Labelhood, China’s first fashion incubator combining design and brand management, has presented its first show at the Tank Shanghai complex, opening Shanghai Fashion Week’s autumn–winter 2021–2 Shanghai Fashion and Lifestyle Carnival.
The show was hosted by beauty influencer Li Jiaqi, and streamed on his Taobao channel, which allowed audiences to purchase the items they saw in the show. On the show were Deepmoss’s Liu Xiaolu, 8on8’s Gong Li, and Yirantian’s Guo Yirantian. Labelhood selected 26 items from 13 brands, including Private Policy, the Flocks, and Motoguo, as well as established labels such as Uma Wang, Yirantian, and Deepmoss.
Estimated views exceeded 10 million, according to Labelhood, with online sales also exceeding that number. There had been no need to discount, with brand development more the focus of the event.
Labelhood, or Leihu to give its transliteration from Chinese, has run its services for 12 years, and collaborated with Li to get its independent brands in front of a larger audience.
This season the incubator hosted 32 brands at its Labshowroom.
Labelhood has four physical retail stores in Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou, and has branded spaces in Lane Crawford in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Hong Kong. It also has a Tmall presence, and supported its designers to open there, including Tirantian, Shushu/Tong. Deepmoss and Motoguo. In addition, it has cooperative deals with over 100 retail channels, including SKP, Galeries Lafayette and Net-à-Porter.
The incubator has successfully attracted younger buyers who favour independent designers.