Ralph Lauren Recreates Hamptons Magic for Shanghai Repeat Show, Douyin Livestream

SHANGHAI — After a drone show that blanketed the Bund skyline and a star-studded film premiere, Ralph Lauren has returned to Shanghai with its very first runway show in China.

The brand’s September 2024 runway show — which was held at the 19-acre equestrian estate Khalily Stables that sits between Bridgehampton and Water Mill, N.Y. — was faithfully recreated at Shanghai’s Rojo Art Space, a storied steel factory reimagined by the Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa.

“We took a warehouse, and we transformed it into an oasis. You’re stepping out from traffic and the noise of the city into an equestrian farm,” said David Lauren, the company’s vice chairman and chief innovation officer.

A cast that consisted of Chinese models Hu Bing and Du Juan, Japanese model Ai Tominaga and more were all smiles as they walked the catwalk, an event that was livestreamed on major Chinese social media platforms including Douyin, Tmall, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, JD.com, QQ TV and ralphlauren.cn.

Hosting more than 250 guests from all over Asia, the runway show had all the elements of maritime sophistication and equestrian experiences. Highlighting numerous shades of blue inspired by blue skies; crisp whites and tans, the show, as did the Hamptons one, included looks from Ralph Lauren Collection, Purple Label and Polo Ralph Lauren for men, women and children.

The event brought together an array of Asia-Pacific celebrities, including Hong Kong actor Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong singer Charlene Choi, South Korean actor Song Joong-ki, K-pop star Krystal Jung, Japanese actor Hikari Mori, Chinese actors Huang Xuan, Qi Wei, Jin Boran and more.

The Shanghai repeat runway show is the first in a series of global activations that will include a Hamptons-inspired pop-up shop in Tokyo and a Ralph’s Hamptons House takeover in Dubai.

For Patrice Louvet, president and chief executive officer of Ralph Lauren Corp., the Hamptons show was a story worth retelling in a market where the company has been experiencing outpaced growth, unlike other brands that have been struggling in China.

In the most recent third quarter, sales in China shot up more than 20 percent; however, China remains relatively small for Ralph Lauren, accounting for 8 percent of the entire business.

“We were really excited about the response we got from the Hamptons show, including the storytelling and the kind of brand moment that Ralph and our design teams put together,” Louvet said. “We had incredible assets that we wanted to leverage beyond that one moment and expand all over the world.”

For David Lauren, the cinematic moment was also meant to answer local consumers’ need “for a new brand, a new story, for a new luxury,” he explained.

“Just now, we were sitting with influencers, and they were saying, ‘We want to live well; we want something that gives us a sense of warmth and hopefulness and optimism,’ and I think bringing the Hamptons experience to China is going to capture the imagination of the Chinese,” he added.

Leveraging China’s robust e-commerce infrastructure, Ralph Lauren’s see now, buy now livestream went live on the brand’s newly launched Douyin women’s store immediately after the show.

Hosted by the Chinese talk show hosts Nic Li and Li Ai, it also featured a restyled runway show and surprise cameos by Chinese actors Huang Xuan and Qi Wei.

“Douyin is a growing platform, and we want to demonstrate our ‘movie’ on the platform for millions of consumers as a way to activate the show beyond the privileged 250 people who can be at the show today,” said Shin Hwee Chua, the company’s CEO for Greater China and Southeast Asia. Chua also explained that having separate Douyin stores for men’s and women’s helps drive efficient traffic.

“It’s a pivotal moment in terms of how we approach the consumer from the top of the funnel — to use technical language — and connecting storytelling and shopping and making it seamless and immediate, versus I saw it over there, and now I have to wait six months before I can access it,” Louvet explained.

Leveraging e-commerce platforms for storytelling means Ralph Lauren can engage with China’s wide-ranging demographics on all fronts.

Speaking of Xiaohongshu, China’s popular social commerce platform, Louvet gave a thumbs up to its sales associates, noting that they “are spontaneously on the platform and actually doing a very nice job showcasing our products in our stores,” he said.

“We really are most successful when we are able to balance the inspiration, the magic from Ralph and our design teams with kind of the logic, the consumer understanding, the technology platforms and bring them all together, then we become absolutely irresistible,” Louvet said.

Post-COVID-19, Ralph Lauren has defied the economic slowdown and found success in China, thanks in part to its cultural relevance — especially the rise of the “old money” aesthetic — and the steady expansion of its retail network.

Ralph Lauren’s purpose, including dreams of a better life, authenticity and timeless style, also resonated deeply with local officials, who met with Louvet in Beijing the day prior. “It gives us confidence that we have significant potential here,” the CEO said.

Although the brand has been present in China for more than 30 years and has collaborated with Chinese manufacturers for more than 40, it only started direct operations a decade ago. In the last eight years, it expanded to around 170 new stores in mainland China and now has more than 250 doors in Greater China, more than 200 of which are in mainland China.

Over the next three years, the brand has plans to open at least 25 stores a year.

As a part of its “Next Great Chapter: Accelerate Strategy,” the company homed in on six key cities in Greater China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Taipei.

However, Louvet has greater ambitions for the market. “Last time I counted, I think there are more than six cities in China, so lots of runway for growth, lots of opportunity, both on Polo men’s from Polo Women’s, which is doing particularly well,” Louvet said.

“We were talking about children’s over lunch; there’s also opportunity on the top of the pyramid with Collection, Purple label and Double RL, resonating beautifully in this market,” he continued.

Seventy percent of the company’s sales come from what it describes as “core” categories, such as the polo shirt, the cable knit and the linen shirt. Women’s apparel, outerwear and handbags, which belong to its “acceleration” category, will help drive market elevation plans and top-line growth.

“Handbags is a huge market and we just got started,” Louvet said. The Ralph Bag, a part of the Hamptons collection and one inspired by the designer’s love of vintage automobiles, its very popular Polo ID bag, and the candy-colored Polo Play totes, to name a few, are slated to become new evergreen categories that will help drive growth in women’s.

Despite its emphasis on lifestyle, Louvet wants to ensure the brand stays focused on key fashion categories, at least for now.

“I was joking with Ralph a few months back, we were drinking water, and I said, you know, you could probably launch your water with a team that understands the water category — we’d probably do pretty well. And he said, ‘Patrice, it’s not a joke, we actually looked at that project a few years back.’ So maybe one day in the history of this company there will be a water called Ralph Lauren, but where we’ve decided to play are big meaningful categories, and we’re going to stay focused,” Louvet said.

But why not water? After all, Ralph’s Coffee has been a huge global hit.