DONGHUA University boasts the most academic resources in fashion. It is exceptionally prominent in majors such as apparel engineering, art design and environment design.

The university has a strong connection with fashion brands, which exposes students to successful designers and the business side of the industry.

Swarovski-Donghua University Center for Creative Design has played a leading role. Students are offered the chance to use Swarovski elements in their designs.

By presenting students the chance to create with crystal and supporting them with practical knowledge and equipment, the center is endeavoring to nurture the best and brightest in tomorrow's fashion scene.

To celebrate the university's 60th anniversary, more than 50 students and teachers from the school spent six months to complete a silk reeling machine.

Taking an ancient reeling machine as an original model, the piece features more than 40,000 precision cut crystals. Its market price is estimated at about 50,000 yuan (US$7,868).

"It's a great combination of ancient textile culture and modern international fashion," says Li Suqin, a teacher from DHU.

"Crystal has always been something glamorous and eye-catching. It marks the bright years our university has been through."

Since its establishment five years ago, the center has cultivated more than 1,000 fashion students whose works have been displayed shoulder to shoulder with works from international designers in Austria.

An exhibition featuring designs from the past five years continues through the end of November at Shanghai Textile Museum in DHU.

Outstanding works by fashion graduates have been collected to celebrate the close ties between the university and Swarovski.

The museum is a good place to learn about the history of textiles in China and its development.

Ancient Chinese textiles, costumes, silk embroidery and clothing are exhibited year round.

The museum also helps students understand where Chinese fashion has come from so that they can take it to the next step.

DHU is also working hard to realize a shift from the idea of "Made in China" to that of "Created in China."

DHU, which specializes in textile research and fashion design, also partnered with Youngor Group to set up a Menswear Research Center.

The center integrates research and production, and is the first professional institute in China devoted to the systematic study of menswear fashion trends, brand management, sales procedures and personnel training.

The students also benefit from the Donghua University-Decathlon Joint Workshop, which gives them insight and inspiration.

Enterprising spirit

DHU's reputation has spread and even students not coming from a fashion major are now eager to give the industry a try.

Wang Xiaolong graduated from DHU last year. As a major in information management and information systems, Wang showed no sign of creating a fashion brand and developing new collections.

But now he owns a children's wear empire.

Formerly working at a library, Wang says he had no pressure and no passion for his work.

"The job was so quiet and was without any zeal," he says. "That made me impatient. I always felt choked with excitement when reading a biography of a successful businessperson.

"But my parents wanted me to have a stable job and, of course, to stay healthy."

Although knowing it was a big risk to start from scratch, Wang did not give up on his dream.

After having a heart-to-heart talk with his parents in March, his confidence and passion finally moved them.

"My parents' attitude changed. More than just giving me support orally, they even spoke to my relatives to raise 200,000 yuan to start my business," Wang says.

"The support of my family has given me energy. I then started plans and building my team."

Thanks to DHU's encouragement, Wang and his peers are always well prepared to take on new challenges. Soon, he found two university alumni - one an industrial design major, the other had the same major as him - interested in the idea.

After doing some research and analysis, they worked out a detailed business plan for building an e-commerce website selling self-designed children's clothing.

"We all love kids," Wang says. "Creative children's wear can bring a green and healthy life to them at the most beautiful moment of their life.

"Our ultimate goal is to establish a dream world for children. You might laugh at it now but who knows it may come true."

Step by step, they founded the company called "Hisun" in July with a registered capital of 250,000 yuan.

The team is now busy working on T-shirt designs for kids and building an online shop to be launched next April.

According to Wang's vision, T-shirts are just a stepping stone to success.

In the future, the team will develop a full range of clothes, from jackets to underwear and eventually toys.

"My major has equipped me with a strong e-commerce sense. That gives me an advantage that other fashion majors don't have - the edge of IT knowledge," Wang says.

"In terms of our limited start-up fund, we developed a business-to-consumer model to save costs on store rent and human resources. It also benefits younger parents, who like to shop online."

As DHU's recent graduates fight for their future, many of the old alumni are now among the main force in Shanghai's fashion circle.

Ziggy Chen is a good example.

After graduating from DHU in 1994, Chen, the head designer of Decoster, has now strived to become a domestic heavyweight in the fashion industry.

The fashion label, with a history of more than 10 years, boasts about 60 stores across China.

What started out as womenswear now includes menswear and lifestyle products.

Presenting his new high-end line Decoster Concept for the first time at Shanghai Fashion Week recently, he recalled that his days at DHU had built a solid foundation for his career.

"My university days seem like a long time ago, but I remember them well," he says. "I've been keeping in touch with my teachers and classmates.

"It always makes me excited to see or hear of younger alumni getting involved in the fashion business. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary, I'd like to wish all of them success and best wishes for the university."

The enterprising spirit of DHU students has even received attention from the government.

Li Yaoxin, director of Changning government, says that the district government believes DHU will reach its goal of being a high-class university that takes a leading role in China's fashion industry that will eventually be influential globally.

To show the local government's concrete support to DHU's fashion majors, it is encouraging students to start their own businesses.

The local government has given 4 million yuan to the DHU Students Venture Capital Fund.

The fund now has 12 million yuan and it is the biggest start-up fund for students in the district.

High-tech park

It was in 1997 that DHU's Science and Technology Park was established. It was later acknowledged as a national university science and technology park by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education in 2002.

By the end of last year, it was home to 136 registered enterprises with an output value of 3.6 billion yuan and 2,015 employees including recent college graduates.

The park has helped connect the business and academic worlds, gather talent and incubate new enterprises.

The local government has also provided 4 million yuan to both East China University of Political Science and Law and Shanghai University of Engineering Science.

Donghua University

Donghua University (DHU), formerly China Textile University, was founded in 1951. Located in the downtown area of Shanghai and adjacent to Hongqiao Economic Development Zone, DHU is one of the state's key universities directly under the Ministry of Education.

Its feature disciplines, such as Fashion Design, Textile Engineering, International Trade, Material Science and Information Technology, have a good reputation both domestically and abroad.

It has now developed from a mere textile-oriented university to today's multi-disciplinary university, with a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs across a vast field of disciplines including engineering, economics, management, literature and art, law, science and education.

It has 15 colleges and schools, offering five state key disciplines and seven Shanghai municipal key disciplines. For the past 60 years, it has cultivated more than 170,000 talents for all walks of life.

There are more than 1,200 faculty and staff, and over 30,000 enrolled students at DHU.

DHU also successfully hosts international conferences and forums in the fields of textiles, fashion and materials.

As early as 1954, DHU commenced to accept international students, who were among the first group of overseas students enrolled by Chinese universities. To date, DHU has had students from over 100 countries and regions enrolled in its various programs.

Almost all undergraduate programs, postgraduate and research programs are open to international students. Besides, non-degree programs including Chinese language programs, degree-preparation programs, advanced study programs and a variety of short-term programs are available to international students.