Brand-packed TV drama Return the World to You sold high fashion to the small screen in China – did it work?
With around 60 per cent of the Chinese population now living in cities, “urban drama” (都市剧) is one of the country’s most popular genres of television and streaming series, appealing to the aspirations of an increasingly large demographic. Fashion increasingly plays a role in defining the characters of these shows – from high-powered lawyers in formal business attire to energetic young women in bright styles. But in a new crop of dramas, high-end fashion takes centre stage in its own right.
The trend towards linking luxury brands with urban drama kicked off a few years ago with the series Ode to Joy, which has been described as a Chinese counterpart to Sex and the City. The show’s five female characters were dressed according to their personality, social background and career stage, with a heavy emphasis on designer labels. It was this that drew some criticism, as the number of brands appearing in the series rose along with its popularity – from about two dozen in the first season to more than 50 in the second.
This summer’s fashion drama of note is urban mystery/romance Return the World to You (归还世界给你, also known by the French title “Retourner le monde à toi”), which has drastically upped the placement of designer labels to 120-plus.
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The series stars actress and model Guli Nazha as the co-founder of real-life fashion house Ellassay – owner of luxury brands including Laurel and Vivienne Tam, and notably also the show’s sponsor – and opens as the Shenzen-based brand prepares for its first appearance at Paris Fashion Week, amid ongoing threats of sabotage from rivals. The series premiered on Jiangsu Television on July 19, 2019, and aired 58 episodes through to August 19, also made available for streaming on iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video.
An emotionless clothes-changing machine
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Return the World to You is reported to be the first series independently produced by Diamond Pictures, a production company established by Shen Dongjun, the chairman and CEO of Leysen Jewellery (formerly Tesiro). It follows Shen’s successful investment in the 2015 comedy-romance series Diamond Lover (克拉恋人), which took Tesiro as its workplace setting.
A drama set in the world of high fashion provides an appealing backdrop for Leysen’s products to sparkle, and the brand’s diamonds are in evidence from the opening scene, in which the camera zooms in on a magazine ad for Blue Flame, a trademarked, 89-facet cut. The Leysen brand also receives prominent placement in other episodes.
But Shen has expressed larger ambitions to create a show that can compete with the quality of Korean and Japanese productions.
Is it accurate?
The Ellassay clothing brand is most deeply integrated into the storyline, and Shen described the cooperation between Ellassay as a sponsor and the production in an interview with The Beijing News. “We wanted to use a clothing brand as a background story, so the screenwriters had to understand the conditions in the industry by going to the company to observe, conduct interviews and understand matters,” he said. “So you can understand (this brand’s) implanted advertising.”
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Still, leading fashion brands prefer to lend clothing rather than make the more significant investment involved in sponsorship. Although Nazha’s character Shen Yien is the CEO of Ellassay, and the brand is central to the storyline, she wears clothing and accessories from dozens of other labels – including big names such as Chanel, Gucci, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton, with a reported 260 costumes for her character and more than 120 brands listed in the closing credits. The extent of her wardrobe became a viral topic on social media, and Nazha even described her work on the series as that of “an emotionless clothes-changing machine”.
We wanted to use a clothing brand as a background story, so the screenwriters had to understand the conditions in the industry by going to the company to observe, conduct interviews, and understand matters
To create this realistic world of fashion Shen Dongjun recruited Su Mang, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar China, to serve as the show’s fashion director. Su oversaw the wardrobe for the leading characters, leveraging her industry connections along the way.
Shen said he created the role for Su to bridge a gap in Chinese fashion dramas, many of which still typically rely on more traditional channels to procure their wardrobes. “I hope that viewers watching the series can develop some awareness of China’s current fashion industry and elevate their tastes somewhat, based on the fashion styling in the drama,” he said.
Did it work?
Return the World to You highlights some of the risks of relying on television dramas for effective integration of fashion brands.
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Although the series had consistently decent viewership throughout its run, maintaining a position in the top most popular dramas on network and satellite TV, it was poorly reviewed, with a Douban score of 3.6 (out of 10) and 53 per cent of reviewers giving it just one star. Viewers cited the quality of acting, improbable storylines and the poor pacing of the drama as key deficiencies. On the plus side, the quality of the production, including cinematography, set design, and shooting locations, were generally praised.
Moreover, with so many designer names in the mix, it is hard for any one brand to stand out apart from those that played a key role in the production, such as Leysen and Ellassay. It takes an assiduous viewer to catalogue the fashions worn by Nazha in the series, and the brands are not otherwise widely mentioned – although this may reward eagle-eyed repeat viewers.
What other fashion-focused shows are out there?
Despite these issues, we are likely to see more luxury brands on Chinese screens in the near future, with several new and upcoming series set to showcase fashion designers as their female leads:
My Mowgli Boy (我的莫格利男) is currently airing with popular actress Yang Zi as a fashion influencer/entrepreneur.
Wait in Beijing (我在北京等你) is a romance between a lawyer and aspiring designer set in New York City.
Love Advanced Customization (爱情高级定制) – also known as a A Love for Haute Couture – is based on a popular online novel and stars Dilireba an in-demand ambassador for luxury brands.
All three productions seem primed to provide further opportunities for the integration of fashion brands into on-screen storylines.
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This article originally appeared on China Brand Insider.
Sponsored by Shenzen’s Ellassay and packed with product placement from more than 120 designer labels, the C-drama series starring Guli Nazha is a case study in selling while you stream – but audience reviews on Douban were unconvinced