Brands big and small court local shoppers with innovative offerings

Babor

Ti Gong

As newcomers to China's skincare and cosmetics market, German companies are grabbing attention with their leading technology.

Doctor Babor, a German professional skincare company with high-performance formulations based on select active ingredients, recently announces a partnership with Chinese beauty chain Beauty Farm, which owns nearly 400 beauty parlors in more than 100 cities around the country.

“Consumers can enjoy the science of the Babor’s two-star products — Collagen Booster Cream and Collagen Boost Infusion — with the professional spa treatment,” said Klaus Redomske, Babor’s president and COO Asia Pacific. “The cooperation with Beauty Farm offers us the opportunity to widen our range, and we’ll be launching more new series in the Chinese market in the future. For us, this is just the start.”

For more than 50 years, the “made-in-Germany” skincare brand has only sold through professional channels that combine their technology with a spa treatment.

However, with the booming of social media and online shopping, it can no longer sit still in brick-and-mortar stores. Earlier this year, Babor opened a Tmall store, which is currently followed by about 20,000 fans.

“This is the new way for us to reach consumers who are interested in our products but have no time for the beauty parlor,” Redomske said. “But we still recommend them to go to the professional spa to get the real Babor experience.” 

The North Face

Ti Gong

Walls present opportunities, not obstacles. With this belief, the activewear and outdoor gear brand The North Face transforms the rooftop of Joy City Mall (Changfeng) into unique bouldering and rope climbing suitable for all abilities.

The brand celebrated its Climbing Day recently by opening more than 200 climbing gyms free to the public, including three in Shanghai. Since 2016, The North Face has launched "Walls are meant for climbing," a community searching for freedom, empathy, mutual understanding and encouragement.

Being included as a sport in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games for the first time, climbing is getting more popular among young people. "The sport gives me a strong sense of team spirit and cooperation," said the American climbing athlete for The North Face, Ashima Shiraishi. "And I hope with the ‘Walls are meant for climbing’ campaign, more people can get involved in the sport."

On September 6, the Oscar-winning film "Free Solo" hits Chinese IMAX theaters nationwide. Through the eyes and lens of filmmaker and climber Jimmy Chin, the audience will follow the climbing athlete for The North Face Alex Honnold’s two-year journey to achieve the greatest climbing feat the world has ever seen — scaling 3,200 feet of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without a rope. 

Crush Collection 

Ti Gong

Women's fashion brand Crush Collection highlights self-confidence, purity and simplicity with clean-cut and soft natural fibers in its newly released 2019 Fall/Winter collection.

Designed for daily wear from early autumn to deep winter for fast-tempoed urban ladies, the collection is easy to care for without ironing or dry cleaning.

Inspired by the red color of Spanish architecture La Muralla Roja, the series features vivid, crisp colors that express the bold and positive attitude of Crush women. The white series with different textures and shades, however, underlines coolness and comfort.

The complex stitches, combining cashmere fabric with colored yarn, woolen and velvet, make this season’s collection more varied and colorful, while a close-knit design adds a soft, elegant body curve.

Founded in 2009, Crush Collection selects pure and natural materials and fibers such as cashmere and silk, advocating a natural, healthy way of living with a laid-back ease, minimal aesthetic and the energy of a global metropolis.

H&M 

Ti Gong

Fast fashion leader H&M will launch its Tmall Super Brand Day on September 21 in collaboration with supermodel Liu Wen and pop star Zhang Yixing, who will be treading the catwalk in ANGEL CHEN x H&M series and H&M Fall collection themed on environmental protection.

The collections will be available at 12am on the day on H&M's Tmall online store, the official website (www.hm.com) and brick-and-mortar stores around the world.

ANGEL CHEN x H&M is the brand’s first cooperation with the Chinese fashion designer. Inspired by Chinese kung fu, designer Angel Chen uses high-saturation colors, bold embroidery patterns, striking prints and different textures in the series.

“I’m looking forward to the series, and I hope more local Chinese designers will shine on the global runway,” said the fashion model Liu.

Tmall Super Brand Day is a campaign driven by Tmall which spotlights select brands for Chinese consumers. Each participating brand has a 24-hour period to offer unique experiences, promotions, flash sales and special offers on its Tmall storefront.

H&M's Tmall store, opened in 2018, has attracted more than nine million fans, becoming an increasingly important retail channel for the brand in the Chinese market.