Alo has kicked off its e-commerce push in China with a launch exclusively on Tmall, capitalizing on the country's renewed interest in athleisure. The online store went live on Monday with more than 300 products available for preorder ahead of its official opening on Wednesday.
The move follows Alo's debut of an events-booking platform on WeChat Mini Program and the naming of a new brand ambassador: Chinese K-pop star Ningning, also known as Ning Yizhuo, from the girl group Aespa. At the time of publication, the Tmall store had nearly 20,000 followers.
Tmall said the partnership gives Alo access to its more than 62 million 88VIP customers, Alibaba's high-spending shopper group. Gu Di, general manager of Sports and Outdoors at Taobao and Tmall Group, said the deal reinforces Tmall's position as the top choice for global brands in China seeking high-value customers and scalable growth.
Offline, Alo's first freestanding store in China is slated to open later this year at the K11 mall in Hong Kong, with Shanghai and Shenzhen reportedly in the pipeline, according to company registration data.
The launch comes as athleisure enters a new expansion phase in China. Three months ago, Sweaty Betty opened its first China store after being acquired by e-commerce operator Baozun in 2025. Vuori, which has eight stores in the country, plans to grow to 20 locations by end of 2027. Local brand Maia Active, owned by Anta, now operates more than 56 stores nationwide.
To stand out, Alo is leaning into luxury wellness. In April, it began building a China team with high-end experience: Jimmy Zhu, president for China and North Asia, previously led Givenchy's Greater China operations; Andrew Nip, director of people, spent four years in HR at LVMH; and retail director Jasmine Qiu comes from Rimowa and Hogan. Last January, Alo named former Dior and Miu Miu executive Benedetta Petruzzo as international CEO, while cofounders Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge remain co-CEOs.
Originally reported by WWD