According to data released by Tmall, the opening show of the online fashion week received 2.5 million clicks in three hours and 4 million views in total. In addition, the brands involved in the fashion week raked in more than 500 million yuan ($70 million) in combined earnings.

"This biannual fashion show takes a long time to prepare. It would be a painful choice to cancel it," says Lyu Xiaolei, vice-secretary-general of the Shanghai Fashion Week's organizing committee.

According to Lyu, deciding on the "cloud launching" approach was not easy either as the committee had to garner the support of all involved parties as well as execute the plan within less than a month.

"It is a special way of presenting fashion during this special period. We hope that the designers can try different ways of launching and selling their creations through such an approach. 'Cloud launching' also signals a new direction in the future development of Shanghai Fashion Week," Lyu says.

Driven by such popular livestream hosts as Li Jiaqi and Viya, Taobao Live-Alibaba's livestreaming channel-has become an important platform for companies to showcase their goods.

According to a report released by iiMedia Research, the number of active professional livestream hosts and contracted livestreaming institutions on Taobao Live have been growing rapidly, with more than 400 livestreaming channels selling over 1 million goods a month.

Furthermore, more than half of Taobao users have experience with livestreaming and more than 90 percent of users would buy products recommended during livestreams. All these factors laid the foundation for the decision to take the fashion week online, according to iiMedia Research.

Online catwalks, live shows and online shopping are the three most important components of the online fashion week, according to the Shanghai Fashion Week's organizing committee. Audiences can understand the latest trends and directly place orders during livestreaming sessions when popular fashion bloggers discuss different clothing styles and the various features of products.

"Previously, only a limited number of people could get tickets to the fashion week. Buyers, media and audiences from around the world had to fly to Shanghai for the event. But the online show breaks the limitation of time and region, covering a larger population and providing higher exposure," Lyu says.