In the category of ingenious solutions to seemingly intractable problems, I nominate Raphael le Masne de Chermont, executive chairman of Shanghai Tang. He turned a piece of really bad luck – being kicked out of the building where Shanghai Tang was founded in 1994, and where its flagship was established, with less than six months notice – into a creative retail opportunity.
Shanghai Tang
See, to take up the shop shortfall between the period when Shanghai Tang had to vacate its former boutique and the time the next one will be ready, Mr le Masne decided to create, “something people would talk about.” To be specific: six full-size Mongolian yurts, aka pop-up shops, on the roof of a pier in Hong Kong harbour. That’s them, under construction.
Mr le Masne got the idea for the yurts from the theme of Shanghai Tang’s Christmas collection: “Mongolian Xmas.” Plus, he says, since Shanghai Tang had been forced to become, for a short time, “the nomads of Central”. He felt it had a certain poetic justice.
Even by the standards of Hong Kong shopping-as-event, which in the past has seen a Louis Vuitton trunk recreated in the harbour, and Zaha Hadid’s Chanel pavilion, this is going to be eye-catching.
Shanghai Tang
Four of the yurts, which can accommodate up to 150 people each (standing) will be retail environments; one will act as a reception centre.
Built to specification in Outer Mongolia, with extra re-inforcements to withstand typhoon-strength winds (just in case), the yurts have been shipped to Hong Kong, along with a team of five Mongols who know how to construct them.
The whole process took a while, Mr le Masne admits, since the deconstructed yurts had to go through customs in Mongolia, China, and Hong Kong, and 17 different “stamps” were required from the Hong Kong authorities before they could be built. They finally open for business today.
“Many people dream of galloping on the steppes on Mongolia,” Mr le Masne says. “It’s the last frontier.” He’s hoping that, in the absence of a plane ticket, the yurts will be the next best thing.
Vanessa has been the FT’s fashion editor since 2003, and is based in New York, though she lived in London for 12 years.