Hermes at China Ship Pavilion — Hermès SS2018 Men's Show (2018)

The former Expo ship pavilion in Shanghai hosted Hermès's Spring/Summer 2018 men's runway show, a one-night event with livestream and after-party.

The venue

The China Ship Pavilion sits in the Puxi section of Shanghai's former 2010 World Expo site, a converted shipyard hall whose industrial frame and wide-span roof were retained through the Expo conversion. It is an exhibition building rather than a purpose-built theatre: a long, high interior, exposed structure, and an open floor that can be cleared for temporary build-outs. Between events it functions as an exhibition and event hall.

How the space was used

For the show, the cleared hall became a single-run runway environment. Guests moved from hotel check-in and a reception dinner to the venue for a 21:15 presentation; inside, the set drew on space-travel imagery, echoing the collection's fast-forward theme. Seating, runway and backstage were built within the open floor, and the same footprint carried the after-party. A QR-code livestream link circulated through Chinese social platforms before and during the show.

Why it works here

Expo-era pavilions of this kind suit fashion shows because they offer a large, neutral, high-volume interior that can be blacked out and rebuilt, plus a site identity — shipyard, machinery, motion — that reads as industrial rather than commercial. The location inside the Expo Park keeps the event separate from retail streets, which suits an invitation-only runway and its after-party.