Prada’s 2025 Qixi campaign turns Shanghai’s bridges into a stage for love

China – Prada’s campaign for the 2025 Qixi Festival – often referred to as Chinese Valentine’s Day – reimagines China’s legendary love tale through an interactive journey across seven of Shanghai’s signature bridges.  

The festival celebrates the annual reunion of Zhinü and Niulang – a weaver girl and a cowherd who, according to folklore, are separated by the Milky Way and allowed to meet just once a year. The tale symbolises enduring love, longing and reunion. 

Featuring Prada’s brand ambassadors in China, Li Xian and Chen Haoyu, the campaign blurs the line between myth and modernity, turning everyday infrastructure into poetic backdrops for connection and memory.  

A case study in cultural fluency, this campaign invites people to step into the story rather than just observe it. Via social media platform Xiaohongshu, audiences were encouraged to collect postcards and share personal love stories tied to the city’s bridges. This turned the experience into a shared ritual, linking brand storytelling with real-world emotion and place. 

Our Collaboration Culture report previously highlighted how brands must move beyond top-down messaging to build authentic, co-created narratives. Prada’s Qixi activation shows how to do this with nuance, by blending digital platforms, folklore and location-based storytelling to resonate with culturally engaged consumers.