Mr. Maurizio CASTELLOPartner, Head of Fashion & Luxury PracticeKPMG Advisory S.p.A.

Mr. Maurizio Castello is an advisory partner at KPMG and heads its fashion and luxury practice as well as the strategy group within the Transaction & Restructuring division of KPMG in Italy. He is also an Italian member of KPMG’s Global China practice.

Prior to joining KPMG, Castello spent 12 years in management consultancy at AT Kearney and at Bain & Co in Italy.

Castello has more than 10 years experience in advising fashion and luxury brands and has an extensive track record in leading commercial and operational due diligence assignments as well as corporate strategy redefinition projects; turnarounds; national and international corporate re-organisations and restructurings; cross border mergers and business modelling and planning for financing and refinancing purposes.

Speaker Profiles

Mr. Tao CHENPresidentNew Silk Road

In the past 20 years, Mr. CHEN Tao has been dedicated to the investment and research of brand consumption, clothing and fashion industry. Thus, he has accumulated abundant experience in the areas of investment and merger of enterprise, strategies layout, brand building, market promotion, as well as the operation of media and cultural industry. Besides, Chen has been successively appointed as general manager and chairman of China Tuhsu Sunry Development Co., Ltd., manager and chairman of China Tuhsu Snow-Lotus Co., Ltd., and vice general manager of Strategy Department, China Tushu. Currently, he is pursuing international EMBA in National School of Development at Peking University, and meanwhile, serving as president of New Silk Road Model Organization.

Speaker Profiles

Prof. Piergiorgio DAL SANTO PresidentPGDS Consulting

Piergiorgio Dal Santo is president of PGDS Consulting, a Milan-based boutique firm providing product, brand and consumer business strategy advice for growth-oriented luxury, fashion and accessory companies.

PGDS has successfully researched, developed and launched accessory product lines in fashion, perfumes and cosmetics, jewellery, eyewear, footwear and leather goods through specialty retail and ecommerce channels worldwide. Clients include top international luxury and fashion brands, manufacturers and retailers.

Dal Santo is a Visiting Professor in Fashion Marketing and Fashion Licensing at the University of Padua as well as at Fondazione CUOA in Vicenza, Italy. He also leads eMBA seminars in Luxury Brand Management at the International University of Monaco in Montecarlo and Jiao Tong University in Shanghai and is a frequent guest speaker at industry events.

He has over 20 years of sales, marketing and licensing management experience at top European and international luxury and fashion brands. Dal Santo earned a BBA degree in Marketing from Texas Tech University in the United States and speaks fluent English, Italian, French, Spanish and German.

Speaker Profiles

Mr. Abdul Basir HOTAKPresidentHerati Cashmere and Skin Processing Plant (HCS)

Mr. Abdul Basir Hotak is the owner of Herati Cashmere and Skin Processing Plant (HCS), the only cashmere processor in Afghanistan and one of the leading exporters of cashmere materials from the country. Hotak has been in the cashmere business since 1999 establishing cashmere processing facilities in Herat, Afghanistan, with an investment of US$3 million.

Over the years the company has acquired an in depth knowledge of the business and in 2007 HCS established a cashmere scouring line. It exports raw cashmere, in scoured and greasy form, to China and Europe through subsidiaries of its trading company: Zubair Hotak Import & Export Co. Ltd.

HCS has recently started producing hand-spun cashmere yarn and hand-knitted wear. With the assistance of ASAP/USAID, it has recently established a cashmere dehairing line, the first such facility in Afghanistan.

Hotak was born and raised in Wardak Maidan province of Afghanistan, and received his primary and secondary school education in Kabul followed by a bachelor’s degree in electronics techniques from Kabul State University.

Prior to getting involved in the cashmere and skin trading businesses, Hotak worked for nearly 10 years as a government employee. Over the years he has established good working relations with reputed cashmere and skin companies in different countries.

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Dr. Carol KERVENDirectorOdessa Centre Ltd

Dr. Carol Kerven is a British social scientist who has worked for more than 30 years as an applied researcher in agricultural and livestock development, first in Africa, and since 1995 mostly in former Soviet Central Asia and western China. She is currently the director of a research and consultancy firm, Odessa Centre Ltd. in the United Kingdom, which specialises in livestock production systems in semi-arid rangelands.

Since 2000, Kerven, together with colleagues from several regions has carried out numerous projects on cashmere goats, farmer training and marketing in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and has published a number of development and scientific articles on the characteristics and marketing systems of cashmere in Central Asia.

Kerven has worked for governments, international donor agencies, NGOs, private consulting firms and research institutes. She was formerly editor of the journal Nomadic Peoples, and is currently co-editor of a new peer-reviewed journal Pastoralism – research, policy and practice.

In 2007, the Odessa Centre organised the first international meeting on Asian cashmere, held in Kyrgyzstan and funded by the UK Department for International Development, USAID, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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Dr. Nora KRAVISCreator and founderChianti Cashmere

Dr. Nora Kravis grew up in New York and, studied Fine Arts at the Tyler School of Art in Rome, then moved permanently to Italy in 1972 where she completed a degree in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pisa. She has worked as a veterinarian since 1979, based in Tuscany.

In 1995 she imported the first herd of cashmere goats from Scotland and has worked on genetic improvement of her herd since then, using stringent criteria to increase and improve production, implementing laboratory results with state of the art reproductive methodology. Her farm in Radda in Chianti, Italy is a reproductive centre for selected cashmere goats and a point of reference for Sustainable Livestock Grazing projects now being considered for use on a provincial, regional and national level.

Her cashmere yarn and hand-knitted and hand-woven finished products are marketed under the trademark SUSTAINABLE CASHMERE.

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Ms. Muan LAMAccount SpecialistWGSN

WGSN is the world’s leading fashion and style forecaster. Our 38,000 customers across the apparel, style, design and retail industries, from major international brands to individual designers, trust us to provide accurate trend forecasting, insightful trend and market analysis, global fashion expertise, research and strategies on products, brand extensions, market opportunities and branding.

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Dr. Antonino LASPINAItalian Trade CommissionerItalian Trade Commission

Dr. Antonino Laspina has been the director of the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) office in Beijing and the coordinator of ICE offices in China since 2003. He is a strong supporter of the fashion industry in China and in 2007 Laspina was honoured by the organising committee of China Fashion Week as one of the “10 greatest international friends” of China fashion.

Laspina graduated with honours in Political Science from the University of Catania followed by postgraduate courses in Foreign Trade.and Diplomatic and International Careers.

He joined ICE in 1981 and after a stint in Rome and Seoul, South Korea, was appointed director to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and later to Taipei, Taiwan.

In 1998 he returned to Rome and was appointed director of the Department for Promotion and Cooperation in 2000.

Since 2008, he has been a member of the board of directors of the University of Kore in Enna, Italy.

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Mr. Brad J. LEDERMANManaging DirectorFibre Resources Group

Mr. Brad Lederman was born and educated in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. He started out in his family textile manufacturing and import business in the late 1970s, initially in the US and later in Prato, Italy and Hong Kong.

In the early 1980s Lederman managed a raw material trading company based in Prato which specialised in cashmere by-products and in 1984 he started to buy and trade cashmere and specialty raw materials processed at origin. In 1987 he became manager of purchasing and quality control of Fibre Resources and later became managing director responsible for purchasing and finance. The Group, now has offices in Italy, Hong Kong and China.

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Dr. Gianpietro VERONESEFashion Marketing LecturerRaffles Design Institute

After over 15 years of experience in the fashion, lifestyle and art industries, Dr. Gianpietro Veronese moved to China where he has been working for the past five years in the distribution of well-known overseas apparel and interior decoration brands. His focus is mainly in the areas of marketing, product presentation, branding and training and this work has helped him gain indepth knowledge of the local market.

He has had several successful collaborations with American, European, Australian and Japanese suppliers (Adidas, Nike, Pointer, Insight, Ksubi, Edwin, Sass & Bide, Cheap Monday etc. for fashion and accessories; Sacho, Methaphore, Zuber, Fiorete, Maya Romanoff etc. for interior decoration), helping them establish in China.

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Mr. Karl SPILHAUSPresidentCashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute

Mr. Karl Spilhaus is president of the Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute, the leading authority on domestic and international issues concerning luxury fibres that was established in 1985.

Spilhaus, who has more than 30 years experience in the textile industry is also president of the National Textile Association (NTA), the largest association of textile companies in the United States, with members active in every sector of the textile industry as well as related supplier industries. As NTA president he serves as an advisor for bilateral and multilateral textile agreements and negotiations and is on numerous committees and boards for textile-related organisations.

Spilhaus is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania as well as the New England School of Law. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and a Marine Corps veteran.

Speaker Profiles

Mr. Dajun YANGPresidentUnited Times Associates

An acclaimed expert in brand management for the textile and clothing retail industry in China, Mr. Yang has helped many international brands establish a presence in China.

In addition to his role as president of United Times Associates Greater China, Yang is principal of US UTA Fashion Management School and general manager of Italian LEBELLEFORME Fashion Design Group in China.

Yang is credited with introducing the Speciality Retailer of Private Label Apparel Merchandise Management System into original Mcom™ platform which has helped many enterprises achieve remarkable growth and awareness in the market in China.

Yang graduated from an art university in 1990 then went on to study at Toronto Raschel Management School specialising in clothing design followed by retail management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

He served as Chief Designer in the Sports Knitwear Department of Tommy Hilfiger Clothing Company Canada Division, and later as retail manager in Hong Kong Jeanswest Group. Since 1998 he has focused more on consulting and training, offering his expertise to a range of international and local brands to establish in China.

Speaker Profiles

Mr. Francis YÜKSenior Vice PresidentWorldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)

Mr. Francis Yük has worked in the manufacturing, international trade and quality audit industries for over 30 years and joined WRAP as Senior Vice President in 2009. His passion is to help improve factory working conditions and the environment. Yük graduated from the Hong Kong Technical College’s Wool Technology and Textile Department in the early 1970s and then went on to receive a Master of Science degree in Textile Sciences from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom followed by post-graduate research at the Cotton Incorporated Research Institute in Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States. He is an ISO 9000 certified auditor, a Fellow of the Textile Institute and a Fellow of the Institute of Management.

Yük began his career as a mechanic and chief engineer for vertical textile manufacturing facilities in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. His international merchandising career started with the Dodwell Hong Kong Buying Service, also known as Inchcape Buying Services which became part of the Li & Fung Group. Yük later joined the Australian retail chain, Myer Emporium Buying Offices now part of the Coles Group, as Regional Manager for their China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan buying operations.

Yük subsequently joined SGS, and later Intertek Testing Services in the United States. Most recently, Yük was President of Supply Chain Services with Intertek, Consumer Goods Division, and the CEO of SgT Group.

Speaker Profiles