GLOBAL DEBUT: The second collection that David Beckham designed for Boss, as part of a multiyear global partnership, made its Greater China debut on Tuesday at a dedicated pop-up space in downtown Shanghai‘s buzzy regeneration complex Zhangyuan.

The soccer legend, who was in Macao earlier and was spotted by locals trying to get a Labubu plush doll for his children at a Pop Mart store, headed to Shanghai for the occasion, donning a vintage-effect dark brown suede jacket with a cream leather-trimmed collar. He paired it with a simple white T-shirt, brown tapered suit trousers, and Chelsea boots in chestnut brown.

He first toured the pop-up and then greeted local media heavyweights, key VIPs of Boss, and posed alongside Chinese actor, singer, and songwriter Ayungg-a and Eddie Chen, professionally known as E. So, an award-winning Taiwanese rapper.

Draped in the collection’s signature deep midnight blue, the pop-up begins with an immersive film installation with the codesigned collection’s campaign, featuring Beckham, projected onto three walls at the same time.

Then comes a workshop space, detailing the collaboration process with design sketches, garment patterns, and fabric displays. A touch of Savile Row-inspired experience awaits in the next room, which is reimagined as a gentleman’s shop with 13 core looks from the collection on mannequins, and a fitting area recreating the ambiance of a modern British tailor.

The final part of the pop-up introduces the idea of a London private members’ club. Through a hidden door, visitors can sip drinks while creating social media content with a phone booth. It’s said that those who pick up the handset are treated to a special voice message from Beckham himself.

Later in the evening, according to his Instagram stories, Beckham dined with China’s basketball legend Yao Ming at the high-end Cantonese restaurant Grand Boat at the Pudong Shangri-La hotel. They had barbecue pork, cod flambé, hairy crab, and cabernet sauvignon from Yao’s vineyard in Napa Valley.

Equally trivial, sources in the local Labubu community heard that, given Beckham’s poor luck with Labubu hunting in Macau, Pop Mart has sent him a set of the latest Halloween-themed blind box series featuring a Labubu wearing a clown costume.