January 18, 2018
China's Chenpeng is a featured designer of the CFDA's Tmall China Day. Image credit: Chenpeng
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is leveraging New York Fashion Week: Men’s in February as a platform to introduce Chinese designers to international markets.
Together with Shanghai’s Suntchi Brand & Technology Co., and in association with Alibaba-owned Tmall, the CFDA will organize the first “Tmall China Day” during the week-long schedule of collection presentations. Part of the CFDA’s five-year partnership with Suntchi, the effort is designed to build a connection between the Chinese and American fashion communities.
Fashion bonds
For the first Tmall China Day, four designers and brands have been hand-selected to showcase contemporary Chinese fashions. Participating designers include Li-Ning, Peacebird, Chenpeng and Clot.
The advisory board to select the four designers featured Steven Kolb, president and CEO of the CFDA; Jessica Liu, the president of Tmall Fashion & Luxury; Lv Xiaolei, or “Madame Lu,” the vice secretary-general of Shanghai Fashion Week and Paul Fang, CEO of Suntchi.
Supporting the effort further is Justin Berkowitz, fashion director for men’s at Bloomingdale’s and T Magazine China, a strategic media partner and its editor in chief Dan Cui.
“China Day allows us to further expand the scope of NYFW: Men’s by showcasing the most exciting Chinese fashion talent to the American fashion community,” said Mr. Kolb in a statement for the CFDA.
“The initiative is part of CFDA’s overall strategy to build international ties, which will in turn help us strengthen the impact of American fashion globally,” he said. “We thank Suntchi and Tmall for their support in making Tmall China Day happen.”
Tmall China Day will feature an event series during NYFW: Men’s. On Feb. 7, participating designers will hold hour-long runway shows and presentations at the Skylight Modern. From Feb. 5-7, the designers will hold a group presentation at an exclusive space showcasing the China Day concept.
An exclusive showroom for media and buyers will also be set up during this time.
The designers’ presentations will be recorded and broadcasted to shoppers the next day using a see-now, buy-now format. Many of the pieces shown during Tmall China Day will be available via the ecommerce retailer’s Web site following the show.
Tmall is the exclusive Chinese ecommerce partner for NYFW: Men’s. The partnership aims to promote a greater exchange between the Chinese and U.S. fashion industries.
“We are proud to work with CFDA and Suntchi to make Tmall China Day a reality at NYFW: Men’s,” said Ms. Liu in a statement for Tmall. “Our goal is to foster up-and-coming Chinese designers and help them get more international exposure, as well as showcase established Chinese brands and help them expand their global growth channels.
“As the leading B2C ecommerce platform in China with more than 500 million active users, Alibaba empowers brands with the consumer insights and technology needed to grow their businesses globally,” she said. “We look forward to working closely with CFDA and Suntchi to make Tmall China Day a success this February.”
The CFDA’s British counterpart, the British Fashion Council (BFC), recently entered a partnership with Chinese ecommerce player JD.com to bring up-and-coming labels from the United Kingdom to China.
Through its partnership with JD.com, the BFC will help talent engage with the Chinese market on a scale that may be unobtainable for independent labels (see story).
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