Located in the city’s Jing’an district, North Shaanxi Road is home to many time-honored brands. Thanks to art and creativity, the brands are nowadays no longer the same as they used to be. Around 30 artists and designers have recently instilled new life into the old stores.

Table lamps with a Chinese button knot-style switch; regimen foot bathing balls; pillows featuring Shanghai snacks; enamel cups featuring Shanghai slangs: all of these were created by designers who are willing to carry on traditional Shanghai culture through the idea of modern aesthetics and functionality.

As a popular store amongst brides and those who need tailor-made qipaos for all occasions, Longfeng Qipao was founded in 1936 and is known for making different kinds of button knots. Claiming to leave the trace of the brand on highly functional items, the designers have a strong sense of brand communication.

With this in mind, the designers have turned the delicate knot into a switch of a table lamp, adding a tint of elegance to an everyday object. That’s why they also created a range of souvenirs like canvas bags, plastic tape, postcards and refrigerator stickers, which feature the elements of Longfeng Qipao and traditional Chinese patterns such as plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo and chrysanthemums.

(Temple-themed tableware designed for Jing'an Cereal & Oil)

(Badges designed for Kaikai Clothing)

(A round shaped table lamp with a button knot-style switch)

With a history of 300 years, Lei Yun Shang is a popular brand of Chinese TCM Materia Medica in Shanghai. To spice up the old brand, the designers created a mascot for it: an amicable old man called Mr. Lei. Based on the image, a series of cultural creative products combining TCM formulas and medicated baths have been developed. Moreover, to integrate cuteness into ancient TCM culture, they developed a set of herbal pots and four corresponding pet dog images. Each of the pet dogs represents a different characteristic of Qi (or internal energy) in TCM: cold, hot, cool, and warm.

(Mr. Lei, mascot of Lei Yun Shang)

(A set of Lei Yun Shang’s herbal pots)

The rejuvenation of the old brands on North Shaanxi Road will meet the increasing demand of the city’s enhancement of its shopping and cultural climate. Last year, Shanghai formulated a three-year plan to speed up making the city into a global consumption city. Reviving time-honored brands is among the eight specific measures that needed to be carried out. It is clearly required that time-horned brands have to explore new retail patterns and business models through crossover creation and innovation.

(Notebooks designed for Humsuit, an upscale clothing store established in 1929)

(Enamel cups designed for footware company Lantang-Bobu)