Shanghai Fashion Week Goes Online via Tmall amid Covid-19

Shanghai Fashion Week, held on March 24–30, 2020, became the world’s first fashion-week event to livestream its shows. The event was initially postponed due to Covid-19, but organizers then decided to partner with Tmall instead, to move Shanghai Fashion Week online. The event comprised more than 150 designers and brands presenting over 1,000 products of their autumn-winter collections via livestreaming. Its “see now, buy now” format allowed consumers to purchase or pre-order products they saw on the runway directly from their smart devices while watching the livestreaming sessions.

According to Tmall, the entire event drew over 11 million views and generated more than ¥20 million ($2.82 million) in sales. Chinese luxury brand Icicle attracted over 238,000 views during its two-hour livestream show, and sales through its Tmall store increased by 100%.

Source: Alizila

While traditional fashion weeks are unlikely to be replaced, this innovative online model may accelerate the combination of digital and physical in future fashion, and wider retail, events.