It’s been a tough couple of years for Fabric. The London nightclub has played a historic role in the city’s DJ scene, but it spent the better part of 2016 closed for business, plagued by legal battles as it faced near extinction. It reopened in November of that year after reaching a compromise with local authorities and adopted 38 new conditions, including stricter age restrictions and search policies.
Now that it’s reopened, perhaps it can address its total Chinese ripoff in Shanghai.
Mixmag Asia reported on the nightclub that uses Fabric’s name and logo exactly, but instead of booking cutting-edge house and techno acts, Chinese Fabric boasts sexy, dancing girls and lesser-known DJs spinning commercial hits. It’s apparently been open for years, as Time Out Shanghai noted in 2015 that “If you’re going to use the name of one of the world’s most successful clubbing destinations, Fabric, then you better do a good job. Instead, this is yet another Chinese-style club with everything that comes with that. Opening times start from midnight and run until after hours times.”
On the scale of knock-offs, this definitely ranks worse than those watches peddled in Central Park. See pictures of the fake Fabric in the original post from Mixmag Asia.