ANNALISA DEL VECCHIO WRITES – The future is now and — once again –and it has an Asian look. The gigantic conglomerate Alibaba, creator of Tmall, an online retail platform based in China, is refashioning fashion.
Tmall uses an Al (Artificial Intelligence) clothing store that relies on “smart mirrors” to offer information to customers. At the same time, it makes shopping easier. New York designers are offering a conceptual video from cloud data that illustrates how Tmall “sees” the globe.
Chinese e-commerce data is fast becoming a necessary accessory to the world of fashion design. It has helped New York Fashion Weeks’ designers to establish collections that customers might find irresistible. New brands, both Chinese and global, now have storefronts on Tmall. In 2013, in fact, Tmall became the largest 3rd-party platform for brands and retailers worldwide.
Not surprisingly, Tmall has renewed its partnership with New York Fashion Week to promote China’s fashion talent. Under this evolving partnership, brands from designers such as China Cool will show their stuff at Spring Studios,
Spring Studios’ 120,000-square-foot space features eight different studios, a recently opened private membership club, a gallery and one the largest roof venues in Manhattan. It’s a hot spot these days for special events such as the Independent Art Fair and now the New York Fashion Week.
Already “Tmall China Cool” made its first appearance at Milan Fashion Week in late July, where Yirantia and Shushu/Tong, two Chinese emerging brands, debuted their latest spring-summer 2020 collections, alongside established luxury brands such as Prada, Dolce&Gabbana, Versace, Fendi, and Valentino. And so, as the collaboration matures, Chinese fashion designers will reach an international audience.
This is extremely important, and not just to the Chinese. New York Fashion Week has long been a hallmark of creativity and imagination, but it has faced challenges integrating technology.
Now, according to Alibaba’s vision, the Tmall data-driven platform can be used by designers to predict the future of fashion investment and to help designers with storefronts get ahead of competitors. Already, data from over 674 million consumers who are active throughout the year has helped keep customers loyal as well as spread the word, globally, in new fashion trends.
Tmall plans to launch an annual half a million collections based on trend forecasts. Already, the platform has promoted designers such as Angel Chen, JNBY, and Particle Fever. Soon, more young designers and brands will be able to reach across the globe, and into the pocketbooks, of the global community.