Halara
{{Short description|Chinese clothing brand}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Halara
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| type = Private
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| industry = Fast fashion
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| founded = 2020
| founder = Joyce Zhang
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| hq_location = Hong Kong
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| products = Women's sportswear and casual apparel
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| website = {{URL|https://thehalara.com/}}
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{{Portal|Hong Kong}}
Halara is a Chinese fast fashion direct-to-consumer women's apparel brand and ecommerce platform founded by Joyce Zhang and several investment capital firms in 2020.{{Cite news |date=18 June 2021 |title=Beijing News |url=http://www.capitaltoday.com/eng/download/news39.pdf |work=Capital Today}}{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=David |date=2021-11-19 |title=Becoming Shein: Chinese Retailers Eye the Global Fast-Fashion Market |url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1009020 |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=SixthTone}}{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Junjie |date=2022-05-20 |title=Who is China’s next Shein? |url=https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/who-is-chinas-next-shein |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Vogue Business |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Daniels |first=Melissa |date=2024-03-14 |title=Why Halara is aiming for engagement after viral TikTok-driven sales |url=https://www.modernretail.co/marketing/why-halara-is-aiming-for-engagement-after-viral-tiktok-driven-sales/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Modern Retail |language=en}} The company has headquarters in Hong Kong.{{Cite web |title=HALARA 2025 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors {{!}} PitchBook |url=https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/471658-60#funding |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Pitchbook |language=en}} The main products of the brand include leggings,{{cite web | first=Marissa |last=Miller | title=11 trendy pairs of women's flared pants to wear this winter | publisher=USA Today | url=https://www.yahoo.com/gma/11-trendy-pairs-womens-flared-160252938.html | date=December 7, 2021 | access-date=March 31, 2025 | archive-date=November 10, 2024 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20241110130051/https://www.yahoo.com/gma/11-trendy-pairs-womens-flared-160252938.html | url-status=bot: unknown }} women's underwear, exercise dresses, and skorts.{{cite web | first=Saman |last=Javed | title=Is Gen-Z bringing back the skort? | work=The Independent | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/gen-z-millennial-skort-fashion-tiktok-b1908518.html | date=August 26, 2021 | access-date=March 31, 2025 | archive-date=July 6, 2022 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20220706160538/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/gen-z-millennial-skort-fashion-tiktok-b1908518.html | url-status=bot: unknown }}{{cite web |first1=Olivia |last1=Truffaut-Wong |first2=Hanna |last2=Flanagan |date=April 26, 2024 |title=The 20 Best Exercise Dresses to Master the Tenniscore Trend |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/g43713261/best-exercise-dresses-reviews/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213142653/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/g43713261/best-exercise-dresses-reviews/ |archive-date=December 13, 2024 |work=Cosmopolitan}}
Marketing
Halara markets heavily through social media, in particular TikTok, and has been noted by Vox for being "especially notorious" for its "annoying" and "pervasive" advertisements on the platform.{{cite web | first=Mary |last=Honkus | title=Taylor Swift Trained for the 'Eras Tour' in This $30 Skort | work=Us Weekly | url=https://www.usmagazine.com/shop-with-us/news/taylor-swift-eras-tour-halara-skort/ | date=August 21, 2024 }}{{Cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Terry |date=2021-09-13 |title=What’s the hype over exercise dresses? |url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22667186/exercise-dress-tiktok-hype-explained |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Vox |language=en-US}} According to The Economist, it is among "hundreds of Chinese firms [which] are experimenting with [on-demand marketing] in the American marketplace".{{cite web |date=March 7, 2023 |title=How China Inc is tackling the TikTok problem |url=https://www.economist.com/business/2023/03/07/how-china-inc-is-tackling-the-tiktok-problem |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241008050932/https://www.economist.com/business/2023/03/07/how-china-inc-is-tackling-the-tiktok-problem |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=The Economist}} In 2021 the New York Times said the brand was "seemingly built around" its dupe of the Outdoor Voices exercise dress.{{cite web |last=Kambhampaty |first=Anna P. |date=August 18, 2021 |title=We Have Reached Peak 'Exercise Dress' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/style/exercise-dress.html |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250331025711/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/style/exercise-dress.html |archive-date=March 31, 2025 |access-date=March 31, 2025 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |last=Vazquez |first=Alexa |last2=7 June 2021 |title=Yes, this Outdoor Voices exercise dress dupe is as good as everyone says |url=https://www.reviewed.com/style/features/halara-exercise-dress-review-best-outdoor-voices-dupe |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Reviewed |language=en}}
Product development
The brand uses machine learning and algorithms that analyze Google searches, Reddit discussions, other online data, and customer surveys about current and future fashion trends to develop new products.{{Cite web |last=LaBianca |first=Julianna |date=21 July 2024 |title=Is Halara Legit? What to Know Before You Shop |url=https://bestlifeonline.com/is-halara-legit/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=BestLife |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Zwieglinska |first=Zofia |date=2024-05-15 |title=How Halara is harnessing machine learning and crowdsourcing to drive sales |url=https://www.glossy.co/fashion/how-halara-is-harnessing-machine-learning-and-crowdsourcing-to-drive-sales/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Glossy |language=en}}
Production
Halara's products are manufactured in and shipped from Asia.{{Cite web |last=Earley |first=Brigitt |date=2024-12-11 |title=Is Insta- and TikTok-Famous Halara Worth Shopping? |url=https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/clothing/a63110987/halara-review/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Good Housekeeping |language=en-US}}
History
The brand was founded in 2020 by Joyce Zhang, a former chief technology officer, backed by Chinese investment firms 5Y Capital, Capital Today, IDG, Hike Capital, and Sequoia. It is a brand of Doublefs, which was also formed in 2020.
In early 2021, the brand launched its first collection of skorts.{{cite web | author=Rebecca Jennings | title=The glorious return of the skort | work=Vox | date=July 10, 2024 | url=https://www.vox.com/culture/358859/skort-trend-taylor-swift-halara-popflex | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241006073026/https://www.vox.com/culture/358859/skort-trend-taylor-swift-halara-popflex | archive-date=October 6, 2024 | url-status=live }} In December of that year, one of their dresses was included in a Wired list of viral TikTok products.{{cite web | first=Brenda |last=Stolyar | title=11 Viral TikTok Gifts That Are Actually Worth It | work=Wired | url=https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-viral-tiktok-gadgets | date=December 8, 2021 | access-date=March 31, 2025 | archive-date=December 14, 2021 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20211214215822/https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-viral-tiktok-gadgets | url-status=bot: unknown }}
In 2022, a workout skort reached 1 billion views on TikTok.{{cite web |first=Melissa |last=Daniels | title=Why Halara is aiming for engagement after viral TikTok-driven sales | work=Digiday | url=https://digiday.com/es/por-que-halara-apuesta-por-el-engagement-tras-las-ventas-virales-impulsadas-por-tiktok/ | date=March 14, 2024 | access-date=March 31, 2025 | archive-date=October 18, 2024 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20241018125912/https://digiday.com/es/por-que-halara-apuesta-por-el-engagement-tras-las-ventas-virales-impulsadas-por-tiktok/ | url-status=bot: unknown }} In 2023, it introduced leggings.{{cite web | first=Alexandra |last=Pastore | title=TikTok Darling Halara Leans Into Its Expertise for SoCinched Social Media Campaign | work=Yahoo News | url=https://archive.today/20241012080330/https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tiktok-darling-halara-leans-expertise-165425075.html&d=5011638876984514&mkt=en-GB&setlang=en-US&w=3MS_3QGw1-_nB8HT7kKzg-59SdSDLgUs | date=March 4, 2024 }} In May 2024, the brand opened its first pop-up store in New York City.{{cite web |last=Ruben |first=Howard |date=June 3, 2024 |title=DTC activewear brand Halara launches first pop-up shop |url=https://archive.today/20241012084315/https://www.yahoo.com/gma/dtc-activewear-brand-halara-opens-121000559.html?guccounter=1 |work=Yahoo News}}{{cite web | title=TikTok Viral Brand Halara Enters the Real World | work=The Business of Fashion | url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/direct-to-consumer/halara-opens-pop-up-in-new-york/ | first=Malique |last=Morris | date=June 4, 2024 | access-date=March 31, 2025 | archive-date=October 6, 2024 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20241006120243/https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/direct-to-consumer/halara-opens-pop-up-in-new-york/ | url-status=bot: unknown }}