The 2018 Autumn and Winter Shanghai Fashion Week wrapped up Wednesday after presenting some 50 shows from domestic brands as well as from fashion houses in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. Organizers hope that the introduction of younger and newer brands would help raise Shanghai's image as a center of fine shopping. Chen Tong reports.  

In addition to the special new releases on show, this year's Fashion Week included mass clothing exhibits, pop-up stores and fashion discussion forums. It was obvious that Shanghai's fashion industry is quietly changing. Gu Ruoyang's company has been attending Shanghai Fashion Week for two years now, and he says the emphasis is moving away from luxury brands to focusing more on popular new brands. Most of those this year came from young designers.

GU RUOYANG, CEO IGFD GROUP "Nowadays commercial properties and shopping malls no longer prefer traditional brands, but they want different and new content. Because of the fast development of the internet, Chinese youth are pursuing newer and more chic brands instead of well known traditional brands. It's a good chance for shopping malls and consumers to upgrade."

CHEN TONG SHANGHAI "Shanghai has been holding Fashion Week for 16 years, but this year's fashion week was given an important role -- helping to raise Shanghai's image as a center of fine shopping. And that means, larger business opportunities for retailers are also coming."

According to the latest fashion industry report by the China Economic Information Service, Shanghai's fashion week ranks as Asia's second and the world's sixth most influential fashion gala. Experts believe more needs to be done to make Shanghai competitive with other large cities around the world.

HARRIS DIAMOND, CHAIRMAN & CEO MCCANN WORLD GROUP "Entertainment still, more likely than not, something the government wants to spend time and attention on, I think there are still more to be done in that area, more infrastructure probably needed, more mass transportation, but fundamentally I think Shanghai still has huge opportunity to be a key city not just in Asia, but worldwide."

Last year Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang emphasized the importance of boosting Shanghai's brand as a global shopping center, and it was clear this year's Fashion Week was a further step towards that goal.