Our Legacy, HEMU and SENSAI

Swedish label Our Legacy is opening its first standalone store in China on 12 October. The 300-plus-square-metre flagship, its largest anywhere, occupies a Spanish-style villa on Yongjia Road in Shanghai’s former French Concession. Local retailer Dongliang, which has carried Our Legacy for years, is its operating partner. The store will also include Work Shop, the label’s line of reworked clothing.

The timing is worth noting. Our Legacy began selling in China through 10 Corso Como in 2015. According to figures shared with Vogue Business, China now accounts for roughly 13% of global revenue, following annual growth of about 25% in recent years.

A different customer

Womenswear accounts for 35% of Our Legacy’s Chinese sales, a much higher proportion than elsewhere. Dongliang says local shoppers place the label closer to The Row or Lemaire than to its roots in Swedish menswear. A brand that arrived with one identity has acquired another in China, largely through the customers who chose it.

That makes the Yongjia Road address especially interesting. Rather than introducing Our Legacy to an unfamiliar market, the flagship is being built around an audience that already knows it. The next question is how much of that existing enthusiasm can become a larger, durable retail business.

Source: Vogue Business →

HEMU opened Shanghai Fashion Week on 8 October with Silk Road, its Spring/Summer 2027 collection. Drawing on Dunhuang and the Hexi Corridor, the show incorporated yunjin brocade, kesi tapestry, Xiangyun silk, batik and embroidery. The label worked with Jin Wen, a recognised master of yunjin weaving, on the collection’s colours, techniques and patterns.

This was HEMU’s fifteenth Shanghai Fashion Week presentation. Its involvement with traditional crafts predates the current show, giving the collaboration some history beyond a single runway theme.

From runway to wardrobe

More than ten craft techniques appeared in the collection. That is compelling to see on a catwalk; incorporating them into clothes made beyond the show is a different proposition. Skilled labour, production times and prices will decide how much of this work reaches customers. The collaboration is most interesting if it has a life after the photographs.

Source: The Paper → · Xinhua →

Japanese prestige beauty label SENSAI launched ULTIMATE THE FOUNDATION on 7 October at ¥36,300 for 30 ml. Parent company Kao says the formula required more than 800 prototypes and a new emulsification process to balance skin-conditioning ingredients with the coverage and finish expected of foundation.

94% of what, exactly?

The most eye-catching statistic needs a little care. SENSAI says the foundation includes certain moisturising ingredients at 94% of the amount used in its ULTIMATE skincare products. It is not saying that the entire foundation is 94% skincare. That difference matters when a technical number is used to explain an unusually high price.

There is an interesting geographical twist as well. SENSAI has spent decades building a prestige reputation in Europe, and Kao now wants to expand its reach across Asia. The foundation is scheduled for China in 2028. Here, the Japanese brand’s European history is part of what it can bring home.

Source: Kao →