Heirlooms Handbags opens in Xintiandi Style
On 10 December, Heirloom Handbags held a grand opening party to launch its new flagship store in Xintiandi Style mall, marking the third location (the first one being a cosier boutique located on the fashionable Xinle Lu) for Heirloom in Shanghai. The brand has already gained immense popularity within the Shanghai community. Internationally, Heirloom Handbags is represented in the US, Europe and other parts of Asia and has been featured in fashion magazines around the world, further expanding the brand’s growth. The new store in Xintiandi Style is designed to attract international fashion-goers and also bring their existing customers a unique and personal shopping experience.
“We looked into opening a store in Xintiandi Style roughly two years ago, but was not ready to take this step at that time. After two years in China, we have gained a solid following and are very lucky to be offered such a wonderful space. ” says Tiffany Wu, brand director and partner of Heirloom Handbags.
The two and a half year old company began as a project for travel accessories that blossomed into a full line of leather goods. Lynn Lu and Tiffany Wu, owners of Heirloom Handbags, are both avid travelers who felt the need to create high quality products that exuded a sense of elegance with an edge and suited the jet-setting lifestyle. Their production team, a small crew of skilled craftsman, meticulously stitch each piece, sometimes taking up to three days to make each bag to ensure the quality of craftsmanship. Lu, the creative director, even lives in the factory and oversees the production herself.
“The term ‘heirloom’ communicates the idea of something so treasured that it’s meant to be passed on from generation to generation. We designed our new store with that concept in mind,” says. Lu. “We kept the same framed shelves like in our first boutique, but transformed the rest of the interior into a more dreamy and intimate surrounding, to resemble a girl’s dressing room. There is even a special little boudoir where we showcase our signature bags and a cozy personal space to browse the products.”
The more spacious venue does justice to the well-crafted bags and allows the designers to play more on visuals. This new store shows a progression of the brand while offering a new dimension of Heirloom compared to the intimate Xinle boutique. The more subdued purple (Heirloom’s brand colour) is a mix of masculine and feminine, and the use of luscious fabricated paneled walls and gloss painted wood boasts warmth and luxury. The location (right next to the mall’s entrance) is ideal and the Heirloom mesh studded wall in the boudior, which borrows its aesthetic from the handbags themselves, adds a charming, whimsical touch to the whole shopping experience.
“We are very fortunate to have a store in Xintiandi Style; it’s a good mix of Eastern and Western culture. It’s iconic,” says Wu. “We would like to use this space to showcase the brand’s identity and design concept and to share our passion for bags.”
