Simon Lock

Simon P Lock is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Ordre, a business-to-business online wholesale marketplace for luxury designers. It comprises over 100 women’s, men’s and accessories designers who present online showrooms seasonally to an invitation-only network of 6,000 buyers representing over 2,700 department stores, multi label boutiques and online retailers in 93 countries. Ordre’s technologies allow buyers to comprehensively review collections and place wholesale orders online when they can’t always physically touch and feel collections.

A graduate of La Trobe University in Melbourne, Lock began his career working in the Australian branch of renowned creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi in 1985. In 1987, Lock was appointed to managing director of Harrison Communications before launching his own agency in 1989. Having established a number of event management companies such as the Spin Communications Agency and Propeller Productions, Lock launched Australian Fashion Innovators in 1992 to create the country’s first fashion week. The inaugural event was held in 1996 and quickly aligned itself to global fashion schedules, launching the international careers of designers such as Sass & Bide and Collette Dinnigan. In 2005, AFI was sold to IMG International, with Lock taking up the position of senior vice president and managing director of the group’s Asia-Pacific operations until 2010.

Lock is the founder of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia and has been creative director of Dubai Fashion Week and Singapore Fashion Week. He is a former senior vice president of IMG Fashion & Models, a recipient of the Australian Fashion Laureate in 2011 and best-selling author of “In The Front Row.”