Shanghai pushes bespoke shopping as a draw for global travelers

Shanghai is using a new citywide initiative called Shanghai Style to turn craftsmanship, personalization and luxury-made-to-measure shopping into a bigger reason for international visitors to come. The effort arrives as inbound tourism and tax-free spending surge, giving the city a new angle in its push to become a leading destination for inbound consumption.

Why it matters: - Shanghai is tying tourism growth to bespoke shopping and craftsmanship, hoping to convert more visitors into high-value shoppers. - The city is packaging traditional skills, modern design and personalization into a travel experience that can end with a custom-made item and a tax refund. - The push matters because Shanghai is aiming to move from China’s first stop for inbound travel to a leading city for inbound consumption.

What happened: - Shanghai launched “Shanghai Style” in March 2026 as a citywide initiative focused on bespoke craftsmanship and personalized consumption. - Four months later, the 2026 Shanghai Summer International Consumption Season opened across the city. - The initiatives are being positioned as a way for international visitors to experience Shanghai brands, buy customized products and take those purchases home.

The details: - Shanghai customization now spans traditional craftsmanship, contemporary design and precision manufacturing. - Visitors can buy made-to-measure qipao, tailored suits, customized eyewear, personalized watches and one-of-a-kind jewelry. - Traditional qipao techniques such as frog-button making, embroidery and piping are being combined with modern fabrics, silhouettes and design. - Local qipao brands include Longfeng Qipao, Renjian Yanhuo, Jinzhi Yuye and Zhuangrong. - Manloulan opened its research, design and haute couture workshop in Hongkou in April. - Manloulan is a designated inheritor and preservation organization for Shanghai’s intangible cultural heritage of Chinese formalwear craftsmanship. - The workshop lets visitors choose fabrics, silhouettes and details while observing sketching, pattern-making, hand embroidery, French embroidery, beadwork and traditional button-making. - Manloulan also joined a Shanghai Summer promotional event in Barcelona earlier this year to present Shanghai-style qipao craftsmanship overseas. - BAROMON, founded in 1928, has built nearly a century of bespoke menswear expertise around cutting, sewing, pressing and hand-finishing. - Shanghai tailoring also includes Humsuit, VSKONNE and LoraEsatta, while designers such as GUOPEI, HANART, EYAMEY and The Atelier expand couture and personalized fashion options. - Shanghai Sanlian Optical Center makes customized lenses for complex prescriptions, including severe myopia and astigmatism. - Irregular frames are individually assessed so digital processing and manual finishing can align the lens and frame precisely. - Shanghai Watch offers individual customization, corporate commissions and IP collaborations. - Customers can engrave names, graduation numbers or meaningful dates on the caseback. - Organizations can add logos, city landmarks or commemorative designs to watch faces. - Customized watch orders are coming from Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Russia and other markets. - Commemorative watches linked to the China International Import Expo, the Shanghai Magnolia Award and the Shanghai Marathon show how personalization can preserve a city connection. - Jewelry customization is also growing in Shanghai, including work at a studio in Yuyuan Garden where designer Zhao Yifan was seen finishing a ring for an Italian customer. - At LaoFengXiang’s flagship store, national-level master craftsman Shen Guoxing works in a transparent workshop on gold and silver filigree pieces, including a pair of gold dragon-and-phoenix cups ordered months in advance. - Shanghai’s bespoke economy is expanding beyond fashion and accessories into a wider ecosystem of personalized products and experiences. - In 2025, Shanghai welcomed more than 9.36 million inbound visitors, up nearly 40% year on year. - Inbound tourism spending reached US$15 billion in 2025. - Tax-refund applications rose 3.1 times year on year in 2025, and tax-refund sales increased 80%, accounting for nearly half of China’s total. - In the first half of 2026, Shanghai received 5.3149 million overseas visitors, up 27.82%. - Customs authorities processed 253,000 departure tax-refund applications in the first half of 2026, nearly triple the previous year, covering RMB 2.3 billion in purchases, up 58%. - Visa data showed international visitor spending in Shanghai rose more than 50% in the first quarter of 2026, while transaction volumes increased more than 60%. - Visitors came from nearly 200 countries and regions in the first quarter of 2026.

Between the lines: - Shanghai is using craftsmanship as tourism infrastructure, not just as a cultural showcase. - The strategy gives the city a premium消费 angle at a time when inbound travel, tax-free shopping and personalized retail are all climbing. - The focus on shipping finished pieces overseas suggests Shanghai wants the spending to continue even after visitors leave the city.

What’s next: - Shanghai is likely to keep building new bespoke shopping stops across neighborhoods such as Zhangyuan and the South Bund. - The city is emphasizing easier payment options, digital tax refunds and overseas shipping to reduce friction for international buyers. - Shanghai Style is expected to keep expanding as a travel hook alongside major events, summer consumption campaigns and inbound tourism growth.