Seeing blue

“We’re ready for the next chapter,” Reed Krakoff told BAZAAR on the eve of Tiffany & Co.’s biggest exhibition in a century. Grace O’Neill travelled to Shanghai for a glimpse at what’s next for one of the world’s most formidable jewellery houses.

- Grace O’Neill

Over three days in Shanghai, during an unseasonably warm stretch of September, conversation among my Australian companions inevitably circled back to the people outside our hotel. All day, every day, dozens of Chinese women descended upon the streets outside the Peninsula, dressed in voluminous red tulle ballgowns or head-to-toe new-season Bottega Veneta, with a reluctant boyfriend (or sometimes a whole camera crew) in tow, shooting up a storm of content for their respective social media accounts. Our tour guide for the week, a bubbly local named Joyce, informed us these women travel from all over the city to this little enclave — attracted to the European-inspired architecture that dominates the short run alongside the Bund where the Peninsula is nestled. In a city full of vertigo-inducing skyscrapers and fabulously intricate Chinese temples, influencers seek out the old-world charm of brownstone walls and cobbled alleyways.

This old-meets-new juxtaposition perfectly embodies Shanghai as a city. On Nanjing Road, gargantuan Gucci stores loom over thrumming local markets serving dried fruit and chickens’ feet. En route to a Chanel boutique, you’re likely to be accosted by ancient-looking men trying to hawk faux quilted bags. Restaurants with deceptively traditional decor serve cutting-edge modern Chinese cuisine, fusion creations informed by the city’s increasingly global population. In short, it’s the perfect location for a brand seeking to both celebrate its heritage and announce a bold new vision for the future.