Meet Xia Ding, President of International Fashion at China’s largest retailer JD.com, and Head of TOPLIFE, JD’s exclusive luxury platform.

In that role, she oversees all of JD’s partnerships with international fashion brands and formulates merchandising strategies while working directly with designers and fashion editors to reinforce JD as China’s premier shopping destination.

JD.com is generously sponsoring the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund gala dinner on Nov.5, marking the second consecutive year the retailer is lending its generous support. Xia Ding also serves as a judge on the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Business Advisory Council.

Before joining JD in early 2017, she was Vice President of Retail Solutions at Nielsen, and also spent two decades at HanesBrands Inc. here and China.

We caught up with her discuss her rise to the top of China’s fashion and retail industries, why Chinese consumers are so interested in American fashion, and her plans for JD.com here.

Describe your journey to your leadership role at JD.com.

I am President of International Fashion at JD.com and head of JD’s exclusive luxury platform, TOPLIFE. In these roles, I oversee JD’s partnerships with international fashion brands, and JD’s strategy for fashion and luxury. Before joining JD, I was Vice President of Retail Solutions at Nielsen, and spent 20 years at Hanesbrands Inc., where I ran the company’s China business.

How do you plan to make JD.com a leading retailer of American fashion?

JD is in a unique position in China, being the country’s premier destination for authentic, high-quality goods. As our customers are becoming more discerning, they are also increasingly interested in the best that brands have to offer from all around the world.

Today, we not only deliver on a promise of authenticity and quality, but also on an unparalleled customer experience for fashion and luxury e-commerce. We work closely with our partners to provide carefully curated selections that work well in China, and give their collections the best treatment from the warehouse to our customers’ doorsteps, such as with our luxury white glove delivery service. These capabilities not only help American designers and brands preserve the experience and image they’ve built, but enables them to access markets in China that were difficult or impossible to reach otherwise.

We have expanded our fashion team in New York to bring more U.S. brands to China, and are actively supporting emerging designers through our sponsorship of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. We are also still the only Chinese e-commerce company to become a member of American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), and plan to continuously deepen our commitment to the global fashion community.

What makes American fashion so interesting to JD.com and to the Chinese consumer?

Chinese consumers have long been interested in American fashion, and as they are becoming more interested in quality over price, they are also eager to discover a greater breadth of designers that can help them express their individuality.

We’ve added many new brand partners in the recent years, including American luxury brand Judith Leiber, who launched limited edition collaboration with JD in this July, and American minimalism specialist Derek Lam, who joined TOPLIFE last December. Our customers are really loving Oscar de la Renta as well.

Chinese consumers are also very interested in street fashion at the moment, and love the way American brands combine fashion and comfort in a unique way. Tommy Hilfiger, Champion and Under Amour are popular on our platforms.

Other international brands, including Chopard, Salvatore Ferragamo, Buccellati, Balenciaga, Missoni, Alexander McQueen and Saint Laurent have all been well-received by our customers.

How does JD.com currently support fashion designers? What are some of the plans to evolve the site?

JD.com is the best platform to help designers reach over 300 million consumers in China, through JD and TOPLIFE, many of whom are located in harder-to-reach areas of China and wouldn’t have access to the latest collections from any other source. By creating a bridge between China’s fashion lovers and the world’s top designers, we enable customers to enjoy the same service that brand can provide offline in major cities.

In addition to a specialized white glove delivery services, a separate platform for luxury goods and special collaborations with designers, we launched JDesigner Boutique platform in June this year, which sources from up and coming designers. London-based designers Huishan Zhang, Xuzhi Chen and Xiao Li, whose shows we sponsored in London this year, have been successfully featured.

As Chinese consumers’ tastes evolve, JD wants to provide a wide range of selection to meet their needs, including everything from activewear to streetwear and luxury. Initiatives like JDesigner Boutique provided the latest designers’ creations directly to China’s fashion-savvy consumers.

As a sponsor and supporter of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, why are emerging designers so important to JD.com? How does JD.com support emerging designers?

We believe that supporting the fashion community starts earlier in the process, from cultivating new talent and giving designers a platform to reach global audiences. That’s why we continue to expand our partnerships with the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and why we just renewed our partnership with BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund for the second year as well. Last year, we sponsored 2015 Fund winner Mary Katrantzou, helping her reach the Chinese market with the opening of an exclusive online store on TOPLIFE. Earlier this year, we invited some of the Fund’s most talented shortlisted designers and their brands to hold a show in Shanghai, including Huishan Zhang, Rejina Pyo and Le Kilt. I am the only representative from a Chinese company to serve on the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund judging committee this year.

Last month, we also teamed with textile and fashion conglomerate Ruyi to jointly sponsor the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund to support talented British-based menswear designers with commercial growth in the transition from an emerging creative business to a global fashion brand.

What does success in American fashion look like to you and JD.com?

What we love to see at JD are designers whose collections speak to young, globally-minded, tech-savvy consumers who are always on the go. Many emerging designers are tapping into this next generation, and we love being able to give them the platform to reach like-minded people across the world. China is an exciting, fast-moving market where people are willing to experiment with their individual style, and eager for the latest and greatest. Success, in our eyes, is being the bridge that connects both sides, enabling designers to flourish, and giving our customers access to the best.