On June 1 a stringent lockdown was lifted in Shanghai, allowing the millions of residents who had been confined to home for more than two months to finally venture outside, while shops were able to reopen their doors.
To celebrate, Eric Young, founder of upscale Shanghai boutique Le Monde de SHC, organised a gathering of friends and acquaintances in the shop. “We felt good and we wanted to buy some new clothes,” he says, speaking on a WeChat call a week after the reopening. “The business is kind of good because of markdowns. But is it really? Lockdowns are still happening in some areas. For example, last night in downtown, they just blocked two blocks. It’s not really back to normal.”
Young and his friends were not the only ones in a splashing-out mood: on the day of the reopening, luxury shoppers were spotted queueing outside Hermès, Celine and Dior in a bout of “revenge spending”, where consumers buy more than they normally would as a reaction to having endured restrictions and limitations. Jessie, a 23-year-old Shanghai gaming specialist, bought a ￡320 Acne Studios handbag on a whim. “I really wanted to revenge shop, so I purchased it on impulse,” she says.