Alibaba Group’s Tmall, China’s largest consumer platform for brands and retailers, announced that it has become an official partner of New York Fashion Week: The Shows, in association with Suntchi, to help US designers and brands leverage Alibaba’s scale and technology to reach the China market for the first time.
As part of the collaboration, Alibaba has selected designers from NYFW to be featured in Tmall’s 2017 second-annual ‘see-now buy-now’ fashion show, a global fashion event taking place this October in the run-up to Alibaba’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, the biggest shopping day in the world.
Last year, Alibaba livestreamed this event to seven million viewers and featured more than 50 international brands.
By collaborating with Alibaba, leading US designers such as Opening Ceremony and Robert Geller will gain first-time exposure to the more than half a billion consumers visiting Alibaba’s platforms.
In an effort to encourage cross-cultural exchange between the U.S. and China, the partnership will also introduce “NYFW: China Day,” a unique event featuring leading Chinese designers selected from the Tmall 2017 ‘see-now buy-now’ fashion show, during NYFW: The Shows in September 2018.
“We are thrilled to support NYFW: The Shows to bring U.S. brands and retailers the ability to reach the ever-growing Chinese consumer base,” said Michael Evans, Alibaba Group President. “Alibaba’s scale, technology and deep consumer insight provides brands and designers with truly unique offerings to engage with consumers in the world’s largest market in new and innovative ways.”
“We started Opening Ceremony 15 years ago, inspired by a trip we took to Hong Kong. With family roots grounded in China, it is so exciting to partner with such an impactful company like Alibaba to share our story and expand our global footprint,” said Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, founders of Opening Ceremony.
“We are excited to start building our brand in China, and tailoring our shopping experience using Alibaba’s innovative technology to make our brand more accessible to the growing base of Chinese consumers, which is critical to our global expansion,” said designer Robert Geller.
