HANGZHOU, China — Richemont and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s luxury joint venture is going live in China, presenting 130 brands in one location on the Tmall e-commerce site.
Tom Ford, Brunello Cucinelli and Jimmy Choo will join Richemont brands Cartier, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin on the site. Investors have awaited details on the partnership since the companies announced it about a year ago.
The venture, called Feng Mao, will start a launch campaign for the platform in the second week of October, after China’s Golden Week holidays, the companies said Monday.
Richemont is moving to bolster online sales after acquiring luxury internet retailers YNAP and Watchfinder. It’s a way for the Swiss company to capture Chinese consumers — who Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang has said may make up almost half of the global luxury market by 2025 — without the expense of opening physical stores.
Feng Mao is 51 percent owned by Richemont, while Alibaba holds 49 percent, and will operate the site under the Swiss company’s Net-a-Porter brand. The venture hired Yating Wu, a former Unilever manager, as its chief executive in recent months.
By Thomas Mulier; editor: Eric Pfanner.
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