Parsons Paris offers a global perspective on fashion design

Paris Fashion Week got off to a positive start with plenty of fresh and light collections for spring-summer 2014. Alexander Wang's second collection for Balenciaga was a triumph. It showed that a young New York designer educated at Parsons The New School for Design, with parents from Taiwan, can successfully take the reins at a storied French couture house.

After the Balenciaga show, I meet Simon Collins, the dean of fashion, at the new Parsons Paris campus on rue Saint-Roch, just a stone's throw from the Louvre. Before coming to Parsons, Collins worked in Hong Kong for several years as creative director at Nike Asia Pacific.

"Parsons has been in Paris since 1921, so we've been here for the long haul," says Collins. "In fact, the famous Parsons table [an icon of modernist design] was created here in reaction to the Beaux Arts."

Although Collins directed the design of the small campus venue, this is the first time he has seen it completed and fully operating. This September marks the official opening of the school's new building and programme - a project that started about five years ago. It is open to local and international students and is a part of the school's new global initiative.

"It marks the beginning of our efforts to create a network of hubs in cities around the world where students can fluidly engage both on site and online throughout the course of their studies, and prepare for careers in the creative industries in a global context," says New School president David Van Zandt.

This European hub of Parsons is hosting a series of exhibitions timed to coincide with Paris Design Week and Paris Fashion Week.