Valentino’s giant Nanjing cake, plus Shanghai Fashion Week collabs

For the first time, New York Fashion Week stalwart Dion Lee flew across the globe to China for Shanghai for an off-fashion-week-schedule show on April 2. Taking guests, literally, to new heights, the designer presented a show on the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center, debuting a collaboration with Ugg. Another collab-highlight of Shanghai Fashion Week, which ended the day before Lee’s catwalk, was Yueqi Qi’s adorably embellished Adidas Originals sneakers accessorized with leg warmers. The cherry on the cake of this week’s brand collaboration highlights is Melting Sadness’ installation promoting Valentino’s Locò handbag at Deji Plaza in Nanjing. Read on for our verdict on these, and subscribe here to receive the Collaborations newsletter from Jing Daily every Tuesday. Dion Lee x Ugg Details: UGG Classic Boot, GoldenGlow and Mini Platform, fall 2024 Social context: #ugg has 350 million reads on Weibo and 483,000 fans, while #dionlee has 43.62 million reads and 9,660 followers. Verdict: No longer simply a maker of comfy winter footwear, Uggs have been transformed into art many times through collaborations, with Lee’s footwear offering at Shanghai Fashion Week Fall 2024 being the latest example. An off-schedule show, the American-Australian designer presented his collection on the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center, moving away from his usual New York Fashion week slot to connect directly with China. The beauty of each Ugg collaboration is how different they all are: Lee’s collection merges the aesthetic appeal of deconstruction and hardware and fierce glamor, and was posted to Ugg’s main Instagram account boasting 1.8 million followers. Melting Sadness x Valentino Details: Installation at Nanjing Deji Plaza, April 2 to May 5 Social context: #MeltingSadness has 31 million reads on Weibo, and 122,000 fans, while, #valentino has 840 million reads, and 643,000 fans. Verdict: This installation celebrating the Locò handbag is not the first collaboration between Melting Sadness and Valentino. Artist and founder Zhang Quan also participated in two similar projects with the Italian luxury house in Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2023. Melting Sadness has a solid fanbase in the mainland, primarily for its streetwear and experiential retail spaces, which showcase incredible sculptures of popular characters, such as Karoro the blue rabbit, which stars in this Valentino installation. Deji Plaza in Nanjing houses some of the city’s largest luxury flagship stores, thus is frequented by luxury shoppers. Therefore, it’s an inventive way to capture attention, and perhaps spur social media marketing in the process through people taking photos. Yueqi Qi x Adidas Originals Details: Footwear and accessories, Fall 2024 Social context: Yueqi Qi has 24,000 fans on Weibo, and #yueqiqi has 2.02 million reads, and Adidas Originals has 2.29 million fans, and #adidasOriginals has 210 million reads. Verdict: Always coming up tops for its stellar localized strategy, Adidas Originals has collaborated with a Chinese talent once more to enter Shanghai Fashion Week and invite local design into the brand, connecting with its loyal consumer base in the mainland. Like Shushu/Tong x Asics, Didu x New Balance, or Feng Chen Wang x Converse, global footwear brands are hooked on Chinese independent designers for their ability to merge East and West in terms of design. LVMH Prize semi-finalist from 2022, Qi is a Guangzhou-based designer who often references heritage Chinese culture in her collections. Her talent is becoming increasingly recognized. FKA Twigs, the cover star for Vogue’s April issue, recently released a YouTube video featuring Qi’s purple cage dress from her graduate collection.

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Valentino’s giant Nanjing cake, plus Shanghai Fashion Week collabs