Culture
Clash: A Tough Crowd to Please
It's Not
Easy for Foreign Designers to Make a Splash in Shanghai
By Betsy
Lowther
27 May 2005
The Asian Wall Street
Journal
Shanghai -- THE SOCIAL SET here has been wined and dined by nearly
every foreign luxury brand that has set its sights on China's consumer market.
And companies are realizing that if they want their event to make a splash,
bigger is definitely better.
A lavish party thrown last week by Prada has now raised the bar
even higher for other designers hoping to court Shanghai's spoiled elite. About
1,200 of the city's best-dressed showed up for the May 17 opening of a new
Prada fashion exhibit. The invitation-only opening event was held on six floors
of the Bund's Peace Hotel and hosted by none other than the Milan-based
designer Miuccia Prada herself.
Guests swarmed the hotel's various lounges and terraces, indulging
in the free flow of Veuve Clicquot champagne and lobster hors d'oeuvres. The
usually reserved Ms. Prada devoted hours to cheerfully meeting and greeting her
Chinese guests.
The event was part of Prada's larger plan to create buzz on the
mainland. The brand is one of the many luxury labels to recognize the growing
importance of China's consumer market. Analysts from Merrill Lynch have
predicted that Greater China's luxury consumers, who now number about 30
million, will take over a 30% share of the world's luxury market by 2014, up
from an 11% share now.
The Prada party marked the official opening for the "Waist
Down" exhibit, a display of nearly two decades of Prada skirts that was
created by Rem Koolhaas' design firm AMO. The exhibit, first shown in Prada's
Tokyo store earlier this year, will remain on display in the Peace Hotel until
May 31. But in keeping with the exclusive theme, it can now be seen by
appointment only.
It is only natural that the event would be held in Shanghai. The
city is considered to be the gateway to the mainland market, most simply
because it is China's most fashion-forward city. The city is home to many
magazine editors, entrepreneurs, and other trendsetters who are featured in the
articles that are read and often imitated on other parts of the mainland. Most
foreign fashion companies first develop a presence here before moving further
into China.
This has all resulted in an unending string of increasingly
high-profile events in Shanghai. There was the opening for Giorgio Armani's
Three on the Bund boutique last spring, which featured celebrity guests like
actress Mira Sorvino. That was followed in the fall by a posh party for the
revamped Louis Vuitton store in the Plaza 66 shopping mall, the brand's first
shop on the mainland to sell both ready-to-wear clothing and accessories.
In December, Cartier held a swanky soiree for the opening of their
Bund 18 flagship and went so far as to hire a massive Cartier-branded blimp to
circle the Shanghai skyline as guests gathered on the red carpet below. Now,
the Prada event was the largest and most lavish yet.
Labels are quickly learning that simpler events that may work in
other markets -- like a quiet dinner or cocktail party -- will not impress the
Shanghainese. "What we're seeing is that every event has to trump the
previous one," says Chris Torrens, director of Access Asia, a
Shanghai-based consulting firm. "Brands have recognized something in the
Chinese consumer psyche that responds to these events, and they're tapping into
that. It's clear that money is no object: Companies are willing to put in a lot
of money if they think it will help the long-term strategy for their
brand."
Thanks to such efforts, Shanghai's premier party crowd now expects
nothing less than the best. "If I'm going to bother to go to an event, it
has to be really great," said Prada-party attendee Henry Li, a
Beijing-based nightclub owner who is a fixture of both cities' social scenes.
"Otherwise, I might show up, but if it looks bad, I'll never stay. It's
just not worth my time."
The question is, how long can these brands continue to one-up each
other? As Mr. Torrens observes, "After so many events, we're starting to
see some party fatigue. Brands are forced to be more and more original about
what they do, because if people don't think it will be special, they won't go.
But you have to wonder how long this can keep going. At some point, it will
have to end."
But until then, the Prada party will be a hard act to follow. The
event and nearby after-party not only achieved an impressive turnout, but also
managed to satisfy discerning guests. Timothy Lim, a Hong Kong-based freelance
fashion writer and stylist, said he flew to Shanghai specifically to attend the
event. "You just know with Prada, whatever they do is going to be
unique," he said. "It's worth the trip."
Whether or not a great party will lead to bigger sales, however,
remains to be seen. Prada chose to focus their exhibit on the brand's history,
giving China's fashion crowd -- many of whom are still trying to distinguish
the differences between the foreign brands flooding the country -- a unique
glimpse at the label's signature style. But while many guests took the time to
wander through the exhibit, not everyone was convinced it would bring a boost
to Prada's presence on the mainland, where the label already has eight stores.
Shel Yang, 27, a marketing and public-relations consultant who is
a regular on the Shanghai party scene, was one of the guests lucky enough to be
outfitted by Prada for the event. Though she enjoyed dressing up in the peacock
feather frock given to her by the label, Ms. Yang -- who estimated she gets
invited to at least two major fashion parties per month -- was not necessarily
converted.
"The party was one of the best so far, and it definitely got
the attention of a lot of people," she said. "But for me, I'm still a
Dior girl."
---
Ms. Lowther is a Beijing-based writer.