A flagship Mulberry store has opened on Tmall Luxury Pavilion, Alibaba Group’s platform for premium brands.
The British fashion label made its debut on the site with a special-edition Year of the Pig capsule collection to mark Lunar New Year. Pavilion shoppers were given a three-day head start over other sales channels in China to purchase the capsule items, which included new versions of its Amberley and Seaton bags in black and scarlet red, an important colour at New Year.
Both bags were paired with a silk scarf tied to the handle that was designed by artist Li Rui, who drew inspiration from landscapes seen in traditional Chinese artwork. The virtual Mulberry store also features the brand’s trademark leather goods, footwear, luggage, accessories and jewellery. The opening day drew  more than 100,000 users to the store, which attracted more than 300,000 visitors within the first week, according to Tmall.

“Launching the Mulberry flagship on Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion is an important step in growing our Chinese customer base and further developing the brand in key international markets,” said Mulberry CEO Thierry Andretta.
Tmall is the fashion label’s newest digital sales channel in China. It also operates 114 brick-and-mortar stores worldwide, including four in Mainland China and one each in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“Chinese New Year has long been a key marketing time for luxury brands, important for them to build a closer emotional connection with Chinese consumers, ” said Lili Chen, GM of Tmall Luxury Pavilion.
“This year, we have also seen many festive capsules celebrating the Year of the Pig, however Mulberry stands out especially for perfectly merging its unique design language with the work of a Chinese artist, making the bags much more likely to resonate with luxury consumers in China.”
* Christine Chou writes for Alizila.