Four Chinese brands make debuts at New York Fashion Week

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China’s designers, including mainstream brands Li Ning and Peacebird, and independent brands Chen Peng and CLOT by Edison Chen, showcased their new designs on the runway at the New York Fashion Week: Men's Tmall China Day.

The event was hosted by Alibaba's T-mall, the e-commerce giant in China, on Feb. 7.

The show was regarded as part of T-mall’s effort to introduce native Chinese brands and designers to global buyers, influencers and editors as well as to cultivate New York labels in the Chinese market via its e-commerce platform.

For some New York-based private brands, the 500 million daily active users of T-mall are a treasure.

Internet personality Cameron Dallas attends the show. /VCG photo

“China Day has been based on the successful 'See Now Buy Now' model, which means that after the opening, millions of customers across the world will have real-time access to live footage and photographs as the event unfolds on T-mall's dedicated 'China Day' page,” Jessica Liu, the president of Fashion & Luxury of T-mall, told China Daily.

In this case, most of the pieces shown during China Day will be available on T-mall’s platform immediately afterwards.

Among brands shown on the runway, CLOT is a street style label and lifestyle brand established in 2003, aimed at combining Eastern and Western cultures.

The founder of Li Ning, named after the former Chinese Olympic gymnast, once shocked the world by winning six Olympic medals, including three golds, during the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Prior to 1984, China had never won any Olympic medal.

People take photos in front of the logo of Li Ning, a pun meaning flying feather as well as flying armor, before the show opens. /VCG Photo

To better introduce themselves into the Western market, pieces of Li Ning and Peacebird made for the runway presented nostalgic elements from the 1980s and Taoism, a religious tradition emphasizing living in harmony.

With the booming of the Chinese fashion industry, many brands have been introduced during the fashion week via e-commerce platforms.

The China Day event echoes strategies that another Chinese e-commerce giant, JD.com, pursued in 2015, bringing three Chinese designers to Milan Fashion Week. In 2016, JD then brought five private brands to the New York Fashion Week.