EXCLUSIVE: London’s Machine-A to Launch Pop-up in Labelhood Shanghai
LONDON — Fashion boutique Machine-A, which has a cult following among London’s fashion community, is launching a pop-up store at Shanghai’s Labelhood, a key supporter of Chinese fashion designers, from Oct. 1 to February 2021, WWD has learned.
Stavros Karelis, founder of the Soho-based multibrand concept store, said the collaboration grew from an organic relationship that developed over time.
“I have been a huge admirer of Labelhood for a very long time. The two stores have a very similar approach when it comes to fashion and especially supporting emerging talent,” he said. “Shanghai has always been a dream for Machine-A to do a project. I always felt that with the right partner we can do this, and it will be very natural as our audience is primarily Chinese.”
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“We couldn’t tell our Machine-A story without these brands that have become such an integral part of our existence, and is the best reflection and representation of the store in London,” Karelis added.
Labelhood has evolved beyond a fashion retailer specializing in Chinese fashion labels with shops in Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou over the years. It is also a community for creatives and fashion lovers, and an emerging designer support platform that organizes fashion presentations for aspiring designers during Shanghai Fashion Week.
Store front of A Surname by Labelhood, where the Machine-A pop-up will be located. Courtesy
Tasha Liu, founder of Labelhood, said the collaboration with Machine-A will bring a more diverse offering and brand experience to customers.
“Our business has been growing healthily since April, both online and off-line as the pandemic subsided. We hope that we can help Machine-A, which shares similar values in supporting young talents with us, to get through this difficult time and achieve cross-market rapid growth for emerging brands in the future,” Liu added.
If the pop-up goes well, Karelis said he is open to hosting a pop-up for Labelhood in London next year.
“Both Machine-A and Labelhood represent something even further than retail and that is a cultural experience, hence doing a pop-up of Labelhood in London will be an absolute pleasure, creating and establishing an international community where designers, brands, ideas, concepts, exchange of cultures and customers are taking place, always supporting the same values and experiencing fashion in its true form,” he added.
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