127 indie Chinese brands crack Tmall’s industry top 10s at 618

Tmall’s 618 round-one report counted 127 brands that broke into the top 10 of their respective industries, each having begun as the leader of a narrower subcategory. Among first-time 618 entrants, the number clearing 10 million RMB ($1.4 million) in sales rose 67% year-on-year, and 329 brands that joined Tmall within the past three years now lead their subcategories. More than 40,000 brands doubled their sales in the opening round, the number clearing 100 million RMB ($14 million) grew 40% YoY, and beauty and apparel both posted repurchase rates above 40%. These brands cluster in narrow categories, several of them barely a presence five years ago: scalp care, designer womenswear, celebrity beauty, single-dose serums, German trainers, men’s color cosmetics, AI companion robots, 3D printers and modular mattresses. The five profiles below show what that climb looks like up close. Pane: The new Shanghai souvenir Founded in Shanghai in 2022 by Chen Ning, who has run the suiting label Full Monty since 2015, Pane sells its ballet German trainer for 840 RMB ($117) after coupon and moves more than 6,000 pairs a month. The brand once swept the top three of Tmall’s bestseller list for German trainers above 500 RMB. Pane’s Tmall gross merchandise value (GMV) broke 100 million RMB ($14 million) in 2025, with a private-domain repurchase rate of above 40%, according to Zhaimen Data, and the brand rose to third in Tmall's casual-shoe category during 618. Across Pane’s two Shanghai stores — the Yongyuan Road flagship and the TX Huaihai store, which opened in January 2026 — foreign customers make up 60% to 80% of shoppers, and visiting reporters have counted at least four languages beyond Chinese and English. Its hashtag on Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote) had drawn close to 12.7 million views as of late May, and inbound tourists now buy the shoe as a Shanghai souvenir. Pane runs no celebrity ambassadorships, building its reach instead through collaborations, including with Japan’s United Arrows — that label’s first brand tie-up in mainland China — as well as Staffonly and the Shanghai bar and store Dufour. Popular sizes are now sold out, with a two-to-three-week wait. Fabrique: A 300-designer collective enters Tmall’s apparel top 10 Fabrique, a global designer collective that aggregates more than 300 designers — among them two-time British Fashion Award winner Hussein Chalayan and minimalist Damir Doma — sells their work at roughly a third of original pricing through a self-operated e-commerce model. Its average price sits around 1,000 RMB ($140), and its core audience runs to more than 4 million followers, 95% of them women born in the 1980s and 1990s and more than 70% in first- and second-tier cities. The collective’s breakout came a year earlier: it moved from 13th on Tmall’s womenswear store ranking at 618 in 2024 to an apparel-industry top 10 during the 2025 618 presale, where it placed second on the 88VIP love list, grew more than 40% YoY, and saw its “White Moonlight” set top the category at more than 5 million RMB ($700,000) in the first wave. China’s womenswear market has fragmented as shoppers buy individuality over mass trends, thinning the middle ground that fast-fashion players once held. Rather than carry heavy inventory, Fabrique runs a small-batch, quick-response supply chain, seeds product on Xiaohongshu and converts on Tmall search, with new styles dropping every Thursday. Designer aggregation gives it scarcity to sell in a crowded field — hundreds of apparel brands cleared 10 million RMB ($1.4 million) in the opening round. Fan Beauty Diary: Fan Bingbing’s brand tops Li Jiaqi’s livestream Fan Bingbing’s beauty label entered the 100 million RMB ($14 million) club for the first time in 618’s opening round and broke into the top 20 of Tmall Beauty. According to figures the brand shared with FBeauty, it reached fourth on the transaction-progress board within the first four hours of Tmall presale, took first on Tmall’s facial-care-set bestseller list, and ranked first in all-category sales on Li Jiaqi’s livestream for the round. Proya led the domestic field, and 15 of the top 20 in Tmall’s full-cycle beauty ranking were international houses. Off&Relax: Scalp care climbs 500% Off&Relax, a Japanese scalp-care brand incubated under Proya, grew more than 500% YoY on Tmall during 618 and took third in personal care, its fourth year in the market. It also placed second on Douyin’s personal-care brand ranking for mid-May. Scalp care has become one of the faster-moving corners of Chinese personal care, treating hair washing as a skincare-style routine built around serums and pre-wash treatments. The shift follows the same functional, ingredient-led buying that reshaped facial skincare, now applied above the hairline. Off&Relax sits third behind only Kérastase, a L’Oréal professional brand, and Pantene, a Procter & Gamble mainstay. Seayeo: Indie skincare clears 100 million RMB Indie skincare brand Seayeo (昔又) crossed into 618’s 100 million RMB ($14 million) club for the first time this round, named alongside Fan Beauty Diary as one of the cycle’s domestic breakouts, with its serum placing 10th in its category. The brand competes in single-dose serums — each dose packaged in its own sealed shot — a format that reached 7.5 billion RMB ($1 billion) in China in 2024 on roughly 20% annual growth, with barrier-repair single-dose products up 217% in regulatory filings. The format sells on freshness and precise dosing, and its single-use packaging suits younger buyers who want zero waste. Placing 10th in that field puts Seayeo among the brands building out a category that had little scale a few years ago. The rest of the board Greenlab (绿所) took first in men’s color cosmetics. Fuzozo (芙崽) led the AI companion robot track, and Bambu Lab (拓竹) became the top office-supplies brand, moving 3D printers out of the hobbyist niche. Qizuo (栖作), which makes glue-free detachable modular mattresses, ranked seventh in bedroom furniture and is working toward a 2 billion RMB ($280 million) annual sales target. What these brands share Every brand here made the same climb within five years — from newcomer to subcategory champion to the front of its industry — and none got there on price. Pane built on original design in a category adidas Samba defined; Fabrique sells scarcity through designer aggregation; Fan Beauty Diary reached the top 20 of a beauty ranking still dominated by international houses, and Seayeo cleared 100 million RMB on the strength of a single product format. Subcategory leadership backed by a clear reason to exist now converts into platform-scale volume faster than legacy brand equity does, and the entry points keep narrowing into sharper niches.

127 newcomers crack Tmall’s industry top 10s at 618

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag

Upgrade to Pro

Sectors

Insights

Company

127 newcomers crack Tmall’s industry top 10s at 618

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag