The Luxury Conversation’s Paris breakfast briefing to an audience made up of of 50 invite-only luxury brands executives, agencies and media on March 5 aimed to throw a light on the China KOL scene with a rendez-vous at the Parisian House of Tai Ping Showroom. Based in the City of Lights and embracing the business that is luxury, journalist and commentator Susan Owens reports.
Zuo Anxiao, KOL and businesswoman. Photo credits: Luxury Conversation
Temper Magazine’s Trending segment casts a net upon all that is throwing tantrums within the world of China Fashion across a variety of global sources. This very necessary segment makes for a collection of largely non-Temper Magazine-original content dipping its toe into the deep indigo-dyed pool that is the ocean of Middle Kingdom fashionable astonishment. This time around, journalist and author Susan Owens takes us on a whirlwind tour through the business that is luxurious KOL-ing. With Luxury Conversation.
Prestige European fashion brands embracing the power of KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) are swiftly mastering the art of reaching out to the world’s fastest-growing luxury consumers — Chinese Millennials.
But for many brands, mystique still surrounds the power of the Chinese KOL. While Influencer Marketing in the west is within their comfort zone, the clear barriers of not only language and culture but a fully individual digital eco-system can cause a lack of clear understanding.
The Luxury Conversation’s Paris breakfast briefing (following recent London and New York briefings) to an audience of 50 invitation-only guests set out to demystify this subject with an intimate tête-à-tête at the House of Tai Ping Showroom in Paris.
“Fashion is a language to learn to use, it’s a weapon, I encourage people to build their new self, it’s good energy.” Zuo Anxiao
Chloé Reuter (founder and CEO of Reuter Communications and co-founder of The Luxury Conversation) and key speaker plus KOL Zuo Anxiao during the breakfast briefing. Photo credits: Luxury Conversation
The talk was hosted by Chloé Reuter (the founder and CEO of Reuter Communications and co-Founder of The Luxury Conversation) who was joined by Vanessa Wu, Account Director at Reuter Communications and a Chinese Millennial herself.
The audience was made up of executives from luxury brands, agencies and media. A key speaker was China’s Zuo Anxiao (known to friends as ‘Xiao’), one of the country’s top fashion and lifestyle KOLs.
“To many there’s mystery about the Chinese passion for what Europeans see as bling. But Xiao emphasises Chinese Millennials don’t approach fashion like their sisters in the West.” Susan Owens for Luxury Conversation
Zuo Anxiao attends the Iris Van Herpen Haute Couture Spring Summer 2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 22, 2018 in Paris, France. Photo credits: Pierre Suu forGetty Images
The high-octane power of social media makes Xiao the darling of several international fashion brands and a poster girl for her 3.7 million followers on Weibo. She’s adored for her dazzling smile and independent style, which was sharply in evidence when she arrived wearing a Dior ¾ length black and white jacket with a flounce of white cuffs (“I added those, they cost nothing”), black cut-off trousers with an ostrich feather trim (“I had them made”) and black mules shimmering with rhinestones (“from N21”). Be assured, Xiao is no sandwich board for brands, unlike many KOLs.
Read the full story by almighty Owens, Temper loves her, right here at Luxury Conversation!
This trending topic was originally written by Susan Owens for Luxury Conversation, 2018. All rights reserved
About Luxury Conversation: There are five tones in Mandarin Chinese. When it comes to coverage of China, Sixth Tone believes there is room for other voices that go beyond buzzwords and headlines to tell the uncommon stories of common people. Through fresh takes on trending topics, in-depth features, and illuminating contributions, Sixth Tone covers issues from the perspectives of those most intimately involved to highlight the nuances and complexities of today’s China.
Featured Image: Zuo Anxiao attends Le Defile L’Oreal Paris as part of Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2018 at Avenue Des Champs Elysees on October 1, 2017 in Paris, France. Photo credits: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
Temper Magazine does not own any of the above English content. All featured English content was re-published under the “fair use” approach and belongs to Susan Owens for Luxury Conversation, 2018. All rights reserved.
Perpetually in pursuit of the greater good that is “China Fashion”, van Paridon set up The China Temper to help promote the dynamite dynamic fashion scene sprouting within Beijing, Shanghai, and China overall. Catering to anybody and everybody who reads English and/or Chinese, Temper covers all the basics and bases. From China's street style scenery to its budding photographers, internationally renowned designers, and underground quirks plus phenomena: We present one hot-hip-happening current collective weaving The New "Made in China" tag.
The term “Made in China” is undergoing the ultimate 21st Century makeover. Escorted by the increasingly strong influence of a new thinking among China’s younger generations, regarding individuality and the expression thereof, the fashion scene in the Middle Kingdom is exploding. And stretches far beyond what meets the eye. It’s appliqué, one might say.
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