Rains has officially arrived in Asia. The Danish outerwear and lifestyle brand opened its first ever Asian flagship at HKRI Taikoo Hui on West Nanjing Road in Shanghai‘s Jing’an District, marking a defining milestone in the Aarhus based brand’s global retail expansion.
A First for Asia
The Shanghai flagship is Rains‘ first permanent retail presence on the Asian continent, and its opening signals a clear acceleration in the brand’s strategy to build a fully integrated, direct to consumer retail model worldwide. Founded in 2012 by Daniel Brix Hesselager and Philip Lotko in Aarhus, Denmark, Rains began as a contemporary reinterpretation of the classic rubber raincoat and has since evolved into a complete urban outdoor lifestyle brand spanning outerwear, ready to wear, bags, homeware, footwear, and travel. The choice of HKRI Taikoo Hui, one of Shanghai‘s most prominent luxury and lifestyle retail destinations, reflects the brand’s ambition to reach a style forward urban consumer in one of the world’s most competitive retail markets.
The Store: Fog, Grey, and Yellow
Spanning 148 square meters, the Shanghai flagship is designed as a calm, structured environment built to encourage visitors to linger and explore. Foggy glass installations and a minimal grey palette with yellow accents serve as the store’s visual language, guiding customers through the full Rains product universe across ready to wear, outerwear, bags, homeware, and travel.Â
Rains Co Founder Daniel Brix Hesselager said, “We want to invite customers to explore the Rains universe on a deeper level.â€
Part of a Global Retail Transformation
The Shanghai opening is the latest chapter in a broader transformation Rains has been executing since 2025, moving from a primarily wholesale model to a fully integrated 360 degree retail model that spans product design, logistics, store concepts, and the customer journey. In October 2025, the brand simultaneously opened new flagship locations in Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Paris, each introducing the same updated retail concept. Rains now brings its neo Scandinavian aesthetic and unisex collections to consumers across four continents, with the Shanghai flagship extending that reach into one of the most significant lifestyle markets in the world.
