10 Chinese celebrities who are rising luxury fashion influencers
From Zhou Dongyu, who was named Burberry’s first female brand ambassador in Asia, to Yang Yang, who joined stars like Hugh Jackman among the ranks of Montblanc’s celebrity ambassadors, meet the next generation of fashion icons
Luxury brands can’t seem to get enough of Chinese celebrities today, with hardly a month going by without a popular fashion house announcing it has a new celebrity ambassador from China.
In a recent report, worldwide management consulting firm McKinsey said Chinese consumers have contributed more than three-quarters of the total growth in global luxury spending since 2008, and that the proportion of growth they account for will rise in the next eight years.
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China’s Kim Kardashian equivalents are certain to have a major impact during this time as brands work to find ways to relate to consumers through social media, but these won’t be the only factors in digital luxury campaigns. Just as there has been criticism of the overuse of singer Selena Gomez in advertising for luxury and mass-market brands, some brands have found the famous faces they used from China were also unpopular.
One of the best examples was when Dior named model and actress Angelababy an ambassador, only for the appointment to be met with an uproar on Chinese social media platform Weibo. Users were shocked because many felt she wasn’t authentic and had too poor of a reputation with the public to fit with Dior’s upscale, mature image.
Dior has consistently defended its choice of Angelababy, but other brands have been moving away from campaigns featuring Chinese celebrities. Instead they have used baby-faced males in their make-up campaigns aimed at women, or hired models they believe have more uniquely attractive features.
We look at 10 of the male and female celebrities predicted to become part of the next generation of Chinese luxury brand ambassadors this year.
