What to See, Eat, and Buy During Shanghai Fashion Week
With Loewe unveiling a landmark exhibition and Supreme opening its first store in China days before the fall 2024 edition of Shanghai Fashion Week, the city is packed with things to see and experience for those who are in town for the eight-day fashion showcase.
Here, WWD takes a look at some of the most exciting new places to see, eat in and shop during Shanghai Fashion Week.
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Retail
Supreme Shanghai Flagship
The highly anticipated unveiling of skate brand Supreme’s new store in Shanghai meant long lines in the short run (shoppers can book a slot on the cult label’s WeChat Mini Program beforehand) as well as a renewed interest in the Changle Road and Fuming Road crossing, a micro-neighborhood known for its West Village-like charm. The area is not only home to Fly Streetwear, the city’s first serious skate store, but is a stone’s throw away from Shanghai’s nightlife scene, hotspots like the beer joint 624Changle, and nightclubs All and Heim, which are known to offer some of the most energetic parties and music in town.
No.291 Fumin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Haus Nowhere
The imaginative world-building just got more surreal at Haus Nowhere, Gentle Monster’s downtown flagship that recently relaunched after a sweeping makeover.
The new flagship, which spans 3,350 square feet and four stories, displays the latest offering from Gentle Monster’s expansive brand universe, including eyewear, hand cream and fragrance, pastry and, most recently, fashion. On the third floor is a retail corner for four hip South Korean fashion labels, including Eenk, Amomento, Open YY, and Thisisneverthat. For many shoppers, a major draw of the Gentle Monster retail experience is its museum-like store design that offers a masterclass in retail theater. This time, Haus Nowhere’s fetching store installation includes an elderly robot couple, a croissant workout station, and a set of room-height moving doll heads.
Huaihai Middle Road No.798-802, Huangpu District, Shanghai
LMDS
During the week, fashion insider’s favorite fashion boutique LMDS will host a Peter Do pop-up at its Taojiang Road location. Dubbed by founder Eric Young as a “fashion playground,” LMDS continues to offer lesser-known brands from around the world in its three-story superstore.
No. 1 Taojiang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Food and Lifestyle
Café Gray Deluxe at The Middle House
Until the end of April, Café Gray Deluxe at The Middle House has launched a special “Eastern Rhapsody” afternoon tea in collaboration with Chinese fashion designer Shuting Qiu. The set menu includes savory snacks and eight sweets, such as the blueberry sakura eclair and cherry rose madeleine. A lounge area of the cafe is decorated with Shuting Qiu’s prints and colors from the designer’s fall 2024 collection, offering a lively yet tranquil atmosphere.
No. 366 Shimen Road, Jingan District, Shanghai
The Harrods Tea Rooms Shanghai
Located on the first floor of The Cha House, a restored mansion within the HKRI Taikoo Hui development in downtown Shanghai, The Harrods Tea Rooms Shanghai is the British luxury retailer’s first physical project in the city. It offers traditional English afternoon tea with a special selection of amuse-bouches, sandwiches, and freshly baked scones that are updated throughout the year.
No.420 Weihai Lu, Jingan District, Shanghai
Regent Shanghai on the Bund
First opened in 1984 as one of the earliest hotels and as a club for seamen after China’s reopening, Regent Shanghai on the Bund, formerly known as the Seagull Hotel, has long occupied one of the best locations in town. Situated on the northern tip of the Bund, the hotel overlooks a historic embankment where colonial-style buildings now host financial institutions and upscale restaurants, as well as Pudong, the central business district and source of the city’s iconic skyline.
The property went through an elaborate expansion to host the Regent Hotel brand’s flagship project in mainland China. The location comes with 135 guest rooms with unparalleled views of the city that was once described as Paris of the East. Twenty of them are suites with private balconies. It also features a 25-meter indoor swimming pool, a 24-hour fitness center, and a ballroom with a 270-degree view of Shanghai’s skyline and the Huangpu River.
Le Comptoir De Pierre Gagnaire at Capella Shanghai
With the onboarding of new executive chef Ramses Navarro, Shanghai’s one-star Michelin restaurant located within luxury hotel Capella Shanghai, cooking goes a step further to incorporate local food culture with a creative edge, which was the original mission of celebrity chef Pierre Gagnaire. Highlights of the menu include the sunflower poultry from Guangdong steamed in a pig’s bladder that’s seasoned with citrus fruits and fresh ginger and a blue spotted roasted grouper from Hainan, cooked in a rich Champagne sauce.
No.484 West Jianguo Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Bamboo Beats
Exploring the idiosyncrasy of ancient Eastern homeware and culture, Bamboo Beats is an antique shop known for its Asian scrolls and collectible tea cups, all handpicked by its keen-eyed Millennial founder.
Most recently, Bamboo Beats unveiled a new exhibition that explores the aesthetic of the writer’s room of famed Chinese and Japanese writers, highlighting notable names such as Japanese literary titans Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Natsume Soseki as well as Chou Shu-ren, who spent his formative years as a medical student in Sendai. The shop, hidden in a residential compound, will be open daily except Monday. After the exhibition, the space is open by appointment on WeChat account Bamboobeats.
No. 96 Wuyuan, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Huanghe Road
Immortalized in Wong Kar Wai’s popular TV series “Blossoms Shanghai,” Huanghe Road, or Yellow River Road, became a popular tourist hotspot that captures the grandiose aesthetic of 1990s Shanghai. Still a go-to area for authentic Shanghainese cuisine restaurants, the street is now populated with food vendors selling local snacks such as pork ribs, rice cakes, and scallion pancakes.
Huanghe Road
Art
Loewe’s ‘Crafted World‘ Exhibition
On view until May 5, Loewe’s “Crafted World” exhibition is a celebration of the Spanish fashion house’s rich 178-year history, its love of the handmade and creative director Jonathan Anderson’s first decade at the brand.
No.1000 Middle Yan’an Road, Jingan District, Shanghai
Fotografiska Shanghai
Fotografiska, the Swedish contemporary museum of photography’s first Asian outpost, is located in a former warehouse by the scenic Suzhou River. Currently on view is a retrospective of American photographer Elliott Erwitt, on view through June 2, and The Via Conbusta, on view until April 21. The latter exhibition is the winning curatorial concept of the 3rd Jimei x Arles Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image, which was launched by Chanel and Three Shadows Photography Art Center in 2021. Curated by Gan Yingying and Zhou Yichen, the exhibition explores the intermingling of technology and spirituality.
No.127 Guangfu Road, Jingan District, Shanghai
Antenna Space
The Anglo-French duo Daniel Dewar & Grégory Gicquel’s first solo exhibition in China opened recently at Antenna Space, which brings together pieces completed in the past few years. The weaving technique, which is seen throughout six quilts that depict a thriving ecosystem or hand-carved wooden sculptures that deftly depict a granny sweater, presents a sense of surreal materiality. The show will be open until May 11.
Room 202, Building 17, No.50 Moganshan Road. Shanghai
Prada Rong Zhai
From April 9 to June 9, Prada Rong Zhai, the Italian luxury fashion brand’s restored mansion in downtown Shanghai, will unveil its first major exhibition of the year, a solo show for Michaël Borremans, the renowned Belgian contemporary artist. Titled “The Promise,” it will be Borremans’ first solo presentation in mainland China. Borremans, born in 1963, is best known for his paintings of strangely threatening objects, which create psychologically charged atmospheres.
No.186 North Shaan Xi Road, Jingan District, Shanghai
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