United States sports brand Mitchell & Ness opens a new chapter in China

Chinanews.com, Shanghai News, October 10 (Li Jiajia) In the field of sports consumption, the continuous innovation has ushered in a new brand cooperation. Recently, through the cooperation with Fanatics, the world's leading licensed sportswear digital platform, Taobo and Fanatics China officially opened a new chapter in the development of United States sports brand Mitchell & Ness in China, and Mitchell & Ness, operated by Taobo, opened in Shanghai Super Brand Mall on October 1.

Founded in 1904, Mitchell & Ness has a history of 120 years, including the NBA (United States Professional Basketball League), NFL (United States National Football League), MLB (United States Major League Baseball), NHL (National Hockey League), MLS (United States Major League Soccer), NCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic League) and other major United States sports league clothing production licenses, the product focuses on classic retro style, among which the replica version of the classic jersey is highly respected. As the vane of American fashion culture, Mitchell & Ness has long led the development of fashion and sports.

In May 2024, Taobo and Fanatics will start cooperation exploration, and the operation of Mitchell & Ness is one of the key projects of the cooperation between the two parties, in this cooperation, Taobo and Fanatics China will jointly promote the development of Mitchell & Ness product development, brand building, product operation, marketing and global retail.

Mitchell & Ness is committed to providing consumers with high-end, authentic vintage jerseys and apparel, with a product line covering jerseys, shorts, T-shirts, jackets, hoodies, hats and other categories. As its trump card product, the retro jersey has an unshakable place in the hearts of fans and jersey lovers with its orthodox genes, and is a symbol of their personality expression and cultural identity. For fans and jersey lovers alike, Mitchell & Ness jerseys are more than just a piece of clothing, they represent a tribute to an icon and a record of legendary moments from classic matches, and watching a game with a Mitchell & Ness jersey has become a cultural phenomenon and a unique way for fans to interact with sports stars.

While based in the field of sports, Mitchell & Ness has expanded the influence of sports culture beyond the field of play and into the trend culture, and over the years, it has continued to refresh the definition of sports fashion by merging retro and innovation, sports and fashion. Supreme, Tiffany, BAPE, CLOT, Just Don and Travis Scott's personal brands have all collaborated with Mitchell & Ness to launch a number of popular products that have pushed the boundaries of the world and appealed to a wider range of consumers. At the same time, Mitchell & Ness is also favored by a number of entertainment and sports stars. Celebrities such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, and Edison Chen have worn Mitchell & Ness jerseys to their daily outfits, leading the trend of personalized jersey wear, further expanding the brand's influence in the fashion circle and the mass market.

The opening of Mitchell & Ness Shanghai Super Brand Mall is located in the Lujiazui business district. In terms of design, on the basis of the brand's iconic "pure red" as the main color, the store integrates the design language of American retro style, and is committed to presenting a sports retro cultural space with both pure American blood and local characteristics for fans and fashion trends, so that fans and jersey lovers can experience the original brand culture at zero distance. At the same time, in order to highlight the sports spirit in the brand's DNA, the store is also paired with sports elements such as basketball.

Taobo is a leading sports retail operator in China, with a brand ecosystem covering comprehensive sports, professional sports, sports and leisure, IP culture and other fields, and has established cooperation with many well-known sports brands, establishing an extensive and deep retail network and a global contact point layout with online and offline interconnection across the country. In recent years, Taobo has continued to grasp market trends, carry out forward-looking layout and exploration, continue to make breakthroughs outside of sports retail, create a full range of brand operation capabilities, and penetrate diversified sports segmentation scenarios. The overall responsibility for Mitchell & Ness's operation in China is another move to expand the diversified territory of Mitchell & Ness, and it is also a verification of the ability of Mitchell & Ness in the whole chain.

Fanatics has a significant position in the field of sports e-commerce, not only maintaining in-depth cooperation with many world-renowned sports IPs, but also owning well-known sports brands and retail brands, serving more than 100 million fans and fashion lovers around the world. In 2022, Fanatics acquired Mitchell & Ness, JAY-Z and many other sports and entertainment stars to participate in the investment, thus opening a new stage of development for Mitchell & Ness. With the addition of Fanatics, Mitchell & Ness has expanded its partnerships with sports leagues and deepened its partnerships with global retailers to increase its presence in the global market.

Mitchell & Ness not only has a strong cultural foundation in the United States, but also has great potential for growth on a global scale. Taobo has been deeply involved in China's sports consumer industry for many years, and will continue to enhance consumers' awareness of the history and cultural value of Mitchell & Ness while inheriting the brand's unique American retro sports culture while inheriting the brand's unique American retro sports culture. Taobo's long-term and profound insights into consumers will also help Mitchell & Ness better innovate and localize design to meet consumers' needs and enhance the consumer experience. On this basis, the two parties will also jointly explore marketing innovations, launch co-branded products, limited edition products, limited styles, etc., and continuously enhance the brand's attractiveness to local consumers.

With the help of Taobo, with the in-depth development of Mitchell & Ness's business in China, the American retro sports culture will further collide and integrate with the domestic sports consumer group, and the brand concept and products of Mitchell & Ness will be reinterpreted, shaping new sports trends and showing more possibilities. In addition to Mitchell & Ness, Taobo and Fanatics China will continue to deepen their cooperation to promote the development of Fanatics' licensed sports IP, sports brands and retail brands in a diversified way.

Editor: Li Jiajia