To battle rampant counterfeiting, Swift plans on launching her own clothing line in China in cooperation with JD.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (Photo : REUTERS)
Pop Singer Taylor Swift who is known for her distinctive flair for apparel will add her stylish touches to her first clothing line set to debut only in Shanghai.
The "Style" singer plans to launch a range of dresses, sweatshirts and tops to coincide with her "1989" tour, which will be held in China in November, according to Vogue.
The collection by the singer is being crafted in collaboration with the 66 Heritage Company, where merchandise will be sold online through one of China's largest e-commerce companies JD.com.
The move comes as another validation of the "Bad Blood" singer's growing business acumen and according to the publication has been an initiative to capture the attention of the star's Chinese followers, considering that tickets to her Red tour last year sold out in minutes.
Critiques have viewed this enterprising move by the singer who took Apple to courts over royalties, as a means to take advantage of China's expanding consumer market where the majority of the demographic is spread across those under 25 - the dominant age group of Swift's fan base.
According to the publication the "Bad Blood" singer's choice of online retail compliments her huge social media presence which is known to influence online consumerism in the Asian region.
Collaborative partner Heritage 66 has already got off to promoting the merchandise by posting a video on Chinese social network Weibo.
The video features models and the star herself dressed in official merchandise with the figure 1989 and the Taylor's initials embellished on the merchandise which some critiques believe will be viewed as less than pleasing by the Chinese.
The singer's initials TS and the year 1989 is reminiscent of a sensitive time for China, harking back to the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, according to the Guardian.
The Chinese are quite sensitive about the date that censors have blacklisted combinations of the numbers, 6, 4 and 89 on local social media sites.
So far the singer seems to have overcome the first obstacle of shaking off Chinese censors as JD.com already has her 1989 album selling on their online store.
