New York Fashion Week launches first Tmall China Day

Global Business

New York Fashion Week launches first Tmall China Day

The fashionistas of the world have descended upon the streets of Manhattan to take in New York Fashion Week. The biannual event has increasingly been a place for Chinese designers to make their mark. A new collaboration between the organizers of New York fashion week and Tmall hopes to bring greater awareness of China’s design talent.

CGTN America’s Karina Huber reports.

China and the U.S. fashion industry have long been intertwined. For decades, many of America’s top designers have manufactured their goods in China. More recently Chinese designers have been coming to the U.S. to showcase their looks.

To further foster that relationship, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, or CFDA, has teamed up with Tmall and Suntchi, a Shanghai based fashion management company to create the first Tmall China Day at New York Fashion Week.

“I think the perception in the United States is that China is a manufacturing country. I don’t think there is a high level of understanding of the creativity that exists there,” Steven Kolb, president of the CFDA said . “So, for us it’s really to elevate creativity to bring Chinese creativity to New York, expose designers to the American industry.”

Four Chinese brands focused mainly on menswear were chosen to be a part of the first China Day event. They included sportswear giant Li-Ning.

“We really want the world to see that we are using our hearts in our design and our innovation and the breakthrough so we can bring the brand to an international stage,” Feng Ye, general manager of e-commerce at Li-Ning said .

Capitalizing on the See-Now, Buy-Now movement, most of the garments seen on the New York runway were available immediately on Tmall after the show.

“Chinese – we know there are a lot of trendy elements. It will also be accepted by foreigners. So we also hope that foreign consumers can like them and can purchase them through our platform,” said Jessica Liu, President, Tmall Fashion & Luxury

Kolb said the collaboration also seeks to help American designers grow their customer base in China by giving them a better understanding of how Tmall works.

“My guess is that many designers are going to see the value of Tmall and what they can do to reach a Chinese consumer through Tmall so it’s a great opportunity,” Kolb said .

This first China Day was all about the men. But next September, the ladies take center stage. That’s when there will be another China Day at New York Fashion Week – this time featuring Chinese designers making womenswear – a much bigger and high profile market.


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