Where Shanghai gathers for the New Year: Inside Fendi’s Wukang Road pop-up

Fendi paints Wukang Road into purple. On most days, the tree-lined street — one of Shanghai’s most photographed and visited urban arteries — is filled with tourists stopping for pictures, couples lingering at café windows, and locals weaving through the crowds on their daily routes. Heritage façades serve as a backdrop for constant movement, making Wukang Road less a place to pause than one of perpetual flow. So when a building on the street suddenly turns vivid pink, bedecked in purple sequins that shimmer under winter daylight, it doesn’t whisper for attention. It claims it. In mid-January, Fendi unveiled its 2026 Chinese New Year pop-up on Wukang Road, transforming a high-traffic cultural landmark into a fully immersive brand environment. Rather than retreating from the street’s energy, the pop-up leans into it — bold, open, and designed to be seen first — before inviting visitors inside to experience something more intimate. This is a Chinese New Year space built on emotion before commerce, using visibility as an entry point, not the end goal. The ground floor: A temporary home for gathering The saturated pink façade, punctuated by bold purple sequins inspired by the inner world of the Peekaboo bag, turns the building into an instant visual anchor on a street already accustomed to cameras. In the windows, two 2.2m-tall BFF collectible dolls loom playfully over passersby, becoming instant photo subjects. Stepping inside, the ground floor opens into the world of Fendi BFF — a line of collectible doll charms whose name, “Best Friends Forever,” speaks to emotional connection and companionship. The BFF figures are styled as expressive dolls, each with its own personality conveyed through dress, posture, and detailing. Together, they form a symbolic “family,” rather than a cast of characters. The space recreates a domestic setting inspired by the Chinese New Year campaign film. Pink walls patterned with Fendi Dots, portrait-style displays of the BFF figures, and a looping video sequence anchor the room in narrative rather than product hierarchy. The atmosphere feels closer to a living space than a retail floor — intentionally familiar, warm, and unhurried. In contrast to the street’s constant motion, the interior encourages visitors to slow down. This is not a space optimized for fast transactions. It is designed as a temporary home — one that invites gathering, recognition, and shared moments. This sense of gathering extends to the opening afternoon, when brand spokesperson Tang Yan and brand ambassador Song Yuqi, as well as actor Tian Xuning, actress Lan Xiya, actor-singer Luo Yizhou attended a cocktail reception at the pop-up. Their presence reinforced the space’s role as a shared experience, moving through the same rooms and visual cues as other visitors. BFF universe and the ritual of reunion At the emotional center of Fendi’s 2026 Chinese New Year capsule is a simple, deeply resonant idea: reunion. The campaign film captures this through an everyday ritual — making jiaozi (dumplings). Two new BFF Mini dolls prepare dumplings together, flour floating through the air, movements imperfect but affectionate. Around them, other BFF figures get ready for the gathering: adjusting clothes, fixing hair, applying fragrance. When the doorbell rings, greetings come not with ceremony, but with easy familiarity — high-fives instead of formalities. In the final scene, the dumplings are arranged into the Fendi logo — a visual punchline that fuses tradition with brand identity. This balance defines the capsule. Auspicious symbols like persimmons and peanuts — shorthand for “好柿花生,” a homophonic wish that good things happen — are embedded through material choices, color accents, and detailing rather than explicit motifs. Red appears thoughtfully, not overwhelmingly. Festivity is expressed through warmth and humor. The BFF dolls themselves — from Mini to limited-edition Maxi sizes — demonstrate Fendi’s craftsmanship in a lighter register. Mink textures, shearling-trimmed footwear, and finely worked leather garments appear in miniature form, showcasing technical precision without solemnity. It is here that Fendi’s cultural fluency becomes most evident. Rather than borrowing symbols or staging surface-level references, the brand engages with the emotional core of Chinese New Year — gathering, preparation, togetherness — while maintaining its own playful, Roman-inflected design language. From gathering to introspection: Peekaboo Inner Beauty stands for intimacy through craft As visitors ascend the staircase, the pink tones of the ground floor give way to an enveloping field of purple sequins. The visual effect is immersive, almost cinematic, signaling a movement inward — from collective celebration to personal reflection. This shift introduces the central duality of the pop-up: exterior versus interior, gathering versus introspection. Rather than dividing the space by category or collection, Fendi structures it around emotional states. At the top of the stairs, the Peekaboo Inner Beauty handbag collection takes focus. Since its debut in 2008, the Peekaboo has stood as one of Fendi’s most enduring icons — defined by contrast, tension, and surprise. Its architectural exterior opens to reveal an interior rich with color, texture, and detail. The name itself, inspired by the children’s game “peek-a-boo,” suggests intimacy and discovery. For Spring/Summer 2026, the Peekaboo Inner Beauty collection amplifies this idea. Exteriors remain composed and elegant, while interiors reveal intricate craftsmanship: paillettes, beads, studs, and crystals applied by hand over dozens — sometimes hundreds — of hours. These interiors are not hidden from view — they are visible, but nuanced. They are revealed through interaction, through opening, through proximity. The beauty lies not in immediate impact, but in intimacy — details that reward attention rather than demand it. In China’s luxury market, where consumers are increasingly attuned to emotional value and personal meaning, this approach resonates. Inner Beauty reframes luxury not as something to broadcast instantly, but as something to live with — a form of self-definition rather than external signaling. Fendi taps Wukang Road as a narrative mirror The choice of Wukang Road is deeply aligned with this philosophy. A street where history and modern life coexist — ancient architecture alongside contemporary cafés and constant foot traffic — it mirrors Shanghai’s own duality: public yet personal, outwardly vibrant yet emotionally layered. That same duality underpins the pop-up’s structure. Two floors. Two moods. One continuous narrative. On the second floor, alongside the Peekaboo Inner Beauty display, accessories, and fragrances from the new collection form a cohesive aesthetic environment. Interactive installations invite visitors to explore their “inner colors” through playful quizzes, offering a moment of reflection without veering into gimmickry. The presence of the Fendi Caffè, operating across two levels with a separate entrance, extends the idea of gathering beyond retail. Open throughout the day, it offers a place to pause — reinforcing the pop-up’s role as a social and emotional space, not just a commercial one. A celebration endures By presenting BFF and Peekaboo Inner Beauty side by side, Fendi draws a quiet but powerful parallel between collective warmth and individual depth — between the joy of being together and the importance of inner worlds On a street defined by movement and visibility, the brand introduces a more layered proposition: celebration on the outside, introspection within. It is a message that feels acutely attuned to Shanghai today, and to a generation navigating identity through both community and self-expression. This Chinese New Year on Wukang Road, Fendi celebrates not just the season, but what endures — craftsmanship, connection, and the beauty that reveals itself gradually, once you choose to look within.

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Where Shanghai gathers for the New Year: Inside Fendi’s Wukang Road pop-up