Shanghai Fashion Week to take place via TMall

With the coronavirus outbreak still spreading like wildfire through China, Shanghai Fashion Week has had to be postponed due to public health and safety concerns. However, designers have found a new way to showcase their new seasons collections thanks to Alibaba's TMall, which will livestream the designers shows.

The schedule for the digital Fashion Week will be revealed in mid-March, and the application for designers to show recently went online. “Tmall promises to direct millions of traffics to our designers. This means brands will be able to generate more sales, and many of them can be saved from bankruptcy amid this difficult time,” Xiaolei Lv, vice secretary of Shanghai Fashion Week, said to WWD.

Lv also said that depending on the success of this digital Fashion Week, this format could continue as part of the Shanghai Fashion Week on the regular schedule. Coronavirus has affected Fashion Weeks worldwide, with Giorgio Armani cancelling his runway show due to an outbreak in Northern Italy. Paris is also on high alert given the amount of international travellers at Paris Fashion Week.