CHINA. JD.com, China’s largest online retailer, has opened two more official online stores for high fashion brand Armani.
Leisurewear brand Emporio Armani and Armani’s most affordably priced youth-oriented label Armani Exchange join EA7 Emporio Armani, Armani Jeans and Emporio Armani Underwear, which made their debut with separate stores on JD.com earlier this year.
The new stores come as part of JD.com’s push to continue bringing Chinese consumers the authentic, high-end products that they desire, the company stated.
JD.com said: “As the demand for luxury goods in China continues to grow, these kinds of partnerships allow JD to provide Chinese shoppers with more opportunities than ever before to enjoy top global names in high fashion like Armani.”
Armani established the Emporio Armani label in 1981, at which time it was hailed as an ahead-of-its-time concept and quickly gained popularity all over the world. Emporio Armani’s innovation was to bring the Armani brand and signature design to a vast selection of products, from men’s and women’s clothing to perfume and sunglasses. Armani Exchange, launched in 1991, is renowned for its cutting-edge designs inspired by street culture and dance music. The brand is largely marketed to young people at an accessible price point.
This year, JD.com has made big strides in bringing international high fashion to Chinese consumers. In June, JD.com launched a strategic partnership with Farfetch, the leading global e-commerce platform for the fashion industry, opening the gateway to China’s US$80 billion luxury goods market.
Under this partnership, Chinese consumers now have access to 700 brands and boutiques in the Farfetch community. In addition to the Farfetch partnership, in 2017 JD has embarked on partnerships with several top international luxury brands such as Swarovski, Zenith, Chopard, and Replay.
Luxury brands now have the option to have their high fashion purchases delivered through JD.com’s recently launched white-glove service, JD Luxury Express. JD Luxury Express offers personalised delivery by specially-trained JD employees who wear distinct uniforms with white gloves. They deliver qualifying purchases to customers’ homes in electric vehicles rather than JD’s usual tricycles and scooters.
