Meet Zhang Ting-Ting, champion of responsible fashion in Singapore

Have you ever met someone so vibrant, so warm, and so full of hope and conviction that if they told you they planned to achieve universal Wi-Fi on Mars by 2050, you'd believe them? Zhang Ting-Ting is that kind of person. 

She speaks with eloquence and confidence, her smile always ready for anyone who turns her way. As the CEO of the Singapore Fashion Council (SFC), she’s impeccably dressed — in vintage, naturally — because her real mission is to transform Singapore into a global hub for responsible fashion.

But what exactly makes fashion “responsible”? “It’s about environmental sustainability, equity, inclusion, and representation,” she explains. “Sometimes the penny doesn’t drop until you spell it out very concretely.” 

Challenge accepted

Zhang’s background may seem at odds with a career in fashion, but her varied experiences have uniquely prepared her for the task at hand. Formally trained as an architect at the National University of Singapore and Cornell University, she earned her first stripes at Zaha Hadid Architects. 

“The first three months were really tough,” she recalls, laughing as she describes how she had to back against a wall on her first day to avoid a rampaging, screaming Zaha. “I think everyone who applies to Zaha is a little bit of an adrenaline junkie because the types of competitions and briefs we got really pushed the boundaries. We were going beyond the cutting edge and on the bleeding edge.” 

She worked alongside manufacturers, scientists, engineers, and consultants from various fields, and this exposure to a world beyond architecture broadened Zhang’s horizons. “Seeing how everything comes together gives you a healthy dose of respect for all disciplines,” she says. 

Realising she “enjoyed taking everyone’s opinions and moving them in a unified direction”, she felt pulled to explore other fields. After earning her MBA from the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, Zhang spearheaded business development and strategy at the global supply chain firm Li & Fung, gaining a deeper understanding of the fashion industry. 

She then mastered procurement at a tech startup in Beijing, launched a social-commerce fashion and lifestyle marketplace, and consulted for an education company that taught design thinking to children and youths. In September 2023, she was appointed director of sustainability at SFC and promoted to CEO just six months later. Zhang Ting Ting sure makes overachievers look like they’re on vacation. 

But it’s this drive, love of learning, and desire to connect people and things in service of a greater purpose that will help SFC reach its goals. “The SFC already had a great start with its pillars of sustainability, technology and innovation, and Asian craftsmanship. So every flagship programme we will roll out now must have that Asian identity because we’re stronger together.” 

Asia arise

For the seventh edition of its Singapore Stories initiative, which is a platform for local fashion designers to showcase their craft, SFC had, for the first time, invited several countries from across Asia and the Middle East to participate. At the Singapore Fashion Council Gala in October, 12 designers presented three looks inspired by the theme "Eternally Circular," encouraging production regeneration, reuse, and resource optimisation. 

“We also hosted a mixer before the gala for the designers to network, and everyone was buzzing with excitement, sharing ideas. One designer made a wedding gown from bed sheets, another crafted an entire outfit from tree bark,” she enthuses. “This is what we want to see — a fermentation of ideas and the coming together of minds.” 

Zhang and her team are also developing an AI-driven e-commerce platform to complement the Design Orchard Retail Store (DORS). This platform will leverage the 80-plus brands they represent and six years of collected customer data. 

“Our goal is to help each brand reach an international audience. We assist them in designing pavilions for trade shows and teach them how to craft their brand story. Instead of handing out pamphlets that often get discarded, we created stylish NFC rings that hold all the necessary information,” she explains.

In Zhang’s view, the key isn’t just about finding the right technology and identifying the correct problems to solve. On the supply chain side, the challenge is that sustainability is often seen as a hassle rather than an opportunity.

“What we can’t solve for manufacturers is trends and sales. That’s for their business unit to solve because if they’re not growing, someone else is. You can’t say the retail climate is poor because it’s not. People are buying — they’re just not buying from you,” she asserts. 

She has since identified three areas where help is needed: “They need to learn the art of luxury storytelling, manage supply chains sustainably, and enhance their technology. So now we have sustainability panels once every three to four months so that we can all learn together.” 

It’s a bit trickier for consumers since sustainable products aren’t yet competitively priced. However, Zhang advocates for a shift in consumer habits, encouraging people to embrace swapping, rental, and repair models instead.

“Singapore is already a powerful and attractive financial hub, so can we also ride on that coattails to make Singapore and SFC a springboard for innovation and proofs of concept? It will take time, but there is hope. We didn’t have conversations like this 10 years ago. But I’m an optimist who believes everything will go up quickly, like Hooke’s law. I’m just waiting for that hockey stick moment.”