Anderson Bell Makes Runway Debut At Shanghai Fashion Week

Anderson Bell is on a roll. Founded in 2014 by Dohun Kim, it followed a 10-year celebration in Milan last year with an unexpected debut at Shanghai Fashion Week.

7 months in the making, the show marked a significant step in the brand’s global expansion plans and produced local agency Boh Project—helmed by Bohan Qiu. A week before the event, the Seoul brand teased its striking location (The Shanghai Postal Museum) on Instagram with a quirky Wes Anderson-inspired video that sees a lift burst from the venus out and into the city’s dramatic skyline.

A riot of Americana, western references were obvious—whether as fringing, suede, and rancher shirts or more literally seen in cowboys prints—it brought a futuristic rodeo to town. Referencing effortless muses like Kurt Cobain and Chloë Sevigny, the grungy line-up featured distressed fabrics, patchwork denim, oversized knits, lace and layered looks all well executed in an accessible riff on the Y2K aesthetic. It didn’t break new ground but it will certainly fill a gap for the cool crowd in China next year.

Local KOLs like Yonne Du, Wiwen Wang, Beijing Auntie, and stylist Lucia Liu all sat on the front row alongside Korean influencers such as Seung Ju Han, Cherim Yun and Lee Sa Bae. Speaking after the runway, Kim explained why he opted to show in the city given its importance to the brand.

“We decided to do a runway here to meet the buyers, press, media, fans, and so on. It’s a big market for us and sales here are very healthy,” he stated. The founder of Shanghai-based marketing agency Plush.Consulting, Lucrezia Seu who attended the show, confirmed that Andersson Bell is “very well received in China” with a “stable following” on social media making a spot during SHFW a logical choice. The brand has been profitable since its launch and brings in $15 million in annual revenues, according to Vogue Business. Kim told the publication that growth was “significant” in 2022.

Currently, the brand is stocked in many leading Chinese multi-brand stores such as Tag, Turight, Knotify, and j1m5. “It will be interesting to see whether it will progress by opening its own direct China e-commerce, for example,” Seu added. However, Kim hinted that Anderson Bell has even bigger plans—a physical store might be on the horizon next year.

Still, Kim seemed amused by his label’s popularity in China. Flying into Shanghai for the second time, the designer struggled to explain the brand’s popularity in China. “I don’t really know why we are popular here but I think people follow us for our very special, strong aesthetic.” Shanghai, it seems, is ready for it.