Mulberry Launches Pre-Loved Collection in China, Hosts Touring Pop-ups
British luxury label Mulberry is bringing its circularity program, “The Mulberry Exchange,” to the Chinese market with four pop-ups in key Chinese cities. The pop-ups already launched in Shenzhen and Beijing, and will be touring to Shanghai and Nanjing in October.
Titled “British Craft, Made to Last,” the exhibitions showcase an edit of the label’s pre-owned selection alongside a customization area where shoppers can create a Bayswater bag with the help of an in-house artisan.
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To launch the circularity project, Mulberry linked up with Chinese actress Zhu Zhu to create a series of images and film content that shows her carrying a flaming red pre-owned Bayswater.
“The reaction has been extremely positive, they are selling even a little bit more than what we expected,” said Thierry Andretta, chief executive officer at Mulberry, who was in Shenzhen to oversee the opening of the pop-up on Sept. 14 as well as the label’s first Shenzhen store, located at the MixC shopping mall.
“I think the Chinese consumer is really looking forward to better understand the story behind our brand, the way we produce, who are our craftsman people, everything we’re doing,” explained Andretta.
The Pre-Loved collection, launched in the U.K. in 2020, recently collaborated with British designer duo Stefan Cooke on reworking 27 Pre-Loved bags, which was featured in a London Pre-Loved pop-up. The Mulberry Exchange program launched in China simultaneously, making the Pre-Loved collection available at selected stores and on Mulberry’s WeChat Mini Program. A handful of signature styles are available, including the Bayswater, the Alexa and the Roxette. An ID authentication chip will be embedded in all pre-owned offerings from 2024.
With secondhand offering a wider range of price points, the Pre-Loved products can help Mulberry increase exposure to China‘s aspirational consumers, who are younger yet more price-sensitive due to the increasingly volatile economic environment. Mulberry’s goal is to double its secondhand offerings year-over-year.
“Today, I consider that we have potentially the best value to price in the market. It is what the customer is looking for when they are at Mulberry,” said Andretta of Mulberry’s evolving customer profile.
The data has backed up Andretta’s claim. Based on insights offered by Xiaohongshu, the popular social-commerce platform, Mulberry belongs in similar categories as other heritage labels, including Loewe, Goyard, Tod’s, and to Andretta’s surprise, Louis Vuitton.
Andretta credits the elevated perception to the label’s push on digital channels. More than 40 percent of sales in China come from online, which in turn informs and fuels the company’s brick-and-mortar strategy.
“For example, the Shenzhen store came out in part because we saw really good digital sales results done by Tmall and JD.com,” explained Andretta, who has plans to carefully increase the company’s Greater China store count from 15 to 20 or 25 within the next three to five years.
“Because we started directly in China a little late, that’s why we want to grow progressively in the right way without making mistakes and without over-opening,” Andretta added.
According to Mulberry’s 2023 full-year report, Asia Pacific makes up 20.8 percent of group revenue. The company believes sales in the region, which began to include Australia last November, will make up around 25 to 30 percent to group revenue in the current financial year.
“What remains the most interesting part about China is that the luxury consumer here is younger than the rest of the world. It makes you a little bit in the mood to be more innovative than usual, less conservative than usual, because the younger generation wants something different for a change,” Andretta added.
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