Moncler's 'City of Genius' in Shanghai: How Limitless Creativity Redefines the Future of Luxury Marketing

Amy Weng • October 23, 2024

Moncler’s 'City of Genius' was undoubtedly the standout event at last week’s Shanghai Fashion Week. More than just a fashion show, the brand created an entire world right next to the Huangpu River, blending fashion, art, design and music into a multi-dimensional experience.


The event explored the theme of genius, posed as a question across social media: “What is Genius?” And the answer was manifested in a collaboration with 10 guest designers, including Rick Owens, Jil Sander, Willow Smith and A$AP Rocky. The scale was impressive, with over 8,000 guests attending in person and 57 million viewers online. The creative showcase extended beyond the global to the local, with Moncler partnering with famous Chinese artist Xu Bing, whose calligraphy work set the tone at the entrance. This mix of international influence and local engagement is exactly the kind of innovation luxury brands need to adopt, especially when operating in competitive markets like China. 


Why Shanghai Matters

Moncler’s decision to host such a high-impact event in Shanghai is strategic. Despite a tough economic climate for luxury goods, China remains a key market. Asia accounts for nearly 50% of Moncler’s sales, and revenue was 11% up in China in H1 2024. Moncler outperformed competitors by continuing to innovate and engage with the local market. These figures speak to the continuing importance of China for global luxury brands.


Shanghai’s status as a global fashion and innovation hub is no accident. For luxury brands, the city represents a unique intersection of creativity, commerce, and technology. Over the past decade, it has firmly established itself as a critical player in the luxury industry. The city’s fast-paced lifestyle, cosmopolitan population, and deep appreciation for both heritage and innovation make it a natural fit for luxury brands seeking to push boundaries. Moncler successfully created an experience that resonated with consumers who are increasingly sophisticated and selective. 


The Continued Importance of China for Luxury Brands


While some brands may be facing challenges in China, the opportunity here is still enormous. Daniel Zipser, Senior Partner at McKinsey, has noted that Chinese consumers’ overseas luxury spending is gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels. This recovery in spending, coupled with the fact that China’s domestic luxury market is becoming more competitive, means that brands need to rethink their strategies. It’s no longer enough to rely on the traditional retail model. Instead, brands must innovate to capture consumer attention in both physical and digital spaces.


Moncler’s 'City of Genius' shows that one of the most effective ways to do this is through highly curated, immersive events. The fusion of global and local elements in Moncler’s showcase highlights an important shift: luxury brands can no longer afford to treat China as a homogeneous market. Consumers here value cultural nuance, authenticity, and creativity, and they expect brands to deliver more than just products.


Lessons for Other Brands


There are clear takeaways from Moncler’s approach:

  • Create Immersive Experiences: Moncler created a powerful brand experience by combining fashion, art and music into an immersive event. Consumers today are looking for experiences that engage them on multiple levels: visually, emotionally, and digitally. Moncler understood this and designed an event that was part art installation, part fashion showcase, and part cultural event.
  • Leverage Digital Reach: Moncler's ability to draw in 57 million online viewers highlights the importance of digital amplification. In China, social media platforms like WeChat, Weibo, and RED (Xiaohongshu) are crucial for building brand awareness and community engagement. Mastering these platforms and leveraging user-generated content can significantly extend the reach of physical events.
  • Global and Local Collaboration: The collaboration with Chinese artists like Xu Bing shows how to strike a balance between international and local partners. Brands that understand and incorporate Chinese culture authentically into their campaigns will resonate more deeply with consumers.


Innovating in Times of Change


While China’s luxury market may currently be facing challenges, Moncler’s success in Shanghai proves that the key to thriving in uncertain times is innovation and boldness. Brands that adapt quickly, especially those willing to think beyond the traditional ways of operation, will be the ones leading the way when the market cycle rebounds.


For Moncler, this event was not just a marketing strategy but a reaffirmation of its commitment to innovation and creativity. As other brands take note, the future of luxury in China will depend on how well they can learn from these bold examples and continue to push boundaries.


At Think East, we keep you updated on innovative brand strategies like this one and how they’re reshaping the luxury market in China. We also help you create and tailor your own brand strategy to navigate the unique landscape of China’s market, ensuring your brand connects with local audiences and drives long-term success.


Stay tuned for our next post, and connect with us on LinkedIn or via email—we’d love to hear your thoughts and questions.


See you next time!


Banner image and all gallery images: Courtesy of Moncler.

Formula 1 at Full Speed in China

By Amy Weng • March 16, 2026
Formula 1 returned to Shanghai this weekend to a sold-out circuit and 221 million Chinese fans. Luxury brands have been paying close attention. The sport's China moment has arrived. On Sunday afternoon, Kimi Antonelli crossed the finish line at the Shanghai International Circuit to claim his first Formula 1 victory. The youngest Grand Prix polesitter in the sport's history converted pole position into a commanding win before a capacity crowd. Lewis Hamilton took his first podium in Ferrari red at the circuit where, twelve months earlier, he had claimed a sprint victory before a disqualification ended his Grand Prix weekend. The racing was close, unpredictable and genuinely dramatic. In the stands, 220,000 spectators watched a sport that, in China, has become one of the most significant luxury marketing opportunities of the decade. The spectacle on track was compelling. The story in the grandstands is arguably more so. 221 Million Fans and Counting The scale of Chinese F1 fandom is not widely understood outside the industry. According to Formula 1's own 2025 season review, China now has 221 million self-identified fans, second only to Europe as a market, and representing a 39% increase in a single year. This weekend's Grand Prix sold out entirely. Formula 1's Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat, grew 35% in 2025 alone. The profile of the Chinese F1 fan matters as much as the scale. According to Formula 1's 2025 Global Fan Survey, 46% of Chinese fans are female and 40% are aged between 16 and 34. Over half came to the sport within the last five years, most through social media and streaming rather than broadcast television. This is a young, digitally fluent, predominantly urban consumer base that discovered Formula 1 as a cultural phenomenon: something to follow, attend, discuss, and wear. The parallels with China's luxury consumer are not coincidental. They are, to a remarkable degree, the same person: young, urban, educated, spending on experience and identity as much as objects. The F1 fan in China and the luxury consumer in China overlap in ways that the most attentive brands have already begun to act on. What Luxury Brands Understood First In October 2024, LVMH announced a 10-year global partnership with Formula 1, reportedly valued at more than $100 million per year, making it one of the largest sponsorship agreements in the history of sport. Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer, and Moët Hennessy are the three Maisons leading the activation. TAG Heuer replaced Rolex as the sport's official timekeeper. Moët & Chandon returned to podium celebrations. Louis Vuitton now crafts the bespoke trophy trunk handed to each race winner, including the one presented to Antonelli in Shanghai on Sunday. The partnership, as framed by Bernard Arnault, was premised on Formula 1 having become one of the most desirable sports in the world. The China dimension is central to that logic. Louis Vuitton's recent Shanghai activations, including The Louis concept space at HKRI Taikoo Hui and its maritime heritage exhibitions, have already demonstrated the brand's understanding that Chinese luxury consumers want cultural experience as much as product. An annual Grand Prix in Shanghai gives LVMH a moment of live, shared spectacle in the market that matters most. The trophy trunk is a piece of brand communication as much as it is a piece of luggage. Other brands are moving with equal purpose. Ahead of this weekend's race, Tumi brought Lando Norris, the reigning world champion, onto a Douyin livestream to engage Chinese fans directly. It is a precise articulation of the opportunity: a global sports star, a platform built for the Chinese digital consumer, and a brand repositioning itself for a younger audience through the cultural equity Formula 1 now carries in China. The activation required no translation. The audience already knew who Norris was.

The New Rules of Desirability: Inside China’s She Economy

By Amy Weng • March 13, 2026
China accounts for about 62% of the world’s self-made women billionaires, according to the Hurun Global Rich List. At the same time, data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's 2023/2024 report shows that China is among the rare economies worldwide where women's startup rates match or exceed those of men, and it has a generation of university graduates that is now majority female. It is also a country where the government actively encourages women to marry earlier, have more children, and return to domestic life. The she economy lives in the tension between those two realities. China's female consumer base controls an estimated $1.4 trillion in annual spending, according to Accenture research. They influence 70% of all household purchases and, in a shift that would have been culturally unimaginable a generation ago, now direct a majority of their personal spending toward their own needs rather than those of their families, according to JD.com research. Who They Are The she economy did not emerge from a single city or a single demographic. Its most visible architects sit at the very top of global wealth rankings. Zhong Huijuan left a job as a chemistry teacher to found Hansoh Pharmaceutical in Jiangsu, building it into one of China's leading oncology and psychotropic drug companies; by mid-2025 she ranked first in Asia and third globally on Forbes' list of self-made women billionaires, with a fortune of approximately $19.7 billion. Wu Yajun arrived at entrepreneurship from a different direction: factory floor technician earning $16 a month, then property journalist, before co-founding Longfor Properties in Chongqing in 1993, a company that grew into one of China's largest real estate developers. Wang Laichun, chairwoman of Luxshare Precision Industry, spent years on Foxconn's assembly lines before building the company that now manufactures Apple's AirPods and rivals Foxconn across Apple's supply chain; the 2024 Fortune list ranked her the most powerful woman in business in Asia. The geographic picture is equally important. A significant share of Chinese female internet users now live outside the traditional tier-one cities. Hangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an, Nanjing: these are not secondary markets. They are where consumption habits are being formed, where new platforms find their earliest adopters, and where brand loyalty, or its absence, is decided. A 32-year-old finance professional in Hangzhou and a 28-year-old designer in Chengdu may have similar purchasing power and entirely different ideas of what makes a product worth owning. Spending on the Self The founders described above illustrate the female economic power at the top. The same shift is also visible in how women are spending. One of the most structurally significant shift in the she economy is the direction of spending. In 2023, Chinese women purchased 8.23 million vehicles, up 10.6% year-on-year, according to Yiche Research Institute, a category that was almost exclusively male-dominated a decade ago. Women are also increasingly central in homebuying decisions. Surveys suggest that more than 80% of property purchases now involve female decision-makers. Wellness, travel, and self-education have become the fastest-growing spending categories among urban women under 40. This is not consumption for its own sake. These spending patterns reflect a generation of women who came of age in a different educational and economic environment. Women now account for 63% of all higher education enrolment, outnumbering men at undergraduate level and in several postgraduate disciplines, according to China's Ministry of Education. They are applying the same rigour to purchases as to careers. The luxury resale market is part of this logic: platforms like Plum, which specialises in pre-owned luxury goods, are overwhelmingly female-driven, combining value-consciousness with the kind of careful curation that defines this cohort's relationship with objects.

How Adidas Turned the Tang Jacket into a Cultural and Commercial Success

By Eini Kärkkäinen • February 10, 2026
When Adidas released its Tang jacket ahead of Lunar New Year 2024, it was intended as a limited regional drop for Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Instead, it became one of the most recognizable fashion phenomena in China’s modern streetwear scene. Queues formed outside flagship stores, social media buzzed with styling posts, and resale prices surged. By 2026, the jacket had evolved from a seasonal item into a cultural symbol. Its resonance, however, came from more than design alone. It captured a pivotal moment in China’s emotional landscape. Post-COVID Reconnection with Cultural Identity The pandemic reshaped how many Chinese consumers view identity, heritage, and consumption. Lockdowns, limited travel, and global tension prompted renewed appreciation for domestic craftsmanship and cultural symbolism. Young consumers began favoring products that reflected confidence and continuity rather than globalized trends. This mindset drove movements such as Guochao (国潮) and Neo-Chinese (新中式) fashion. The Tang jacket fit naturally within this shift, offering a modern, wearable link to tradition. Reimagining Tradition for Everyday Wear The Tang jacket draws from Tangzhuang (唐装), garments whose roots trace back to styles popularized during the Tang dynasty, a period celebrated for cultural openness and artistry. Adidas incorporated traditional details such as Mandarin collars, frog-button closures (盘扣), and symbolic knot fastenings into its signature three-stripe silhouette. The collaboration with Chinese designer Samuel Guiyang further grounded the project in local aesthetics, combining his contemporary tailoring approach with Adidas’ streetwear identity. These features, traditionally associated with harmony and fortune, were reimagined with modern proportions and materials, creating a garment that felt both authentic and current. This balance made it appealing to fashion-forward youth and culturally mindful consumers alike. Overseas Chinese and Global Amplification A major factor behind the jacket’s rise was its enthusiastic reception among overseas Chinese communities. For diaspora consumers, cultural symbols hold heightened emotional weight. Living abroad often deepens one’s sense of heritage, and the Tang jacket became a stylish conduit for connection. On Xiaohongshu, Instagram, and TikTok, users abroad showcased it as both fashion and pride. That content flowed back into China’s digital sphere, fueling a cross-border feedback loop that transformed a regional launch into a global cultural trend. Platform-Driven Storytelling and Scarcity The product’s spread reflected the dynamics of China’s integrated social platforms. Users posted unboxings, Lunar New Year family photos, and reunion clips featuring the jacket, telling stories grounded in emotion rather than advertising. Algorithms amplified these personal narratives, while limited inventory created natural scarcity. The result was a self-perpetuating cycle of desirability and visibility. Adidas did not need aggressive promotion, as community storytelling and peer validation drove success organically. From Sportswear Brand to Cultural Participant Adidas’ emerging cultural role became clear in October 2025, when it closed Shanghai Fashion Week SS26 with its “Power of Three” showcase. Merging traditional motifs with innovative performance fabrics, the event signaled the brand’s transformation from an international sportswear supplier to a meaningful participant in China’s fashion ecosystem. Adidas was no longer adapting to cultural trends; it was helping shape them.