Posted Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Jeffery Kong is a Canadian designer born in Kingston, Jamaica. He graduated from the prestigious Royal College of Art in London, England with a Master’s Degree in Design (Fashion). He was awarded First Prize for Great Britain in the acclaimed Concours Internationale des Jeunes Createurs du Mode during his first year at the R.C.A. Jeffery has worked extensively internationally in all areas of women’s and men’s fashion design including, apparel and accessories. His experiences includes all levels of markets including, Luxury, Designer, Bridge, Contemporary, Vertical and Department Stores.
He started his career in 1984 after initially studying Fashion Design and Merchandising at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute with the opening of a concept store called Virtually Unknown featuring Toronto’s then up and coming fashion students just turned designers. He then worked for his uncle who was one of Canada’s prominent designers to the country’s social elite, Winston Kong. It was during this time that he had his eyes set on Europe and decided to further his studies at the Royal College of Art in London, England. He was employed at Gilmar Divisione Industria SpA. in Italy to design for the Iceberg brands. At Gilmar, he spent 8 years building and developing the strategies and sensitivities of brands. Jeffery collaborated and developed the international jeans collections licensed and distributed by the company with notable designers Anna Sui, Christian Lacroix and Marc Jacobs.
Jeffery has since worked for Emanuel – Emanuel Ungaro, Escada, CityDKNY, St. John Knits, Elie Tahari. He was the Creative Design Director of Escada Sport in Munich, Germany. And recently, Brand Ambassador and Creative Design Director (Apparel, Accessories and Home) of Simply Vera/Vera Wang at Kohl’s Department Stores.
Jeffery’s interests outside of his work include photography, candle making/aromatherapy and esoteric healing. He is also a Reiki master. This dedication to a zen existence has also inspired him to value social responsibility and an environmental awareness in his work.
“Fashion has to deeply consider the amount of waste it produces,” he says. “We have a responsibility to resource wisely and design with a creative and tight eye. There is simply too much product.”