Trendsetting fashion mall celebrates 20 years
The downtown luxury shopping mall Plaza 66 Shanghai threw a year-end party "Home to Luxury" last week to celebrate its 20th anniversary in the company of pop stars, supermodels, celebrities, VIP customers and influential fashion vloggers.
As an original centerpiece of Nanjing Road W., one of China's most successful commercial streets, Plaza 66 is striving hard to stay ahead in the luxury retail industry.
An increasing number of glitzy malls have mushroomed through the city over the two decades and online shopping has become a major way of life in recent years.
The complex's party space was decorated as a giant black-and-white checkerboard, featuring pop-art booths of comical digital photo services, while music concerts by idols, on-site magic shows and free flow champagne pushed the festive mood to the max.
Hong Kong pop singer Joey Yung performs at the Plaza 66 celebration.
A host of the world's luxury and fashion brands collaborated to release their latest collections and exclusive, limited edition lines, as well as various in-store events.
As one of Shanghai's first high-end shopping malls, Plaza 66 has witnessed the ups and downs of the growth of China's luxury and fashion industry over the years. It was also the starting point for Chinese consumers to be introduced to big luxury brand names, and a benchmark for China's high-end retail development.
In 2014, however, with the sudden emergence of online shopping and the rise of overseas tourism, the domestic luxury retail industry was greatly affected. Plaza 66 undertook a facelift in 2015, the largest upgrade project since its establishment in 2001.
In 2017, the mall made its comeback with the first "Home to Luxury," a lavishly curated celebration party to consolidate its unique position as a real Home to Luxury on the Chinese mainland.
It embraced the digital era in 2019 as one of the earliest commercial complexes in China to open official accounts on different social media platforms.
In deep collaboration with KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) in the form of livestreams and Vlogs, Plaza 66 survived 2020 when the whole world was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this year's celebration, influential fashion vloggers such as Uncle Alex, AnnyFan and Fil Xiaobai livestreamed and shared the party night with their followers.
In addition, Plaza 66 launched its "Home to Luxury" account last week on Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok) to cater to Chinese millennials and Generation Z (born after 1995), the driving force of the country's and even the world's luxury and fashion consumption market.
Influential fashion vloggers livestreamed the party night with their followers on social media platforms.
