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Tmall, Mitsubishi Chemical make heat-generating fabric
28 Sep '19
2 min read
Pic: Alizila
Tmall and Mitsubishi Chemical, one of Japan’s top textile makers, have joined hands and developed a thin, heat-generating fabric to help people stay warm in the winter without bulk. Tmall will market the material through a series of campaigns in the run-up to November’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival to promote the warming wear on its platform.
The tie-up marks the latest move by Tmall’s new trend-forecasting centre, which helps fashion brands sell into China through additional services, such as providing data-driven market insights, finding upstream fabric manufacturers and rolling out marketing campaigns to drive sales.
“We are committed to helping our partners discover and anticipate customers’ demands and capitalise on market opportunities,” said Jessica Liu, general manager of Tmall Fashion and Luxury.
“Based on our platform’s big data and consumer analytics, we’ve found that textiles are a deciding factor for many (fashion) categories, such as innerwear,” she said, adding that brands are increasingly looking to upgrade the materials they use to design garments as consumers become more selective.
The new co-developed fabric, dubbed “Celwarm,” uses heat-generating particles to absorb and trap heat rays from the sun and incandescent light bulbs, as well as specially engineered fibres to enhance its anti-static capabilities. This helps consumers avoid getting shocked by static electricity, which is common in the winter.
Tmall’s trend-forecasting unit will also offer data-driven market insights and predictions to help Mitsubishi Chemical to better reach Chinese consumers, while connecting the company with fashion brands and designers selling on the B2C shopping site to create finished products, such as thermal undergarments and socks.
“With Tmall’s market insights, we can accurately identify industry pain points and develop new fabrics to address consumers’ demands,” said Takao Kawasaki, general manager of Fibre Materials at Mitsubishi Chemical. “This will help us continuously deliver high-quality and comfortable material to customers in different seasons.”
Vero Moda, Only, Selected and Jack & Jones, owned by Danish clothing company Bestseller, and Chinese intimate apparel brands Bananain, Miiow and Maniform, were among the first to sign on and leverage the warming fabric in their designs. Some products have already debuted on Tmall, while others are expected to hit the market soon.
The tie-up marks the latest move by Tmall’s new trend-forecasting centre, which helps fashion brands sell into China through additional services, such as providing data-driven market insights, finding upstream fabric manufacturers and rolling out marketing campaigns to drive sales.
“We are committed to helping our partners discover and anticipate customers’ demands and capitalise on market opportunities,” said Jessica Liu, general manager of Tmall Fashion and Luxury.
“Based on our platform’s big data and consumer analytics, we’ve found that textiles are a deciding factor for many (fashion) categories, such as innerwear,” she said, adding that brands are increasingly looking to upgrade the materials they use to design garments as consumers become more selective.
The new co-developed fabric, dubbed “Celwarm,” uses heat-generating particles to absorb and trap heat rays from the sun and incandescent light bulbs, as well as specially engineered fibres to enhance its anti-static capabilities. This helps consumers avoid getting shocked by static electricity, which is common in the winter.
Tmall’s trend-forecasting unit will also offer data-driven market insights and predictions to help Mitsubishi Chemical to better reach Chinese consumers, while connecting the company with fashion brands and designers selling on the B2C shopping site to create finished products, such as thermal undergarments and socks.
“With Tmall’s market insights, we can accurately identify industry pain points and develop new fabrics to address consumers’ demands,” said Takao Kawasaki, general manager of Fibre Materials at Mitsubishi Chemical. “This will help us continuously deliver high-quality and comfortable material to customers in different seasons.”
Vero Moda, Only, Selected and Jack & Jones, owned by Danish clothing company Bestseller, and Chinese intimate apparel brands Bananain, Miiow and Maniform, were among the first to sign on and leverage the warming fabric in their designs. Some products have already debuted on Tmall, while others are expected to hit the market soon.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)
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