SHANGHAI — Prada Rong Zhai, the Italian luxury fashion brand’s restored mansion in downtown Shanghai, hosted a Weekend Market in its courtyard garden this past weekend, running concurrently with the exhibition “Human Brains: Preserving the Brain – Forum on Neurodegenerative Diseases.” 

Billed as “the brand’s latest attempt at exploring city culture by merging the types of the market with creativity,” local vendors that represent “high quality and sustainable lifestyles” were chosen by Prada’s Rong Zhai team to take part in the two-day bazaar. 

Market-goers, who included nearly 3,000 guests from the local creative industries, shopped on the event with Prada tokens that were marked at 25 renminbi, or $3.60, each. 

Guests were capable of do their weekend grocery run at Prada Rong Zhai and browse a choice of vinyl, books and ceramics from Prada’s chosen vendors. Seasonal flowers and potted plants, organic granola, vegatables and fruits, all wrapped in Prada’s green and white wrapping paper and logos, quickly sold out.

Within the mansion’s lush back garden, guests lounged under the sun with a live DJ playing bluegrass music within the background.

Prada’s two-day event garnered greater than 870,000 mentions on Xiaohongshu, the favored social commerce platform.

In line with Prada, the Rong Zhai mansion, which opened almost seven years ago, has develop into a versatile site for cultural activities, including exhibitions, retail space and cultural events like this. 

The weekend fair is just not the primary time that Prada has staged a fashion takeover by working with local vendors. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, Prada covered a Shanghai wet market in its seasonal black and purple patterns, to be able to launch its fall 2021 campaign “Feels Like Prada.”

Shoppers were capable of enjoy vegetables and flowers wrapped in Prada wrapping paper and shopping bags. Similar campaigns were later rolled out in Florence, Rome, Paris, London, Latest York and Tokyo, with quite a lot of formats that aimed to “provide an authentic experience.”