013. Currently he is establishing a consultancy agency for young labels (with other perks included) named the Forward Collective at the moment as well.

His ideas about fashion:
1.Australian is ready for its retail boom. The above points relate well but additional advice is to create opportunities for yourself, if none present themselves to you. However, it’s also very easy to fall into the belief that Australia is like the bigger European and American markets – don’t be fooled – Australia is very different.

2. Don’t ignore the Asian markets, although dwindling slowly, the market itself still represents a major consumer market. To reach these far away markets – don’t underestimate the power of digital marketing. You’ll notice the best performing retailers and brands are those who are able to capture the attention of the consumers via their social and brand presences online.

3. Instagram is now a staple for the fashion industry, with it being a completely visual platform. Not only this, instagram is also a platform that allows people to access the lives of many celebrities and as we all know, celebrities are almost crucial in allowing any product to stay relevant and be consumed (as unfortunate as that is).
The brands that really know how to use it will understand who their market is and who these people are following and then ensuring these relevant influencers are communicating the right message to their followers.

4. China may seem lucrative based on the growing wealth in the country, but I think brands need to reflect on their understanding of the market – it’s a completely different way of thinking, understanding and consuming over there. Too many brands rush in trying to get a slice of the pie, without fully comprehending the pulse of the market and the Chinese consumer. From communication, all the way to colour preferences – it’s definitely a different world.