Bimba y Lola lands in China with a Shanghai store

Madrid – Spanish fashion house Bimba y Lola has finally landed in China, with the opening of a permanent store in Shanghai. This marks the Galician brand's first foray into the Chinese market. It is a result of the management's firm commitment to internationalisation, which has made the brand a global reference in the fashion industry, with half of its points of sale located outside of Spain.

The Spanish fashion house announced the opening of its first permanent store in China via its social media channels. The store is located inside the Réel Mall shopping centre in Shanghai, the economic capital of the Asian giant. It opened its doors to the public on September 1, as part of the constantly evolving commercial offering of this vibrant shopping and leisure centre. The centre is located in the heart of the city, within the Jing’an district, just a few hundred metres from the Jing’an Temple, one of Shanghai's best-known, most touristic and oldest Buddhist temples.

With its launch, the Bimba y Lola store joins other fashion houses already operating in the shopping centre, such as Thom Browne, Alexander McQueen, Marni, Dries Van Noten, Acne Studios, Stone Island, Maison Kitsuné, Totême, Ami, Isabel Marant, Ganni and Maison Margiela. Labels such as Gabriele Colangelo, Sessùn, and now Bimba y Lola, have joined these brands throughout this year. This highlights the premium and exclusive profile of Shanghai's Réel Mall, which the Spanish fashion brand has chosen for its first store in China.

An objective achieved

With the opening of this store in Shanghai, Bimba y Lola has finally realised its long-held ambition of landing in China with its first physical store in the country. This "dream come true" began to take shape in late 2021. The company signed a strategic agreement and created a joint venture with the Chinese company Imaginex, which specialises in the management and distribution of international fashion and beauty brands in China. Imaginex is a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based luxury group, The Lane Crawford Joyce.

As part of this agreement, formalised during the "de-escalation" period after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, both companies aimed to introduce and establish the Spanish fashion house in China, through both physical and digital channels. The brand was introduced to the country through its presence on platforms such as WeChat and the opening of its virtual store on Alibaba's Tmall, before its physical arrival. Between 2022 and 2026, the company planned to open around 30 points of sale in 15 major Chinese cities. This was part of an ambitious five-year roadmap that began to take shape with the inauguration of a pop-up store in Shanghai in late 2022.

The launch of that first temporary store, in addition to bringing the brand physically closer to the inhabitants of Shanghai for the first time, also highlighted the delay in implementing the five-year strategy agreed between Imaginex and Bimba y Lola. The Spanish company ultimately decided to put this strategy on hold. From the beginning of 2023, it focused all its efforts on its expansion and growth in the US. Following the effects and uncertainties that continued after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, Bimba y Lola prioritised the US as its new key market for internationalisation, replacing China.

Stores outside Spain drive sales growth

As a result of this sustained commitment to internationalisation, Bimba y Lola closed its last full financial year of 2024 (ending February 28, 2025) with total sales of 234 million euros. 44 percent of these sales (102.96 million euros) came from outside Spain. These figures represented growth of 3 percent and 3.16 percent, respectively, compared to the 227 million euros in sales, with 99.8 million from international operations, with which the company closed the previous financial year of 2023.

2024 saw sustained growth, driven by the outstanding increase in online sales (plus 15 percent), which accounted for 21 percent of the company's total turnover, and by the good performance of its commercial network. After opening 20 points of sale in one year, the company had a total of 310 points of sale at the end of 2024. Half of these stores were located outside Spain. Along with online operations, they supported an international business that saw Bimba y Lola present in a total of 52 countries at the end of 2024.