Sulwhasoo opens experiential space in Shanghai

CHINA – Sulwhasoo has launched a limited‑time, multi‑sensory “Ginseng Mansion” pop‑up art space in Shanghai’s Xintiandi.

This move marks the brand’s 60th anniversary of ginseng research with an immersive journey that fuses heritage skincare science, contemporary art collaborations, and hands‑on craft experiences. 

The activation, which opened at No. 1 Xintiandi North Block in a century‑old residence that blends Shanghai’s architectural heritage with East Asian aesthetics, is built around the theme “layer by layer” to translate Sulwhasoo’s philosophy, “Timeless Beauty, Beyond Time”, into a physical, experiential format for Chinese consumers. 

At the opening ceremony, Sulwhasoo’s global brand head and Amorepacific China’s president emphasized ginseng as the brand’s core asset and outlined plans to deepen cultural resonance in China through art, lifestyle, and city‑specific experiences that foster ongoing dialogue with local consumers.

A centrepiece of the activation is the China debut of Sulwhasoo Artisan Club, a year‑long artist co‑creation program featuring three brand art friends: illustrator Sun Jiayi, ceramic artist and designer Xin Yaoyao, and installation artist Hu Yuehua. 

The initiative extends Sulwhasoo’s global artist partnership model into the Chinese market, using art as a bridge to reinterpret Eastern wisdom and ginseng’s “life force” in contemporary visual languages. 

The pop‑up spans three and a half floors of the historic townhouse, with each level advancing the “layer by layer” concept through architecture, materials, and sensory progression. 

The ground floor introduces ginseng’s life cycle from soil to sprout, anchoring the visitor experience in the raw material’s natural rhythm, and features a timeline scroll that traces the evolution from the 1966 ABC Ginseng Cream to the sixth‑generation ginseng cream, highlighting Sulwhasoo’s sustained focus on ginseng‑based skincare innovation. 

The “Ginseng Research Lab” zone maps research across ginseng parts, root, stem, leaf, flower, seed, fruit, while a “Patent Ginseng” installation aggregates research papers and patents to showcase the brand’s scientific depth. 

The second floor translates Sulwhasoo’s skin science into spatial form, illustrating how the sixth‑generation ginseng cream addresses aging in layers: deep structural support, mid‑layer resilience, and surface smoothness, reflecting the brand’s ECM‑focused anti‑aging approach that aims to maintain a youthful “skin phase” through layered management. 

A comic‑sticker corner offers on‑site custom illustrations by invited artists, turning brief moments into personalized art keepsakes.

The third floor returns to craftsmanship, pairing ceramics and textiles to express Sulwhasoo’s artisanal ethos, with references to the classic white porcelain ABC cream bottle and traditional woven fabrics that highlight the interplay between Eastern materials, hand techniques, and brand aesthetics. 

Visitors can engage in DIY embroidery patch bags, customizing fabric handbags with decorative patches, an interactive nod to “layered sincerity” and heartfelt intention expressed through craft. 

The mezzanine level focuses on product experience and sensory closure, offering one‑on‑one skin consultations with beauty advisors and trials of Sulwhasoo’s star products, alongside a limited co‑branded dessert with VERIE, “Today’s Ginseng Has Apricot”, that provides a layered flavor experience extending the ginseng journey into taste.

The activation dovetails with the launch of Sulwhasoo’s sixth‑generation ginseng cream, which embodies the brand’s “layer by layer, youthful closeness” anti‑aging concept by framing youthfulness as a multi‑layer state encompassing barrier stability, surface smoothness, contour fullness, and sustained youthful appearance. 

Technologically, the cream leverages a “dual‑ginseng” system: GINSENOMICS™, a patented bioconversion ginseng extract, and ginseng peptides. 

According to brand claims, GINSENOMICS™ delivers highly concentrated Compound K, approximately 6,000 times that of raw ginseng, helping activate renewal pathways, stabilize “skin‑phase anchoring filaments,” and reshape the ECM environment with support for multiple collagen and elastin networks. 

The layered action targets barrier repair, mid‑layer firmness, and deep structural proteins to produce a “tight, smooth, full, and closely adhered” youthful look.

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