China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Tapping another era

- Contact the writer at xuhaoyu@chinadaily.com.cn

“Vintage is niche after all. If my shop is in a commercial block, 80 percent of the visitors who come into the shop just can’t get the value of the clothes on my shelf. Sure, I am keen to popularize vintage culture, but it’s also important that for my customers the shopping space is comfortabl­e.”

Song says she would advise against a vintage culture shop being in any place where there is a lot of foot traffic. Still, it is important that the shop be located where it is accessible and easy to find, she says.

“Of course a shopping center with a retro vibe would be great.”

However, Lau of Delia in Beijing believes that just as a wine can be judged by its bouquet, the aficionado­s of vintage culture will easily be able to sniff out the outlet they are looking for.

His shop is in a hutong called Wudaoying and is graced with a navy blue door and a sign whose lettering is so small it would not be out of place at the bottom of an optician’s reading chart. In short, to find Delia you really need to be looking for it.

Lau says he opened the shop six years ago after taking over space left vacant by a friend.

“Wudaoying used to be a quiet hutong, and I didn’t give that much thought to whether it would be ideal for a vintage shop or not. I reckoned that if I put a lot of effort into growing the business, people would naturally be attracted to it.”

Liu of Mega Vintage says: “It’s the law of attraction; people who understand will press on to find what they are looking for.”

He opened a second shop at the end of 2015 on the sixth floor of a large building in the Sanlitun in Bei- jing, next to a coffee shop and a barber shop that he says are both furnished in a vintage style.

While that may seem like the ideal location for a vintage shop, Liu reckons he relies heavily on regular customers rather than foot traffic.

Luo Luo of Lolo Love Vintage is keen to raise the performanc­e and the profile of the vintage clothing industry in China, and has organized events with that in mind.

One of these is a retro society ball held every three months whose aim is to give people a chance to show off their vintage clothes as they indulge in a bit of time travel.

“I hold the ball for two reasons: I want to have fun and I feel that it is my responsibi­lity to popularize vintage culture.

“Vintage clothing is the carrier of historical culture, which is what I’m really interested in. At the root of all the events I hold is culture.”

She sees the shop as a kind Alice’s wonderland, she says.

“I wouldn’t want to say it’s a space disconnect­ed with the world, because for me it’s a dreamland and reality as well.”

Liu is a little more hard-edged in his thinking, considerin­g vintage clothing as resistance to reality.

“We make fun of mainstream culture and subvert it, and we couldn’t care less about reality. That’s because reality is the cruelest restrictio­n you can impose on us.”

One reason people appreciate vintage clothing is that it brings beauty from the past into their current reality.

“We are immersed in the past and in old culture; we are developing a lifestyle.” of

 ?? PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY ?? Vintage shops are popularizi­ng the vintage culture.
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Vintage shops are popularizi­ng the vintage culture.
 ?? PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY ?? Liu Ke in one of his two shops in Beijing called Mega Vintage.
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Liu Ke in one of his two shops in Beijing called Mega Vintage.

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