Site bridges local designers, global market

Secoo Holding Limited, which sells global luxury products and related services online, has introduced a designer channel on its website, signaling its expansion in a new direction, to bring Chinese elements to the global market, and thus support the local fashion and design industry.

It is working with Top100 and OnTime-Show, two designer e-networks backed by Shanghai Fashion Week, to promote original local designs.

Through its new channel, Secoo has introduced more than 200 new and independent fashion designers in China. The aim is to create value-added fashion collections, the company said.

In the past year, Secoo has been trying to promote local designers. By signing on more than 100 global designers, the company is seeking to bring the latest fashions and collections to its 18 million high-end consumers.

Li Rixue, founder of Secoo, said the company will continue to discover more Chinese local brands and designers to enable consumers to experience a quality lifestyle.

"Chinese consumers born in the 1990s have global outlook and global tastes," said Li. "They understand value and respect originality."

Younger consumers show low brand loyalty, and less preference for mainstream brands; they prefer to display their individuality through their choices, creating more demand for Chinese brands, he said.

Secoo has collaborated with an increasing number of Chinese traditional brands and intangible culture brands including Neiliansheng to sell the idea of created-in-China to global consumers.

Last year, the company set up a 200 million yuan fund to help local craftsmen and designers access global markets with value-added original products.

Chen Jianhao, CEO of Secoo, said the company will provide emerging and independent fashion designers with data on luxury consumption patterns.

For example, through online interactions with Secoo's customers, designers can quickly track sales and preferences of consumers to create better assortment and lower inventory.

The Chinese apparel market, valued at about 800 billion yuan ($126 billion), has seen a surge in young designers. Although their numbers are still small on a global scale, they offer fresh perspectives, prompting an update of the entire fashion industry, said Chen.

The company expects to set up more brick-and-mortar stores globally to take its Chinese-created brands to international markets. Gu Yeli, founder of OnTimeShow, a platform for designers, said the collaboration will offer hundreds of fashion items, including apparel, accessories and lifestyle products, to give designers access to a certain set of consumers. "The designer channel is a bridge connecting designers, retailers, professionals and consumers," said Gu.