China's Vipshop partners with London Fashion Week

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 26, 2018

London Fashion Week is ramping up its efforts to target Chinese consumers and has unveiled a new deal with China-based e-tailer Vipshop.

The strategic alliance is a win-win for the two partners as the London-based designer community gets more access to a massive international market while Vipshop boosts its fashion credentials.

Under the terms of the deal, Vipshop will target consumers with information about the products and brands shown at LFW and there will also be a tailored event for the e-tailer taking in fashion, beauty and hairstyling. The deal will also include fashion-art exhibitions in Shanghai and other initiatives.

Vipshop will be the exclusive e-commerce partner of London Fashion Week in China and the partnership is expected to offer greater global exposure to Chinese brands as well, according to reports.

The e-tailer has been carving out a much higher profile in the fashion arena as its sales and profits have risen in recent periods. In its latest set of results for Q3, it reported an almost-20% surge in profits on an EBITDA basis to CNY3.5 billion (£396 million). 

And late last year, tech giants Tencent and JD.com said they would invest $863 million in the company, giving them a combined stake of 12.5%, as part of their own plans to increase their fashion offer.

That deal also gave Vipshop’s VIP.com site a place on JD’s mobile app main page and its WeChat page, as well as driving traffic to it from Tencent’s social media app. Those developments will also be important for London Fashion Week too as it widens its Chinese exposure.