Bio
Dr. Ping Wu, left a privileged family of generations of prominent western-educated medical doctors in China, and chose to come to the US alone at the age of 17, for her dream of independence and the pursuit of a field unknown to China at the time - Physical Rehabilitation. Graduated as one of the youngest honor students from a top 10 Physical Rehabilitation program in the US at 21, she has been a licensed Physical Therapist in the states of CA, IL and NY, with experience in acute, subacute, outpatient, adult care, home care, neuro, ortho & geriatric rehabilitation.
She discovered the field of design during her spare time as a therapist, and decided to pursue it professionally in a non-English speaking fashion capital in Europe. Based on her pure raw talent, she, the only student in the program without any formal art / design training, was admitted to the prestigious Italian fashion design school Istituto Marangoni, Milan, interned with Luisa Beccaria in Milan and with BLESS in Paris.
Fresh upon her graduation, Ping was invited among seven other top fashion designers in China to participate in the Qi Pai Cup National Costume Creation Contest during Beijing’s International Fashion Week in 2007. Subsequently, she was selected and invited twice by its French judge and salon directors to Premiere Classe in Paris, France, in September 2007 and January 2013. In 2009 she was a semi-finalist in the Ecco Domani National Design Competition in the US. The next year, she was selected as the first native Chinese contestant and the only designer from Midwest for the American TV show Project Runway season 7. In 2011 she quit being a full time physical therapist at Stanford University Hospital Palo Alto, California, to move back to New York City in order to better pursue her passion in design. She became a chosen vendor for QVC USA in 2013. In 2015, she received Ornament Magazine Sponsored National Prize for Excellence in Art to Wear at the prestigious Philadelphia Museum Art and Craft Show. In 2016, She received her post-professional doctoral degree in Physical Rehabilitation at SUNY Stony Brook. In July 2018 and February 2020, her transformable accessory designs brought her two utility patents in U.S.A..
During the pandemic, she left her job at Kaiser Permanente and returned to China to be with her family. Touched by her aging parent's caregiving situation, she leveraged her knowledge of physical therapy, entrepreneurship and design, and created a cost-effective Geriatric Health and Wellness Management Model during her short stay. She submitted it for a Global Innovation Competition in China, competing with the elite doctors and PhD's in various scientific fields. Out of 378 submitted projects, her model was selected as the the final winner in Oct 2021. Currently, she resides in Marin County, California.
She discovered the field of design during her spare time as a therapist, and decided to pursue it professionally in a non-English speaking fashion capital in Europe. Based on her pure raw talent, she, the only student in the program without any formal art / design training, was admitted to the prestigious Italian fashion design school Istituto Marangoni, Milan, interned with Luisa Beccaria in Milan and with BLESS in Paris.
Fresh upon her graduation, Ping was invited among seven other top fashion designers in China to participate in the Qi Pai Cup National Costume Creation Contest during Beijing’s International Fashion Week in 2007. Subsequently, she was selected and invited twice by its French judge and salon directors to Premiere Classe in Paris, France, in September 2007 and January 2013. In 2009 she was a semi-finalist in the Ecco Domani National Design Competition in the US. The next year, she was selected as the first native Chinese contestant and the only designer from Midwest for the American TV show Project Runway season 7. In 2011 she quit being a full time physical therapist at Stanford University Hospital Palo Alto, California, to move back to New York City in order to better pursue her passion in design. She became a chosen vendor for QVC USA in 2013. In 2015, she received Ornament Magazine Sponsored National Prize for Excellence in Art to Wear at the prestigious Philadelphia Museum Art and Craft Show. In 2016, She received her post-professional doctoral degree in Physical Rehabilitation at SUNY Stony Brook. In July 2018 and February 2020, her transformable accessory designs brought her two utility patents in U.S.A..
During the pandemic, she left her job at Kaiser Permanente and returned to China to be with her family. Touched by her aging parent's caregiving situation, she leveraged her knowledge of physical therapy, entrepreneurship and design, and created a cost-effective Geriatric Health and Wellness Management Model during her short stay. She submitted it for a Global Innovation Competition in China, competing with the elite doctors and PhD's in various scientific fields. Out of 378 submitted projects, her model was selected as the the final winner in Oct 2021. Currently, she resides in Marin County, California.