Shenzhen Special: Fashionable hot spot stands out from the crowd

The first Shenzhen Fashion Week, which opened on March 19, received wide acclaim from the global fashion community for the quality of its shows, professional organization and integration of international resources.

The government-backed event was a strategic partnership with IMG, a world leader in sports, fashion and media operating in more than 25 countries and regions. Nearly 10 influential professionals, including Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, and John Worfard, director of London Fashion Week, made up the judging committee.

About 30 percent of the 1,000 models at Shenzhen Fashion Week had appeared in one of the big four fashion weeks, Paris, Milan, New York and London, in the weeks before the Shenzhen show.

The organizer of Shenzhen Fashion Week aims to make it a world leading fashion event in the near future and establish it as an important platform for the globalization of Chinese brands and the entry of foreign designers into the Chinese market.

As the venue for the Shenzhen Fashion Week, OCT Harbour built a modern stage for fashion shows, and provided entertainment and catering services for the designers, agents, models, buyers and photographers attending the event.

In all, some 50 fashion shows were staged on the OCT Harbour's man-made beach, which featured white sand and coconut trees.

O'Plaza, a newly opened shopping mall at OCT Harbour, seized the attention of the fashion throng with its mixture of culture and art.

Many designers and brand companies, including those from foreign countries and regions, said O'Plaza was unique and they would like to open stores there, according to the operator.

In the latest report on Shenzhen's retail industry by Cushman and Wakefield, the world's largest privately held commercial real estate services firm, the city's total supply of retail space amounted to 2.88 million square meters by the end of last year and more than 700,000 sq m of new highquality retail supply is projected to launch in the city in 2015.

Market analysts said shopping mall operators need to find ways to differentiate themselves to stand out among the competition.

Located in a new hot spot in Shenzhen and close to one of the city's top-notch residential areas, O'Plaza targets people with fine taste who are fond of unique design, innovational products, stylish brands and a pleasant shopping environment.

The mall's leasing team is very selective in its choice of brands as it wants to maintain an atmosphere of creativity, uniqueness and good taste.

After a one-year soft opening, O'Plaza began to get into full swing in late November when it signed contracts with Fendi Casa to set up the Italian luxury home furnishing multi-brand store, and with Tesla, the premium electric car brand.

Fendi Casa plans to build its South China flagship store, which is expected to cover an area of 4,500 sq m, in O'Plaza and supply high-end home-living brands including Fendi, Trussardi, Kenzo and Bently. Meanwhile, Tesla's first experience center in South China will also be located in O'Plaza.

Luo Zheng, a leading Chinese fashion designer who was selected to design the suits for the leaders' spouses and leading women who attended last year's APEC Summit in Beijing, opened "Luo garden" on the second floor of O'Plaza in December.

The "living house" is a mixture of fashion, floriculture, cofee lounge, tea house, music and art, which reflects the designer's conception of "beauty" and allows visitors to experience it through all five senses.

Apart from her own latest designs, Luo also displays the works of other domestic designers. In the future, the store will also be the venue for a small showroom, fashion salon and will provide tailormade products for VIP customers.

Such eforts create an artistic environment for customers, according to the leasing team, which has introduced Yuan, Taiwan's premier brand for handmade cosmetics and household products, to the Shenzhen market.

Muji, the Japanese brand famous for its natural and simply-designed household and consumer goods, is planning to introduce its catering brand, cafe & meal Muji, at O'Plaza, its debut in South China.

The leasing team is also engaged in talks with leading fashion brands such as Frankie Morella, Costume National, Colmar and Gherardimi.

Customers will also find Italian luxury watch and jewelry brand Scavia and multibrand fashion stores MC. Choice, Bonaparte and Ab/Soul at the mall soon.

The leasing team said it is looking to introduce more luxury and fashion brands, especially some big name and artistic brands.

O'Plaza is the first shopping mall developed by the OCT Group, a powerful State-owned corporation, whose business ranges from tourism to real estate development and electronics manufacturing.

The group invested about 2 billion yuan ($322.77 million) to build OCT Harbour, which combines culture, ecology, tourism, entertainment, shopping, hospitality and catering into one ambitious new venue.

chenhong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/13/2015 page15)