Michael Kors marches on in China with WeChat expansion, Yang Mi collaboration

US luxury label Michael Kors is pushing ahead in China via a collaborative capsule with Chinese actress and singer Yang Mi to launch later this month, and a boost of its WeChat shopping operations. 

The brand -- which named Yang Mi as its global ambassador last September -- has joined forces with the Chinese star to create a limited-edition version of the Whitney purse for Qixi, or Chinese Valentine's Day, which will be available on August 17.

The custom-design -- a red purse riveted with heart- and star-shaped studs -- will be sold via a WeChat mini program shop created by Michael Kors to capitalize on the fast-growing popularity of the social media platform. Last year WeChat drove 333.9 billion renminbi, or $50.08 billion at current exchange, in consumption over food, travel, shopping and tourism.

The Yang Mi capsule collection will also be sold globally, with the bag joining an extended, full assortment of other Michael Kors products which will be available to shop directly via the WeChat mini program.

While the brand declined to reveal how many units of the Yang Mi bags it will produce, it confirmed that the quantities are enough to put stock in all of its 135 Greater China stores and the international flagships in its global network, which is nearly 1,000 locations as of its March count (via WWD).

The Michael Kors WeChat mini-program -- which leverages the app-within-an-app's shopping capability -- is a new development for the brand and a first for a luxury fashion house. It follows the company's pioneering move to launch a campaign on Douyin, the popular Chinese live-streaming service, in November, which was also a luxury fashion first.