Legacy CEO discusses China bets, including largest store yet

SHANGHAI, FORMER FRENCH CONCESSION, 11 OCTOBER 2026 —

“It’s really the next level for us,” Richardos Klarén, Our Legacy’s CEO, says from his office in Stockholm.

Dongliang, the pioneering multi-brand concept store, will act as Our Legacy’s operational partner in the country. Founded in 2009, the retailer’s business comprises 15 stores across China, as well as lifestyle concepts including a restaurant, a tea house, and a flower shop. Our Legacy already partnered with the retailer as one of its stockists in China, and has a permanent space in its Maison Dongliang location.

By joining forces on the brand’s own store, which will operate as a franchise business, Dongliang is able to elevate its international portfolio and tap into the Swedish brand’s cult following. Meanwhile, Our Legacy gets a trusted name on the ground with serious retail know-how. “We understood quite quickly that teaming up with the right partners is super important and we felt very comfortable with their expertise in the market [here],” Klarén says over Zoom.

Though this will be Our Legacy’s first store in China, the label has been developing its business in the region for over a decade. Its first wholesale account in the country was 10 Corso Como Shanghai in 2015, though it wasn’t until 2018 that the brand began actively investing through relationships with leading local retailers like SKP, I.T, Lane Crawford, and Assemble.

“That was an important turning point for us,” says Klarén, adding that in the years since, China has evolved from an emerging market “into a meaningful and strategically important part of the business”. According to the brand, China currently represents approximately 13% of global revenue, which surpassed $50 million globally in 2025. Business in the region has grown at around 25% annually over the past few years.

“The [China] market has demonstrated strong and consistent demand for the brand, and we see substantial long-term potential [there],” Klarén says. Though the Chinese market has proven turbulent for major luxury brands in recent years, amid softened demand and a challenging macroeconomic environment, contemporary labels like Our Legacy, with subtle design signatures, have captured market share. “People are appreciating our brand to a higher degree as logos become less popular,” says Klarén.

“They want clothes that are good quality and [can be worn] longer term.” Our Legacy offers what he calls “a combination between more high-end luxury and a punky, grungy vibe that makes us quite unique.” Inside the new store At over 300 square meters, the new Shanghai space is Our Legacy’s largest store yet, and joins a roster of five others across London, Stockholm and Berlin.

Located in the Former French Concession in the center of the city, with its leafy avenues and 20th century European architecture, Dongliang’s founders say the district is exactly where China’s next generation wants to shop. “It’s the soul of the city,” says Dongliang founder Charles Wang, who runs the business alongside his partner, Daniel Du.

The building itself is a cozy-looking Spanish villa, which belies Our Legacy’s characteristic coolness inside its doors: austere industrial interiors, designed by Nying, reference Swedish public buildings and intend to evoke what the brand calls a “singular Swedish melancholy”; ceramics and sculptures by American artist Kris Ruhs fill the space, while upstairs (the store has two storeys) is inspired by a building site.

According to Dongliang, the neighborhood feel is also in line with how young people are shopping in China today. “Especially in Shanghai, more and more young customers tend to walk outside on the street,” says Du.

“They don’t want to go to the shopping mall, into the box — they want to experience life and culture on the street.” The stock will span the brand’s edgy-yet-accessible men’s and womenswear, from relaxed jeans and chinos that retail for around €300, to leather jackets that sit at €1,700.

The store will also combine Our Legacy’s Work Shop arm, a circular platform launched in 2016 that the brand uses to upcycle deadstock fabrics and leftover materials into new products. Though the store has barely been open, there are plans in the works for more; Wang rattled off a list of traditional and emerging Tier 1 cities — including Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen — for potential spaces.

“China’s growing and we want to continue to open stores here,” says Klarén. “But not too fast.” Why China? With two decades in business under its belt, Our Legacy is entering a new phase of maturity. Following minority investment from LVMH’s Luxury Ventures Fund in 2024, the expansion into Asia is part of a broader effort to transition from a cult Scandinavian menswear label into a serious global luxury player.

But Klarén is conscious of moving too fast. “I think you can grow your audience without selling out. I don’t think it has to be contradictory,” he says. “It’s like an indie rock band. If you start to compromise with your design or your music, or try to get too many people at the same time, maybe it’s not gonna work.” China may prove a promising market for the brand to make the transition.

Our Legacy is perceived more as a luxury brand in China than it is in the West, according to Dongliang, often mentioned in the same breath as The Row and Lemaire, despite its comparatively lower price point. “For Chinese customers, foreign brands are still perceived higher than the local brands,” says Wang.

A generational shift is playing a part, too, with younger consumers in China wanting to buy into brands that don’t just offer status signaling, but a sense of community. “Our Legacy has a very strong attitude and image, which has attracted so much attention from the young customers,” says Wang.

Related: Our Legacy · Richardos Klarén