CFDA partners with Chinese retailer

The Council of Fashion Designers of America has announced that it is partnering with Chinese online retailer Shangpin.com, to help American designers develop their businesses in China. The deal marks the CFDA’s first partnership in China,

and will see Shangpin supporting CFDA designers in developing their businesses in China through marketing and public relations programmes that will allow American designers to promote themselves in the Chinese media and to the Shangpin’s affluent customer base.

The Chinese e-commerce site, which has more than 3 million high-end customers, currently already works with CFDA designers such as Diane von Furstenberg, Milly by Michelle Smith and Stuart Weitzman, and the plan is to have more CFDA brands on the site by the end of the year.

David Zhao, CEO of Shangpin, said: “China is a challenging market to enter because there are limited distributors to cover such a large geographical area.

“This is why e-commerce in China, much more than in the West, is the most effective distribution and marketing platform for designers who want to reach Chinese regions where traditional brick-and-mortar stores do not exist.”

“Shangpin currently sells into more than 400 cities across China and has a pulse on the evolving Chinese consumer.”

Steven Kolb, CEO of CFDA, added: “For us, this is a real opportunity not just for advice on the Chinese market, but also for the [CFDA] designers doing business in China to [gain] knowledge about Chinese e-commerce and doing business in China.”