Trendsetter: Gao Ya

Gao Ya is a college student at a Shanghai music engineering university, but is also passionate about acting. Much of her style influences derive from various genres of Rock music, from AC/DC to Beatles. She aspires to become an art director and clothing designer for films.

“Every night I will think about what I should wear the following day. In the morning I generally spend one hour to dress up and make sure my clothing, bag, accessories, hair style all match. I will stay home all day if I don’t know what I want to wear.”
“Lookbook is a major inspiration in terms of my personal style”
“I always pay attention to details… small little things can make our life interesting” (example: Mahjong bracelet below)

Gao Ya's Mahjong Bracelet

Trend Follower: Zhang Yu

Zhang Yu is a 22 year old Shanghai local, who has spent time studying in Australia. We definitely picked up on his strong international influences. As a high-level trend follower, he’s incredibly passionate about the latest fashion developments and is always ahead of the curve. He admitted to religiously changing his style every 3 months or so to keep it fresh.

“After graduating university in Australia, I flew back to Shanghai. My suitcase was 20 kilos over-weight, and it was all clothing!”
“My fashion philosophy can be summed up in three words: Fast, Accurate, and Decisive.
Fast: You have to be faster than others to be a trend follower!
Accurate: You should choose the right style that fits you, not Fei zhu liu!
Decisive: You need to be decisive when you are shopping. Do not hesitate to buy and don’t think about saving money.”

Zhang Yu circa 2008

Zhang Yu's foray into street fashion

Mass Fashion Prescriber: Mei Ling

Mei Ling is a 20 year old college student at Jiaotong University. As a high school student she was more into sports than fashion. Being on the swim team meant short hair and being in shape was more important than following fashion trends. But as is often the case, a college crush led her to start dolling herself up. Unfortunately, her crush went moved overseas, so she has since gone back to a causal – comfortable style.

“My favorites are comfortable t-shirts and jeans”

“To me, fashion trends are too far-removed, I just can’t keep up with them.”

LA denim brand ’7 For All Mankind’ recently launched a new Beijing boutique and with plans for another 3 stores to open within the year, Seven is set to make waves amongst China’s socialites and fashion-forward alike.

7FAM, part of the VF brand family, recently held a party to preview their Spring/Summer 2010 collection which attracted the attention of over 300 pop stars, models, business elite and socialites. The event was capped with famous Taiwanese actress Lin Zhiling (the face of China Airlines) posing a pair of custom designed jeans, which were not only handmade but emblazoned with over 8000 Swarovski crystals!

As the brand is famed for its limited edition jeans, the one off creation of the ‘Zhiling special edition’ not only still caters to the brand image but gives it a localized prestige. Chinese consumers in Tier One cities are ridiculously brand savvy. A wide knowledge of Western and Japanese brands, plus a rising desire to set oneself apart from the (fake) LV/Gucci set means that new prestige brands have an opportunity to do well in this fashion focused market. However, these brands should be wary not to carry any sense of entitlement into the Chinese market.

In America and Europe the 7FAM has often relied heavily on its official and unofficial celebrity endorsements. Our boy Jermaine explains why he thinks 7FAM will do well in China, “7 for all mankind gives people an impression of luxury. This is quite different from the image of other jeans brands, which are causal and popular. Thus, the product distinctiveness can be a competitive power. Furthermore, Chinese youth are quite keen on pursuing western celebrities as their idols.”

However, 7 FAM have done well not to simply rely on their endorsement from US celebrities and their partnership with Lin Zhiling certainly seems the perfect fit. Her looks and figure emphasis the fitting nature of the jeans but also her star power is strong enough to be judged on the level of the American celebrities.

Levi’s have long since pushed their ‘Traditional American’ denim but offset it with endorsements from a whole host of Asian superstars, from HK bad boy Edison Chen to Korean J-pop sensation BOA.

A quick poll of popular denim brands on Kaixin conducted by enovate busy bee, Yuki, shows that the traditional American brands Levi’s & Lee remain pervasive and popular with young Chinese for “not only being as a classic denim brand, but also stand[ing] for American spirit, that of independence, freedom, adventure and sexiness”.

However, dissimilar to Levi’s and similar to American Apparel 7FAM has forgone cheaper production costs in using Chinese factories to uphold a luxury brand image of being a true American (see LA) export.

Furthermore while we may expect Levi’s to be the staple for younger groups who frequent fashion sites such as 1626 or MCC, one can expect 7FAM to be snapped on the profiles for those who use more exclusive fashion networking sites like P1.cn or Moko.cc.

7FAM will have to work hard to keep their name on people’s lips and not fall victim to the fickle fashionistas changing tastes but as of right now they are red hot.

On Friday, January 29^th, 360quan.com hosted their 90后潮流先锋榜 (post-90’s generation pioneering trends list) awards ceremony in Beijing. Actor Li Chen emceed the event featuring stars such as Jade Liu Li Yang and Yico Zeng, who came to receive their award and perform for the cheering crowd of Chinese teenage fans from all over China.

These same cheering teenagers and their peers voted on actresses, actors, artists, bands, brands, musicians, and works of art of various types for their influence and pioneering abilities in their respective industries. In collaboration with Mogo, 1626.com and YOHO!, 360quan.com invited their post-90’s generation members to vote within two categories, one for most ‘pioneering spirit’ and the other for ‘must have’ product or brand.

eno won the award for ‘must have independent brand.’ Among the list of ‘must have’ were: HP (notebook), Samsung (mobile phone), ONLY (women’s apparel), Adidas (sports apparel), New Fei Fei 新飞飞 (Netease’s 3-D online game), YOHO! (e-commerce site), Twice (jewelry accessories) and Mito Xiu Xi 美图秀秀 (image processing software).

Here’s who they voted for pioneering spirit: Jade Liu Li Yang 刘力扬 (singer), Xiao Song Jia 小宋佳 (actress), Lucky Monkey 跳猴乐队(fusion punk band), Shi Yan Fei 施艳飞 (up & coming actress), Chang Si Si 常思思 (up & coming folk singer), Zhang Xiao He 张小盒 (online character), Chen Chen 陈晨 (written work). And here’s who they voted for the pioneering spirits of the post-90’s generation (meaning they were actually born in the 1990’s): Yico Zeng 曾轶可 (singer), Li Chen 李晨(TV host), 杨紫 Yang Zi (pop star), BY2 (Singaporean music duo), Caffiene (band), Ai Shui Shui 艾水水 (TV & Film work).

360quan.com is China’s fastest growing social media network for post-90’s generation youth. With close to 25 million registered users, 360quan.com is devoted to providing an online home for people with similar interests, online clans, and super-connectors. The platform provides all the basics of an SNS, including personal space, blogs, music, videos, photo albums, games and other multimedia services and content. Their users have a distinct urban youth culture; they are the hip-hop artists, the make-up stylists, the snowboarders and the parkour clubs that  are leading China’s youth revolution.

Once again thank you 360quan.com and special thanks to our post-90’s generation fans!

]]> http://enovatechina.com/blog/post-90%e2%80%99s-chinese-youth-vote-eno-as-a-%e2%80%98must-have%e2%80%99-brand/feed/ 1 http://enovatechina.com/blog/chinese-youth-fashion-goes-red/ http://enovatechina.com/blog/chinese-youth-fashion-goes-red/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:41:09 +0000 Simon http://enovatechina.com/blog/?p=1164 With the 60th anniversary of China upon us, we have been looking at youth trends which celebrate the nation. One of these, which has recently become popular amongst Chinese youth, is known as the ‘red trend’.

As we all know, red is the national color of China; it is used to represent Chinese tradition, joy, fortune, and an attitude of ‘brave advancement’. Now the Chinese youth, who have inherited this ‘red spirit’, have reinterpreted it and developed their own ‘red trend’.

Taobao recently showcased a page of products from the revolutionary ages of China, which they dubbed the ‘red collection’. The items, which include stamps, food tickets, newspapers, clothes, photos, footwear and so on, are all good representations of the ‘red trend’. The site also shows the origins of the products and how they now are being reappropriated by young people in China.

This trend of retro China has been some time in the making, but up until now this has largely been focused on the ‘haishan’ (navy shirt) and Warrior sneakers. As Chinese youth dig deeper we see even more styles coming into vogue.

Plum Flower was a Chinese sportswear brand popular from the 60’s to the 80’s. The brand has been revived through Taobao, due to the popularity of it’s iconic tracksuit top. It first became popular amongst trendy college students, entertained by the idea of wearing something older than them. Now, spurred by the oncoming 60th anniversary celebrations, Plum Flower products have again seen an upsurge in sales via Taobao.

Of course there is a certain irony, being that the entrepreneurial spirit of the Taobao sellers is driven by sales of socialist curios. However beyond this, what the ‘red trend’ shows is that to be proud of China is not to be unfashionable. Actually, it is a pride that can be worn on the sleeve, the head, the feet, the legs…all over!

The festival activities including skateboarding, inline skating and BMX competitions, as well as music perfomances throughout the day. Mountain Dew, Pizza boy and Budweiser were all sponsors of the event. Compared to traditional advertising, sponsoring an event is an effective way to target consumers. Extreme sports, music and trends are all connected.

I was surprised by the many different groups of Chinese youth who were passionate about what they were doing and dressing in their own styles. For me, those involved in extreme sports dress more fashionably than average people. They also have a lot of trendy followers, these people are influential amongst Chinese youth. Instead of hiding their passion, which a lot of chinese young people will do, skaters/bmxers are more willing to stand out and be themselves. Making them your first customers, can be seen as the first step to becoming an influential brand amongst Chinese youth.

Streetwear. The Chinese youth know it and love it. In recent years, China has felt the increasing influence of the two traditional homes of streetwear, America and Japan, and has sought to develop its own brands and image. Chinese streetwear labels CLOT, Subcrew and most recently Nic is Coming, all have one thing common, an uber-influential owner. CLOT has the infamous Edison Chen, Subcrew has HK actor, DJ and skateboarder Sam Lee and Nic is coming is the creation of Channel V VJ Nic Li Chen.

Despite only being 2-3 years old, all of the brands boast their own retails spaces. Subcrew’s Unity store has six locations around China and Taiwan, and the brand is stocked throughout Japan and South-East Asia. CLOT have had a tumultuous year with “Edison-gate“, which may or may not have been responsible for them closing their retail store, ACU, in Shanghai. However they have recently come back strong, opening a branch of ‘Juice’ in Kuala Lumpur to compliment the original store in Hong Kong. Nic Li Chen and Taiwanese pop sing Pan Wei Bo have also recently worked together to open a retail space on Shanghai’s trendy Changle Lu(ACU’s old location), called NPC.

The celeb affiliation helps at the beginning but without true creativity and influence we would not have been able to last until now, the consumers nowadays are much more savvy than most think. – Edison Chen

This may be true but as many of these brands are still in their infancy, compared to long standing streetwear brands such as Stussy or Fuct, the star endorsement is still very much tied to the brand. Countless street interviews and talks with Chinese youth, particularly males, has revealed not only the popularity of these brands but the strong connection of the brand and creator. Unlike faceless business owners, these brand owners are seen as trendsetters. They are praised for their individuality and creations, as well as their good looks and charm. One only need look to the aforementioned brands Douban fan pages (Nic is coming, CLOT, Subcrew) to see how praise for brand and (celebrity)proprietor are comepletely intertwined.

The Man,The Myth, The Market...Edison Chen

Much has been said of the ‘fickle Chiense youth consumer’ but if there is one thing that has been proven since Edison’s indiscretion, a loyal fan base can still remain even after a public outcry. These celebrities have built niche markets through their image which they then channel into promoting and creating their own brands, whilst injecting creativity and fashion smarts into their products.

To my eye, Nic is coming is the least aesthetically pleasing of the brands but those in and around Shanghai will know that this is THE brand amongst the nineties generation. The right star can hold the right capital, amongst the right market. The stars themselves know this and aren’t waiting for brands to endorse them.

What’s interesting is that this news not only reveals the nature of how the brand has researched the endorsement, but it’s also indicative of overall brand and business development. VANCL originated as a purely online B2C retailer of shirts for men, aged between 25-40. As it superseded its business model inspiration, PPG, VANCL has gone on to include a complete line of menswear, footwear, and both women and children lines.

Male celebrities polled included Tony Leung & Andy Lau. The winner remains anonymous.

Female celebrities polled included Xu Jinglei & Song Hye Keo.

As VANCL’s early core product (menswear) was limited and the brand image uncluttered, anonymous models/actors who could “provide demographic cues such as age, gender and role” were appropriate for the online marketing carried out by the brand. The decision to move towards celebrity endorsement shows the need to restore a more focused brand identity as “celebrities offer all [of the above] meanings with special precision [and] in addition, they offer holistic image and personality through associations.” A wider range of product, an expanding target base, can all lead to brand image being watered down. If VANCL can select appropriate representatives they can realign and refocus the core meaning of their brand and grow their base.

Whether or not this push to recruit celebrities will mean further shifts in VANCL marketing, such as expanding to new platforms, is yet to be seen. So far the entirety of their marketing has been online. If it is to remain that way then it is important that Vancl employ innovative ways to best leverage their chosen star(s) power. With shanzhai celebrity endorsement popping up around China, photos alone won’t suffice.

Celebrities don’t make a campaign but they drive one, buying an endorsement is the first step but how VANCL best uses it remains to be seen.

This is an ad for Chinese youth fashion brand Metersbonwe. They have relied heavily on celebrity endorsement but have had the good smarts/fortune in being able to recruit the golden child, Jay Chou. Here he is featured with fellow Taiwanese pop star-cum-actors Pan Wei Bo and Angela Zhang.

Celebrity endorsement seems to be the main focus in their campaigns both online and off. Online, they have also used computerised versions of the celebrities, who act as personal stylists on the website “style guru“.

These campaigns seem to have paid off as Metersbonwe, seemingly unscathed by any of the financial insecurities surrounding them, has expanded to 7 new stores this year and is in the process of recruiting 5000 new employees.

I think using celebrities can be beneficial, but this shouldn’t stop the creative process of branding and marketing. To my eye, no matter how many times I watch the video above, I can’t help but think of Coca-Cola. I understand the use of red is to symbolize Chinese new year, but it goes to show that the power of branding isn’t always about ‘star power’.

Below Ren uses his interest in fashion as a starting point to briefly discuss brand entry into a Chinese market. Scroll down for a translation.

建设有中国特色的潮流文化
去年好友推荐我看LOOKBOOK，当时我对这样的街拍网站产生了很大的兴趣，我看过的街拍网站也不少，像JAPAN STREET STYLE，就是十分不错的网站。而LOOKBOOK成功在独创的品牌归类系统以及和投票系统，让这个网站变得即具有品牌文化推广性更不失大众参与性。当时就想到什么时候这个网站出个中文版或者推广到中国来就好了，毕竟在这个网站上面的中国人实在是比较稀有。
今年在好朋友的推下我看了她们做的网站（voguemate），我发现这个网站和我刚说过的LOOKBOOK有惊人的相似处，而且人气还蛮高的。他们也承认有借鉴。其实我觉得这个并没有什么不对，毕竟借鉴和抄袭只是一线之差。
回到这次的主题上，在中国这个大环境，因为市场的需要以及人们心里的需要，对新事物和新文化的需求量还是很大的。如果外来文化不愿被同化，就会有一股相似的东西出现。你说google应该用什么方法可以对付占有那么强大的中国市场的百度（baidu）呢，再如ebay在中国哪怕砸几亿广告也许也不能把当时借鉴他的淘宝（taobao）给压下去吧。肯德基也十分郁闷自己怎么会有一个中国姐妹呢？
中国的潮流及中国的文化，就是有这种强大的同化力量。所以lookbook还来不及看清楚中国人的穿着就被voguemate给抢占了江山。如果你是一个国外的知名品牌推广人，你会如何?还是眼睁睁等待长的像自己的兄弟莫名奇妙的出现在中国。

Building Cool Culture With Chinese Characteristics

Last year, my friend recommended Lookbook to me, I was really into street shoot websites then, I have seen a lot of street shoot websites, like the very cool Japan Street Style, but Lookbook has been successful because of its classifying and voting system. This also makes the website famous for its brand promotion and public participation. At the time I hoped they’d come to China or start a Chinese version, as it is sad that I barely saw any Chinese members at such a good site.

One of my good friends told me to check out the website (Voguemate) they created and I found out it is was a lot like Lookbook. They are also very popular. They agree that they use Lookbook for reference. Actually every designer (including clothing, architecture, graphics, furniture) knows that there is only a small gap between referencing and copying.

Back to the topic, as there is a massive desire in China from both market and people for new things, if foreign brands aren’t willing to adapt, then similar products will appear. How should Google deal with Baidu who owns such a huge market share in China? Ebay spent hundreds of millions for advertisement, yet it still cannot compete with Taobao and KFC is very confusing; how is it that it has a Chinese sister?

Chinese trends and Chinese culture have this strong power to adapt. Therefore, Voguemate seized the market while Lookbook was still figuring out Chinese style. If you are a well-known foreign brand promoter, what will you do? Will you also wait too long until your brand’s ‘brother’ suddenly appears?

Having worked closely in the past, we here at enoVate are familiar with the ideals and practices of Greennovate. For those unfamiliar, Greennovate is made up of a group of creative thinkers from around the world. Their goal is to promote greater environmental awareness in China through both social and business platforms.
Having already launched two successful campaigns with eno, Greennovate have already started to raise eco-awareness amongst young Chinese. enoVate got in touch with Greennovate founder Mihela Hladin to get her opinion on eco-awareness and the Chinese youth.

Can you give us an overview of Greennovate and your work within the eco-friendly product space?
We are a social enterprise, developing ideas for sustainable future. Our projects are focused on raising environmental awareness and sustainable development for businesses and communities in China. We are following the trends in eco friendly products from the consumers, retailers and manufacturers perspective. We encourage businesses and consumers to see the big picture of each product including raw materials, their source and production process. Calling a product green or eco friendly is getting more sensitive as consumers are getting more curious on environmental related topics and they are speaking out on social media. It’s a challenging time where it is important for companies to strategize beyond one product line or sustainability part and really start incorporating environmental and social principles into the whole business model.

What can brands do to encompass a greener perspective whilst remaining relevant to ever changing youth trends?
We think that most important thing is to educate the consumers. With all the ‘greenwashing’ going on I think consumers will go for honest approaches, even though they might look like smaller steps. Every brand should develop a long term sustainability strategy and be transparent in how they are getting there, rather than popularizing one or two ‘green’ actions and calling themselves green.

greennovate x eno - neti charms

What ways does Greennovate work to target and communicate with the Chinese youth? What is most effective in getting your key messages across?

We started partnering with designers because we believe that fashion is a good communication channel for environmental education. It is a way to build awareness and get young consumers encouraged to go and learn more themselves. We are also building up the capacity on Chinese social media, having a lot of interesting content available which is spurring ideas and calling out for participation. We found it very exciting with the amount of young people coming back to us and discussing what they are concerned about and how willing they are to live more sustainable lifestyles.

What is the biggest challenge for companies looking to create and source eco-friendly product in China?
I think access to the relevant information and where to source is the first challenge. Then pricing is usually right after that as there is a constant struggle on how to justify the higher price on eco products. The real challenge as we see it is how to get consumers to understand why to pay more and relate to it on their rational and emotional level. Most of the feedback that we get is that they buy eco products because they are cool, and only after that, because they are eco friendly. This has to do with young people not really seeing the real connection between the eco friendly product and the size of the environmental challenges that they know of.

What is the most surprising or interesting thing you have learned to date through working with the Chinese youth?
For me it’s always so amazing how they are willing to learn if information is presented in fun and engaging ways. The Chinese young people that we are working with, in different places around China, are always asking: “What can I do, what can I do?” We think this is a great opportunity for the companies to build loyalty for their brands, through transparent environmental commitments and initiatives.