DAPHNE.LAB 0-to-1 Sub-Brand Incubation Recap: From Hero-Boot Testing to the TX Huaihai Flagship

The first step in the cold start was placing target circles and footwear silhouettes onto a single operating sheet. Stepping beyond traditional seasonal or material-based merchandising, the team mapped four high-expression style communities on Xiaohongshu: BM and international girl-crush, American retro, academy, and Y2K. Girl-crush calls for coordinated sets and clean toe lines; American retro relies on over-knee boots and thick soles to anchor leg proportions; academy revolves around pleated skirts and Mary Janes; Y2K favors cropped silhouettes, metallic hardware, and saturated pink where the shoe itself can hold the visual center of a frame.

This framework guided both internal product planning and external creator casting. Sugar Cube 1.0—a black, thick-soled over-knee boot with a distinct square toe—was built directly for the American retro and Y2K demand for leg-lengthening silhouettes. Bubblegum 1.0 took a lighter, round-toe pink platform direction to test whether saturated color could stand as an independent line, while Soft Sugar focused on everyday step comfort. Once Sugar Cube 1.0 proved out, Sugar Cube 2.0 expanded into platform ankle boots, metallic Mary Janes, and pointed flats to verify whether the signature silver heel mark retained recognition across new silhouettes.

With initial prototypes ready, Xiaohongshu served as the live testing ground. Pairs were seeded to creators and everyday users across the four target circles for real-world street styling. Whether a SKU graduated from testing to hero investment depended on three organic signals: screenshot saves, comments asking for purchase links, and spontaneous look-alike outfit posts. At the pre-launch stage, active link requests in the comments carried far more weight than top-down brand storytelling.

Sugar Cube 1.0 returned highly consistent visual feedback. High-performing notes converged on the same framing: black over-knee shafts shot from the knee down, directly addressing autumn-winter demand for straighter, longer-looking legs. User copy focused on the square toe, platform lift, calf contouring, and winter warmth. Once the boot was established as a repeatable outfit formula in the community, the sub-brand had a proven hero asset to anchor its official launch.

Following test validation, amplification scaled across a five-tier creator matrix paired with KFS (KOL + Feeds + Search): top-tier creators set the visual ceiling, circle icons integrated the boot into signature wardrobes, mid-tier and grassroots accounts built out copyable daily OOTD templates, and paid search/feeds captured inbound link intent. Per program recap records, the full year generated roughly 8,000 creator and user notes (~500 creator notes per month) and over 100 million impressions; Sugar Cube 1.0 was recorded as a super-hit, reaching No. 1 in Tmall’s over-knee boot category sales ranking with monthly volume exceeding 4,000 pairs (program recap figures, not a performance guarantee).

Bubblegum and Soft Sugar cleared the same testing pipeline to form a stable multi-line matrix. Meanwhile, the avant-garde Sugar-Free line—featuring a 3D-printed sculptural heel—was intentionally held back from mass seeding and reserved as the editorial centerpiece for the flagship opening and trade press.

Between online product testing and the physical store opening, the SS2023 campaign “Illusion Future” unified the tested platforms and slides into a single seasonal identity. Three core looks—a white pleated skirt with white platforms, saturated pink platform slides, and a black mini dress with fur slides—were shot from low, wide angles so the footwear carried more visual weight than the garments. Released first as a mobile S/S 2023 COLLECTION lookbook grid, the campaign ensured that e-commerce, social content, and retail merchandising pointed to the exact same seasonal edit.

The studio fluorescent pink established in the SS23 films and notes was matched directly to the physical walls of unit L3-05 at TX Huaihai. Shoppers moving from Xiaohongshu feeds into the store stepped into a color environment they already recognized.

Ahead of the 1 April 2023 opening, communications shifted from single-SKU seeding to event momentum. Three sequential short films ran on WeChat Channels: the first held the fluorescent pink heel beside a sunglass-framed face; the second focused on the shoe in motion on foot; the third placed the talent inside the finished pink concept room. The space appeared on mobile screens before the doors opened.

The main launch poster anchored the slogan “I DARE YOU” alongside the event theme “绝世好鞋，光脚来见” and the exact coordinates: 2023.04.01, TX Huaihai L03-05, Shanghai. Sharing the same fluorescent pink hero shoe, slogan, and date across the teaser films, poster, and on-site check-in topic gave target visitors a clear reason to visit TX Huaihai’s third floor that weekend.

JFM managed the integrated launch execution: store KV adaptation, display styling, fashion creator and press invitations, on-site flow, and real-time Xiaohongshu publishing. On-site check-in followed a four-step mechanism—post a Xiaohongshu note, follow the brand and TX Huaihai accounts, add the brand on WeCom, and enter the SS2023 draw—turning foot traffic into immediate social feed coverage and reachable private-domain contacts. Pre-staged photo spots (the pink shoe wall, pink steps, graffiti mirrors, DJ booth, and custom wristbands) and an evening After Party with Pioneer DJ and MASTER extended the opening into Shanghai’s nightlife circuit.

Same-day notes showed high visual consistency across the pink staircase, “Awww! So Cute!” wall graphics, and “MY BODY MY CHOICE” installations. While creators varied between weekend store-guide angles and close-up try-ons, every post reinforced the same high-saturation space and square-toe silhouettes.

To pair social heat with industry context, the team invited NOWRE, KIND, UTH, and iD during launch week. On 4 April, NOWRE published MEL’s feature on DAPHNE.LAB’s global debut at TX Huaihai, tracing the project back to 2021 and detailing the “Dare to be” ethos, the “Illusion Future” collection, and the 3D-printed Sugar-Free heel.

Concurrent coverage from KIND, UTH, and iD reached the exact audience that frequents multi-brand boutiques and Huaihai Road pop-ups, placing third-party editorial headlines directly alongside the brand’s own I DARE YOU campaign.

Post-launch momentum shifted toward designer collaborations and cultural placements. DAPHNE.LAB walked London Fashion Week with MARRKNULL on 18 September 2023 under “Dare to be unlimited,” followed by Paris Fashion Week with DIDU in September 2024 under “就敢破格” (company event records confirm London in 2023 and Paris in 2024).

Runway seeding translated into major organic moments: on 13 April 2025, Jennie wore the DAPHNE.LAB × DIDU Sugar Cube suede western boots at Coachella, sparking viral Xiaohongshu notes headlined “These boots turned out to be Daphne.” Parallel styling by creators such as Guo Chaoting, Yanghua Ju, and Tian Shu, plus girl-group stage wardrobes, kept the square-toe silhouette in circulation.

The content-led retail playbook subsequently expanded to youth malls in Chengdu (November 2024 pop-up; January 2026 permanent COSMO store with spring exhibition and dance challenges from April to June) and Changsha (June 2026 opening under “超敢玩、超敢蹦”). Across three years of evolving city slogans, the square toe and over-knee boot remained the core visual signature.

Across its full cycle, DAPHNE.LAB established a repeatable incubation sequence: audience-mapped product planning, Xiaohongshu product testing to lock in a category-leading hero SKU (Sugar Cube 1.0 reaching No. 1 in Tmall’s over-knee boot category with 4,000+ monthly sales, per program recap) and five product lines, seasonal visual alignment, a flagship retail event, and sustained runway and celebrity cultural placements.