March 4, 2007
By ANDREW YANG
TAIKANG ROAD, at the southern end of the French Concession area in Shanghai, does not look like a portal to the cutting edge of high fashion. A dark alleyway leads to Lane 248, a narrow street filled with, among other things, old bicycles, yam carts and clotheslines dripping with laundry.
But on a recent afternoon, the floodlights from a television crew pierced the drabness to report on the opening of yet another boutique along the lane. The store, Jaooh, which sells loose-fitting, or deconstructed, clothing under its own label, had just opened the day before.
“This area is quite unique and has more personality and character than many other places in Shanghai,” said Yvonne Wang, an owner of Jaooh (Shop 47, Lane 248, Taikang Road, 86-21-6466-5385). “There are lot of new shops, but the character of the buildings has stayed the same.”
In Shanghai, where mega-developments are the norm, the small stone houses known as shikumen along Lane 248 are being lovingly restored and converted into trendy boutiques, patisseries and cafes. Since last summer, nearly two dozen shops have opened.
“Every day I come here, there's something new,” said A-Ti Dong, a recent transplant from New York City who runs Arts du Monde (Shop 43, Lane 248; 86-21-5465-7896), which sells unusual items like trench coats made from Tibetan fabric (2,500 yuan, about $316 at 7.9 yuan to the dollar), and vintage Christian Dior Mary Jane high-heeled shoes (3,500 yuan).
The “shopification” of Lane 248 has been spurred largely by young entrepreneurs from cosmopolitan cities like Taipei and Hong Kong. Some jokingly refer to their budding district as Lao Tian Di (Old Sky Earth), a riff on a popular entertainment district in Shanghai known as Xintiandi (New Sky Earth) that features immaculately restored shikumen houses — and a Starbucks.
But unlike that master-planned entertainment district, Lane 248 is a community with deep roots. “There's a lot of interaction and harmony among the shopkeepers and the locals,” said Bobbie Cornell, a New Zealand native who opened up her shop, Nuzi (Shop 30, Lane 248; 86-21-5465-3245) in November. Ms. Cornell said that her next-door neighbors, longtime residents of the lane, welcomed her to the area by offering her a number of home-cooked meals.
Nuzi sells New Zealand-inspired furniture and accessories like an ash and birch loveseat by the designer David Trubridge (35,000 yuan) and large-scale prints by the artist Brent Wong (about 600 yuan).
For a Zen-like break between shops, stop by Meshi (Shop 37, Lane 248; 86-21-5465-2450), a Japanese-style teahouse that serves traditional green tea and has the feel of an old Kyoto house. The Alley Bar (Shop 33, Lane 248; 86-21-6433-3469), a tiny bar and coffee shop with a third-floor patio, was getting ready to open this week.
Locals who stumble onto Lane 248 don't always appreciate its appeal. “My producer thinks it's strange,” said Huo Yi-Lin, a film editor working on a documentary about Lane 248. “They are such poor quality houses. But foreigners really love them, and think they are emblematic of Shanghai.”
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