Best Fashion Boutiques in China – WWD
Sun 23 Oct
The legendary British fashion retailer‘s first China store landed in Shanghai more than a month ago. Located in an up-and-coming retail complex in downtown Shanghai, the shop feels like home to those familiar with the Machine-A format, which reflects its founder Stavros Karelis’ bold buying and merchandising attitude.
For the launch of the store, Machine-A featured New York-based Chinese designer Bad Binch Tongtong‘s design in its window display, whose bouncy hula hoop skirts had been making waves on social media. A Raf Simons shop-in-shop designed by Glenn Sestig, a close collaborator of the Prada co-creative director, also takes up a prominent section of the store.
“Some brands may look different in comparison to when they’re shown in other shops, perhaps a little more conceptual,” says Giovanni Pungetti, managing director of Asia at Tomorrow Group, who is leading the Machine-A local operation from Shanghai. “We try to create our fashion language in some way, to create a community that goes beyond the social demographic profile.
“Engagement is the word Stavros is always using,” Pungetti adds. “Engagement in terms of cultural attitudes and behavior. We think in English, but we speak Chinese.”