Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini Holds First Shanghai Events#
A superstar at home and a veteran of the American talk show circuit, Chinese actress Li Bingbing (李冰冰) is now taking on her newest role as the face of Gucci's accessories ad campaign. This past weekend, Gucci creative director Frida Giannini presented Li as the luxury house's new "it girl" at three events in Shanghai, hosting a lunchtime cocktail event to debut the new advertising campaign, as well as Giannini's first-ever China fashion show at Wai Tan Yuan.
Following on the heels of Dior's recent fashion show on the Bund, Giannini's runway show of Gucci's F/W 2012-2013 collection was attended by more than 500 guests. Following the show, Gucci held an afterparty at the Rockbund Art Museum in a specially constructed "Gucci Club," a three-floor pop-up space featuring 360-degree views of the Pudong skyline.
As Giannini wrote of the party for the Daily Beast:
We wanted to give our guests a true Italian experience and recreated the Gucci show space, down to the plush burgundy rug and hanging bouquet of mini gardenias and orchids used in Milan for the Fall/Winter 2012-2013. For the first time ever, we’re showing men’s and women’s on the runway together and I’m looking forward to seeing both collections side by side. For the show, we’ve flown in Gucci girls, like Karmen Pedaru and Nadja Bender, but have also cast top Chinese models, including Fei Fei and Bonnie Chen. Before the lights go down, our special guest, Hilary Swank, slips into the front row, next to Bryan Ferry, Lapo and Li. There’s an energy in the air and it carries over to post-show party, just behind the runway tent in the RockBund.
Featuring music by 2ManyDJs and Michel Gaubert, as well as a live performance by Roxy Music frontman (and Chinese contemporary art lover) Bryan Ferry, the party closed out a day of events aimed at not only getting Shanghai's fashion elite interested in Gucci again, but attempting to keep the brand at the front of China's luxury buyers' minds. (Not an easy prospect, as urban shoppers in Shanghai or Beijing become increasingly spoiled for choice and turn to "logo-light" niche luxury brands.)
