Why Chinese brand Icicle topped the Tmall 11.11 Single’s Day sale: the sustainable luxury womenswear label that’s showing the world what ‘Made in China’ really means

Mar 16 , 2021

Top Chinese brand Icicle, known for its luxury womenswear, only uses natural fibres such as Japanese organic cotton, cruelty-free Chinese heavy silk and Belgian linen are used. Photo: @icicle__official/ Instagram

Retailing

With 250 stores in China including Shanghai, the high-end ready-to-wear group has also acquired French label Carven, a favourite of singer Édith Piaf

Founded by Ye Shouzeng and Shawna Tao, Icicle hired Lanvin’s Isabelle Capron to help the ‘New China’ fashion brand establish its international identity

Icicle Fashion Group might not be a household name outside China as yet, but the successful Shanghai-based fashion brand has its eyes set on the world stage.

In 2020, the brand clinched the top spot of Tmall’s famous 11.11 Single’s Day sale in the luxury womenswear category, above same-tier international brands such as Theory and Sandro. According to Chinese media, its Shanghai outlet, a 1,076 sq ft boutique, scored an average 50 million yuan (around US$7.7 million) in sales per month. And in 2018, Icicle acquired failing French maison Carven – established in 1945, and a favourite of singer Édith Piaf.

Icicle founders in Paris. The Chinese company acquired the French brand Carven in 2018. Photo: Icicle

Founded in 1997 by husband-wife duo Ye Shouzeng and Shawna Tao, Icicle is a ready-to-wear label that differentiates itself from its contemporaries with a dedicated focus on sustainability and using only natural fabrics, all centred on a “made in earth” philosophy seeking harmony with nature. Although the company struggled to find its audience in its infancy, its minimal, sophisticated garments soon caught on in China’s fast-evolving luxury market.

An Icicle boutique in MixC mall, Shenzhen, China. Icicle has a loyal customer base thanks to its uncompromising quality. Photo: Leona Liu

While part of Icicle’s success might be attributed to a visibility boost from being featured on the popular TV show Nothing But Thirty, Icicle has also built a loyal customer base with its uncompromising quality. Production is tightly controlled, and ethical textile manufacturers and eco-friendly technologies are key requirements for the brand. Materials are carefully sourced; only natural fibres such as Japanese organic cotton, cruelty-free Chinese heavy silk and Belgian linen are used. They’re also either kept in their raw colours, like the Mongolian cashmeres, or dyed with vegetable pigments.

Ye and his wife Tao studied design at Donghua University, then known as China Textile University, in the 90s, a time when young professionals were in the market for stylish, sophisticated workwear. When the couple graduated, they saw Icicle as a way to meet that demand, as well as reinterpret what it meant to be “Made in China”, cultivating a company that sought to be ethical and environmental.