Coperni Brings Parisian Chic to Shanghai With Machine-A Pop-up
After pop-ups in New York and Seoul, Parisian label Coperni landed in Shanghai with a pop-up at Machine-A.
Known for its clever mix of technical innovation with Parisian chic, Coperni created a monumental USM furniture installation at Machine-A’s Shanghai mega store that doubled as a window display. The display will remain open until Oct. 31.
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For the event launch, Chinese influencer Mr. Bags hosted a livestreamed chat with cofounders of the label, Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, on Xiaohongshu, the popular social-commerce platform.
Ready-to-wear, handbags and accessories from its latest collections, including variations of the popular classic Swipe Bag, priced around 600 euros, and the Horn Hoodie, priced at 290 euros, were displayed prominently in the multibrand store.
“Coperni has been one of the most exciting brands to watch because they combine, in the perfect sense, innovation with new ideas, new concepts, but they also make it about fashion, very sellable, very well-made fashion,” said Stavros Karelis, founder and buying director of Machine-A.
“They’ve created a whole audience that’s also very passionate about fashion, which is the common ground we have together,” Karelis continued. “For me, they will probably soon lead a very big house or build a very big house out of Coperni.”
With viral runway shows that featured Bella Hadid in a liquid dress and Boston Dynamics’ robot dogs, Coperni has been actively creating retail experiences in key markets in recent months. Two weeks ago, Coperni opened its first U.S. pop-up at New York’s Nordstrom flagship. Last week it launched a pop-up with Boon the Shop in Seoul. A permanent shop-in-shop recently opened at Printemps. Next up, the brand is in talks to host its next pop-up in Dubai.
Despite a hectic two-day schedule, Meyer and Vaillant managed to spend time visiting stores around downtown Shanghai.
“Shanghai’s retail scene is impressive. The malls are insane,” observed Vaillant. “All the luxury stores have amazing exposure.”
For Coperni, South Korea is currently its largest market in Asia. China follows to account for around 10 percent of overall sales. For Vaillant, the brand is keen on exploring growth opportunities to raise brand awareness and propel the next stage of growth.
“I think the most difficult part is to understand how people consume products in China, including social media usage and e-commerce. It’s not something we can understand in one trip,” said Meyer. With their first Puma collaboration launching next January, Meyer and Vaillant’s next China trip is already underway.
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