Zegna unveils flagship store on Tmall Luxury Pavilion

26 Dec '18

3 min read

Courtesy: Alizilla

Ermenegildo Zegna, a leader in luxury menswear, has unveiled a flagship store on Tmall Luxury Pavilion, marking the launch with an exclusive collection created with the Chinese Football Association. The Pavilion, Alibaba Group’s dedicated site for premium brands, is Zegna’s first official third-party digital channel in the market, apart from its own site.

The move comes as China is poised to overtake the US as the world’s largest fashion market next year, according to global consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

The limited-edition CFA Capsule Collection, developed specifically for the China market, includes navy and red activewear, T-shirts, jackets, sneakers and leather accessories inspired by the national football team’s off-field formal and casual attire, which have been designed by Zegna since 2016.

“Special details of clothing and accessories reference to the colours of the CFA Team China uniforms as support for the team, as they will compete in the Asia’s Top National Teams’ Tournament in January 2019,” the Milan-based group said in a statement.

Following the capsule launch, Zegna said Pavilion shoppers would be able to access a full assortment of its products by March next year.

Zegna was one of the first luxury-goods companies to enter China, opening its first boutique in Beijing in 1991. Now, China is a leading market of Zegna’s business, with a network of over 60 physical stores in 34 of Chinese cities, including remote but fast-growing locations such as Xinjiang’s capital of Urumqi.

The brand continues to embrace innovation from investing in emerging markets in Africa to advanced fabric technology. Last year, the group made the biggest acquisition in its 100-year history with the purchase of a majority stake in Thom Browne, an American designer brand recognised for its signature shrunken, slim-fit silhouettes.

Lili Chen, general manager of Tmall Luxury Pavilion, said Zegna was an iconic brand that had successfully balanced its longstanding heritage with those innovations.

“We’re confident that our partnership will allow the brand to better connect and interact with the new generation of consumers, and together explore unlimited possibilities for New Retail,” she said.

The fashion house said it would donate five per cent for each capsule item sold on the Luxury Pavilion between December 4 and January 31 to Tmall and Zegna’s fundraising programme for football lessons and the construction of a football field for a rural school in China.

Prior to the capsule collection launch, the brand also partnered with CFA on a talent-development programme that was aimed at empowering young, emerging football players launched in May. Players selected by the brand and CFA are offered the chance to receive professional training abroad. In July, the programme funded three players aged between 17 and18 from China’s under-23 national team to attend a training programme in Rome. The trip was made into a short documentary premiering on Zegna’s official site and Tmall Luxury Pavilion’s “What’s on Live” channel, a new section on its homepage for featured brand videos, on December 7.

Launched in 2017, Tmall Luxury Pavilion now offers about 80 brands, including Valentino, Burberry, Versace, Moschino, Stella McCartney, Giuseppe Zanotti, MCM, La Mer, Maserati, Kering Group-owned Qeelin, LVMH-owned Guerlain, Givenchy, Tag Heuer and Zenith. Products range from apparel and beauty items to watches and luxury cars. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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