Shanghai’s annual haute couture week will be held next month on the Bund to help enhance the city’s soft power and achieve its ambition to become a global design capital.

The Shanghai New Customization Week 2021-2022 will be held at the Bund Finance Center on November 12, the Shanghai International Fashion Federation, the organizer of the event, announced yesterday.

This year’s couture week will focus on young haute couture practitioners and further promote quality lifestyle among consumers. A series of events, such as fashion shows, immersive exhibitions and theme salons, will be held.

The event is also part of the series of activities to deal with the “spillover effect” of the China International Import Expo, scheduled for November 5-10 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in suburban Qingpu District.

The couture week will make “oriental aesthetics” its main theme and focus on Chinese culture and fashion consumption. It is expected to help enhance the urban soft power of Shanghai and further promote Chinese culture around the world, according to the federation.

“The ‘oriental beauty’ is the common language of globalization as well as an excellent carrier to showcase Chinese culture to the world,” said Xu Xiaoliang, president of the federation and Co-CEO of Fosun International.

Shanghai is set to enhance its urban “soft power” to match its ambitions to become a socialistic metropolis with global influence by 2035.

As one of its key efforts, the city aims to become an international design capital with prosperous design and innovation sectors and global professionals, officials said.