LONDON, February 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Partnership to boost future of British Fashion Industry

Vip.com, one of the most successful e-commerce brands in Asia, is delighted to announce an innovative, unique and exciting partnership with the British Fashion Council and London Fashion Week.

     (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/642747/Vip_and_British_Fashion_Council.jpg )

The new relationship is truly special as this is the first time a Chinese retailer becomes an Official Sponsor of London Fashion Week. Vip.com will be working closely with British brands to help them launch in its hugely lucrative and ever-expanding home territory.

"The fashion market in China is extraordinarily sophisticated and fast paced, and hungry for new design talent," says Jenny Jioe, Managing Director of Fashion at Vip.com. "Our consumer is aware of London's creative pedigree, and ready for both news and product. I know from first-hand experience that the brands in London, with all their energy and unbridled creativity, are precisely what we are looking for."

Vip.com is one of China's top 3 ecommerce retailers, with annual retail sales of $11.2b, 57.8million active customers, over 335million orders in 2017, and eight individual international sourcing offices. In 2016 Forbes ranked Vip.com as No.2 in its top 100 companies with the highest growth.

London Fashion Week is a renowned launch pad for emerging fashion talent. "The nature of working with so many new businesses, is that they don't have the advertising power of the global fashion brands," says Caroline Rush, Chief Executive British Fashion Council. "What they have is incredible products that a fashion-forward Chinese consumer is going to love. Our role is to shine a light on these businesses and work with our partners at Vip.com to introduce these brands to a highly engaged audience in China."

The new partnership takes sponsorship at London Fashion Week into new, global realms of business and marketing savvy. "We are going to stage a show that is exclusive run by Vip.com," says Paul Tyce, the Chinese e-commerce site's UK country manager. "We will offer live streaming to our customers in China, in-depth cooperation with designers, and fashion and art exhibitions. This isn't just about title sponsorship."

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Notes to editors: 

The British Fashion Council (BFC) was set up in 1983 to promote British fashion internationally and co-ordinate this promotion through fashion weeks, exhibitions and showcasing events. The BFC now supports designers beginning at college level and extending to talent identification, business support and showcasing schemes to help British designer businesses develop their profiles and business globally and promote British fashion and its influential role in Britain and London. The BFC Colleges Council offers support to students through its Foundation, BA and MA scholarships, links with industry through design competitions and Graduate Preview Day. Talent identification and business support schemes include BFC Fashion Film; BFC Rock Vault; BFC Headonism; BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund; BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund and NEWGEN. The BFC supports Boden's Future British initiative. The BFC also runs and owns charities including the BFC Fashion Arts Foundation, the BFC Fashion Trust and the BFC Education Foundation. Showcasing initiatives and events include London Fashion Week, London Fashion Week Men's, LONDON show ROOMS, International Fashion Showcase, London Fashion Week Festival and the annual celebration of excellence in the fashion industry: The Fashion Awards.

Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) is an e-commerce platform established in 2008. Pioneering the flash sales model of"selective brand, deep discount, limited offering", Vipshop covers wide product categories ranging from apparels, shoes & bags, cosmetics, maternal and child products, home goods to foods and more. Among the 6,000 selected brands Vipshop partners with, nearly 100 brands has secured an exclusive cooperation with Vipshop. In 2016, Vipshop reached annual net revenue of $56.59 billion RMB, with 269.8 million total annual orders and 800 thousand average daily orders. Today, Vipshop records 300 million registered members and 84.4% repeat purchase rate. Since its IPO on 23^rd March, 2012 in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to 30^th Sep, 2017, Vipshop has realized profitability for 20 consecutive quarters. The world's largest online discount retailer and the third largest e-commerce platform in China, Vipshop has established a flash sales model that becomes one of the three major business models in China e-commerce space.

SOURCE VIP.com and British Fashion Council