Caroline Swee Lin Tan

Associate Professor Caroline Swee Lin Tan

Associate Professor
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Details

Open to

  • Masters Research or PhD student supervision

About

Dr Caroline Swee Lin Tan is an Associate Professor and Program Manager of the Master of Fashion (Entrepreneurship) at RMIT University. Known to colleagues and students as Carol, she is a recognised expert in fashion entrepreneurship and fashion business, providing frequent commentary on entrepreneurship, sustainability, and the evolving fashion landscape. Her expert insights are regularly sought by Australian and international media, including ABC, 7 News, Science & Vie (France), and Newsweek Japan.

 

Research and Impact 💡

 

Since 2003, Dr Tan has been a leading researcher on the success factors driving Australia's fast-growth small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Her work is published across peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and industry reports, and appears consistently in top-tier Q1 journals.

 

A hallmark of her research leadership is her collaborative approach: she has a proven record of mentoring postgraduate students and emerging researchers to publish at the highest academic level. She has served as a Chief Investigator on competitive grants and major government-industry partnerships, notably with the Queensland Government and Kmart, as well as projects supported by the Australian Fashion Council.


PhD Supervision and Expertise 🎓

 

An experienced supervisor, Dr. Tan has successfully supervised eight PhD candidates to completion and currently supervises four more. Her doctoral supervision spans diverse interdisciplinary topics shaping the future of fashion and entrepreneurship, including:

 

  • Sustainable business model innovation
  • Heritage entrepreneurship
  • Blockchain adoption and supply chain transparency
  • Virtual luxury fashion
  • Consumer behaviour in second-hand luxury markets
  • Circular economy applications in fashion

 

Consultative Expertise and Industry Engagement 🤝

 

Beyond academia, Dr. Tan undertakes consultative work in customer insight and experience strategy. Her practice focuses on identifying target market segments, developing customer personas and journey maps, and analysing consumer pain points to guide business growth and brand positioning.

 

She is also the Lead Editor of the Routledge textbook Fashion Entrepreneurship: Principles and Practice (2026), leading the project from concept through to publication. She authored six chapters (including two co‑authored chapters) and curated a network of expert contributors to bridge academic research with industry relevance.

 

Leadership and Teaching Excellence ⭐

 

Dr. Tan’s commitment to high-quality education is demonstrated through multiple institutional and national awards, including:

 

  • RMIT Program Award for Innovation in Curricula, Learning and Teaching
  • RMIT Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
  • Academic Staff Three-Minute Presentation Award

 

Under her leadership, the Master of Fashion Entrepreneurship program gained global recognition as the ICSB Global Entrepreneurship Education Excellence Award (Graduate Program Category) and was selected to represent RMIT in the AFR Higher Education Awards for excellence in industry engagement.

 

Dr. Tan's commitment to excellence in education is demonstrated by multiple teaching awards, including the RMIT University Program Award for Innovation in Curricula, Learning and Teaching and an RMIT Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (with Dr. Saniyat Islam).

 

Selected Awards and Recognition 🏆

 

  • 2025 International Council for Small Business (ICSB) Global Entrepreneurship Education Excellence Award (Graduate Program Category, with Dr. Saniyat Islam)
  • 2025 RMIT Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (with Dr. Saniyat Islam)
  • 2024 School of Fashion and Textiles Student Experience and Engagement Award
  • 2017 School of Fashion and Textiles Award for High Good Teaching Scale (GTS) Scores
  • 2013 RMIT University Award for Innovation in Curricula, Learning and Teaching
  • 2013-2014 College of Business Award for High Good Teaching Scale (GTS) Scores
  • 2011 Winner of the RMIT Business College 3 Minute Project Presentation
  • 2011 RMIT College of Business Learning and Teaching Award (Program Category P5 - Innovation in Curricula, Learning and Teaching)
  • 2010 RMIT School of Management Nominee for the Learning and Teaching Award
  • 2007 Finalist - RMIT University Outstanding Thesis
  • 2005 Winner of Innovation Award (Student Category) RMIT Research Awards
  • 2005 Finalist - Mary Kay Doctoral Dissertation Competition (Academy of Marketing Science Conference)

 

Public Scholarship & Authoritative Opinion ✍️

 

 

Media and Expert Commentary🎙️

 

Dr. Tan is a trusted expert voice in the Australian fashion sector, providing regular commentary on fashion entrepreneurship, consumer behaviour, and industry trends. Her public scholarship for The Conversation is noted for its high engagement and global reach, successfully translating complex research for a broad international audience.

 

Print and Online Media (selected publications) 

 


Radio broadcasts (selected):

 

 

UN sustainable development goals

  • 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Supervisor projects

  • Research proposal for Sustainable Transformation of Unreal Fur
  • 2 Mar 2026
  • Project 1: Sustainable business model innovation as growth enabler in tech SMEs
  • 29 Sep 2025
  • The Development of a Heritage Entrepreneurship Model for the Preservation of Indonesian Javanese Batik
  • 26 Aug 2025
  • Drivers of Generation Z's Online Second-hand Luxury Fashion Consumption in China
  • 19 Feb 2024
  • An Exploratory Investigation into Waste Management in the Fashion and Textile Industry of Bangladesh through a Circular Economy Perspective
  • 31 Jul 2023
  • Virtual Consumption in Luxury Fashion Brands: Consumer’s Purchase Intention of Virtual Fashion in the Virtual World
  • 15 Dec 2021
  • Blockchain Adoption for Circularity: Transforming Fashion Supply Chains through Traceability and Transparency
  • 5 Aug 2021
  • Mapping the Fashion Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Saudi Arabia: Impacts on Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business Performance of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises
  • 8 Oct 2019
  • An Empirical Investigation of the Antecedents and Outcomes of the Customer Experience for Consumers Purchasing Fashion Products from Social Commerce Platforms in China
  • 21 Aug 2019

Teaching interests

Dr. Tan teaches within the Master of Fashion Entrepreneurship program, which is designed to interrogate and challenge the fashion system by grounding students in practical, strategic, and innovative business principles.

 

She leads two key courses in the program:

 

1. Fashion Entrepreneurship (Introductory): This foundational course helps students cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, equipping them with the tools to evaluate and seize new business opportunities in the fashion industry. Students gain essential networking skills by engaging directly with established fashion entrepreneurs across diverse sectors.

 

2. Fashion Venture Creation (Capstone): This course is the program's capstone experience, requiring students to synthesise theory and practice by developing and critically analysing their own fashion venture. Students must develop a comprehensive venture launch plan, focusing on critical analysis of growth opportunities, market entry strategies, and testing the feasibility, viability, and desirability of a new brand, product, or service in the global fashion business environment.

 

Research interests

Dr. Tan's research is broad and interdisciplinary, focusing on the future and strategy of the fashion industry:

 

  • Fashion Entrepreneurship & Business Strategy: Fast-growth Companies, Fashion Business, Circular Economy in Fashion, Strategic Orientation, Marketing Strategy, Competitive Advantage.
  • Market Dynamics & Consumer Behaviour: Fashion Consumption, Luxury Fashion, Entrepreneurial Marketing.
  • Methodology & Analysis: Qualitative Research, Multi-variate Data Analysis, Mixed Methods.

Initiatives and links

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