Rejuvenation of time-honored brands

The key is to rebuild relations between products, consumers and shopping sites

The fashion show taking place atop the roof of an office building in Shanghai's financial hub Lujiazui is a feast for the eyes and ears: Set against the background of the Huangpu River and the skyline of the century-old Bund on a breezy September afternoon, a matrix of glamorous models, both male and female, walk the runway to the cadence of a Shanghai-dialect monologue.

But beyond the atmospherics, what really attracts hundreds of guests to the scene is the unprecedented collaboration on display at the show - between Chinese fashion brand Peacebird and Phoenix, one of the country's oldest bicycle brands, dating back to 1897.