American luxury designer fashion brand Ralph Lauren has taken over one of the busiest Metro stations in Shanghai. The takeover, it turns out, is a celebration of the China premiere of the HBO documentary Very Ralph, a film about Ralph Lauren, which will be livestreamed as it opens on 4 December. The Xujiahui Station in central Shanghai has been completely taken over by immersive floor-to-ceiling Very Ralph billboards, showing footage and quotes from the film, including the famous “I do not design clothes, I design dreams” line from Lauren. The takeover will be available until 24 November.
Interestingly, Ralph Lauren became viral for a short period during the Double 11 shopping festival as some of Alibaba’s 88VIP members took advantage of the luxury brand’s generous return policy to make up larger orders to get Tmall’s discounts before returning. A disputed report goes as far as to say that the brand became a “best seller” for a while with a 1.6 billion RMB (221.07 million USD) gross merchandise value (GMV) but experienced a 95% return rate during the shopping festival. This signifies a problem with the high return rate during Double 11 this year, especially in the fashion sector.
Ralph Lauren released its Q3 financial reports on 7 November and the brand exceeded expectations with its 6% growth. The news also boosted its stocks up 6.57%, raising its valuation to 13.77 billion USD. Most of the growth is from Asia, recording 9% YoY. While the Chinese market only contributes to around 8% of the business for the group, around 550 million USD, it reported double-digit growth in Q3 2024.
Ralph Lauren has been heavily investing in the lifestyle sector in China with its Ralph Lauren Home stores that incorporate cafés or restaurants. However, the brand’s effort to establish itself as a premium luxury brand in China has been slow, not only because of the Double 11 returns issue but also because of the existing brand image and its popularity in brand outlets. Ralph Lauren’s next step in keeping its growth in China will be worth watching.
