Italian beauty labels Kiko Milano,Deborah Group and Diego dalla Palma Group’s namesake line and RVB Lab brand have joined Alibaba Group’s Tmall Global marketplace.

The partnership was officially launched here on 20 July during Tmall and its consumer-trend division Tmall Discovery’s first European conference dedicated to the cosmetics industry, dubbed “The Colors of Italian Beauty”, in collaboration with Deborah Group, Diego dalla Palma Milano, RVB LAB (Diego dalla Palma Group) e KIKO (Gruppo Percassi).After the success of previous editions in China, over 300 representatives from the beauty industry gathered at the iconic Teatro Vetra in Milan.Meeting Alibaba and Tmall Global’s senior executives, they discussed the latest trends in the cosmetics and beauty market in China and discovered Alibaba’s comprehensive brand marketing offering. This was a key initiative for Alibaba Group,whose goal is to support Italian and European cosmetics brands accessing the Chinese market through its ecosystem and reaching over half a billion of active consumers.

“With Tmall Global’s event, the first outside of China, Milan becomes Europe’s capital of beauty — a stage for all companies in the sector willing to expand in China and seize the business opportunities generated from a partnership with Alibaba Group” commented Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, Alibaba Group’s Managing Director for Southern Europe and responsible for the development of Tmall and Tmall Global platforms in Europe. “Thanks to the participation of major brands such as Deborah Group,Diego dalla Palma Milano, RVB LAB(Diego dalla Palma Group) e KIKO(Gruppo Percassi), which recently opened their flagship store on Tmall Global, we are illustrating the great potential of the beauty and cosmetics sector in China. This includes showing how firms can leverage crossborder trading to build a winning strategy and reach 552 million active consumers on our platforms, almost 50% of which are under 30 years old.” As a global technology company, Alibaba is reshaping the future of retail through the strategy that Jack Ma first introduced as “New Retail”— a seamless integration of online and offline retail — from consumer engagement, inventory management, and fulfillment and supply chain,which leverages technology to offer the consumer a unique and engaging shopping experience.

Attendees at the conference had the chance to try out some of this technology including the Magic Mirror — a digital screen powered by augmented reality, allowing users not only to try different make-up products on the virtual avatar they have created, but also to order the chosen product and have it delivered at home. Delegates also had the opportunity to admire the latest make-up collections of the partner brands Kiko (Gruppo Percassi), Deborah, RVB Lab and Diego dalla Palma, during a dedicated catwalk and at exhibition spaces ran by the brands.