Loewe’s Casa Retail Concept Makes Shanghai Debut
Shanghai‘s Jing’an district, named after its glittering Jing’an Temple, is more gilded than ever since the unveiling of Casa Loewe, which boosts a golden facade at the center of the retail hub’s major crossroad.
Dubbed by Chinese netizens as “the golden box,” the latest Casa store is a first for the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned Spanish luxury brand in the city and its largest flagship in Asia.
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The two-story, 650-square-meter store features a striking facade made up of 35,536 handmade Spanish tiles, creating a reflective, dynamic ripple that took the brand three months to assemble.
Following the flow of the metallic tiles inside, shoppers are greeted by a recurrence of tiled walls that extends to shades of white, brown, gold, orange and green, further enhanced by accents of concrete, glass, marble, brass and oak.
The Shanghai Kerry Centre storefront, a former Burberry flagship until 2021, became a dedicated retail pop-up space and a surprisingly impactful billboard site until Loewe relocated from a smaller unit on the same floor.
With a dynamic curation of decorative items, ranging from antique Spanish ceramic vessels to contemporary designs, the concept store, which was the brainchild of Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson, is the latest installment in Loewe’s chronicle of an art collector’s home.
Offering an eclectic mix of fashion, art, craft and design, the store features a selection of designer furniture, including tangerine Berin Club chairs, azure blue Utrecht and Steltman chairs designed by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, Oliver Gustav sofas, Axel Vervoordt’s floating stone coffee table, Isamu Noguchi lamps, and George Nakashima’s Conoid Cushion chairs and bar stools.
The rest of the store, outfitted with Loewe’s signature tufted puffer benches, floating terrazzo tables, and black iron martini tables, adds a tactile dimension to the setting.
Loewe’s latest collaboration with the British textile artist John Allen, in the form of oversize plush carpets made in Spain, continues to transport visitors to the English countryside and adds warmth to the expansive retail space.
Artwork that inspired Anderson’s designs, including paintings by Ken Price, Mahesh Baliga, Merlin James, Paul Thek, Uri Aran, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Jordan Belson and Edwin T. Hall, elevate the retail experience to mimic the ambience of an art gallery.
Works by British ceramicists, including John Ward and Mo Jupp, organic forms by the Chinese sculptor and Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2023 finalist Dong Han, Japanese bamboo weaver Hafu Matsumoto’s leather baskets and German woodworker Ernst Gamperl’s oak vessels crafted from a 300-year-old tree complete the set up.
Fans of Loewe’s craft curation can also look forward to two more pieces joining the store soon: a stoneware sculpture by Japanese ceramicist and Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2021 Special Mention winner Takayuki Sakiyama, and a set of horsehair and stainless-steel spheres by Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2022 winner Dahye Jong.
The new store hosts the full range of Loewe’s men’s, women’s ready-to-wear collection, leather goods, accessories and home goods.
Loewe’s increased focus on the market coincides with Gucci‘s recent retail exit, as the brand officially closed two stores on Shanghai’s main retail artery, Nanjing Road, this Monday. Gucci currently has six stores and one airport unit in Shanghai.
At Casa Loewe’s Tuesday opening event, fans surrounded the store in hopes of catching sight of Yang Mi, Loewe’s global brand ambassador and “friends of the brand” that includes Chinese actors Jiang Qiming, Ma Boquan, Hu Yitian, and Chen Duling, Taiwanese actor Edward Chen, Chinese stand-up comedian Tang Xiangyu and Lu Yanting, a voice actor from the blockbuster animation series “Ne Zha.”
For a dozen VIC customers, the experience also included intimate photo-ops with the stars, some of which happened at the second floor VIP room, accessible by an in-store elevator.
Tuesday evening’s celebration continued with an after party at Suhe Haus, an old warehouse-turned-art space by the storied Suzhou Creek.
Launch Gallery: Loewe's Latest Casa Store At Shanghai’s Kerry Centre Shopping Mall [PHOTOS]
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