In 2023, the new Chinese outfit is completely out of the circle. During the National Day holiday alone, more than a dozen stars such as Zhu Zhu, Yang Mi, and Mao Xiaotong were on the hot search with their new Chinese outfits. In previous years, fashion week and street fashion stars rolled up couture and big-name new models, but this year they have changed to new Chinese style.
On social networks, "new Chinese dressing" has also become a hot topic. On the Xiaohongshu platform, #新中式词条有26 50 million views; specifically when it comes to "new Chinese outfits", one of the most popular notes has 137,000 likes.
Not only online, but also more and more ordinary people wearing "new Chinese style" out on the street. When traveling, shopping and even going to work, you can see young people wearing Chinese elements such as buckles, diagonal plackets and standing collars.
This is correspondingly higher in sales. According to data released by Tmall Life Research Institute in March this year, the turnover of the "new Chinese style" on the Tmall platform increased by more than 50% year-on-year, and the market size reached 1 billion. For example, the hot search "Yang Mi Same Model" a while ago, within a month, a single link sold 4,000+ pieces, and Zhao Liying's single link sales of the same jade rabbit osmanthus hairpin reached 20,000 pieces.
It is worth noting that similar to the popularity of Hanfu, the main body of consumers of this wave of new Chinese clothing is also young people, accounting for nearly seventy percent of 18-34 years old.
So how did the Chinese outfit, which used to be the favorite of "mother" and "gambling king Kuota", transform into a "real fragrance" for young people?
Source: Little Red Book screenshot
What exactly is "New Chinese"?
To discuss new Chinese dressing, we must first understand what "New Chinese Style" is.
But in fact, unlike Hanfu, which has a fixed way of wearing and dynasties, the new Chinese style does not have a strict definition and clear standards, as long as it is a fusion of traditional Chinese elements and modern design, it can be regarded as the new Chinese style.
Therefore, the new Chinese style of dressing focuses on a "freedom", how to look good, how to change, how convenient to wear.
For example, the soul of traditional Chinese clothing, the disc buckle, often adds tassel design to new Chinese clothing, which is elegant and increases the sense of flow.
For example, traditional Chinese clothing fabrics are mostly natural materials such as silk, cotton and linen, which have good texture, but are not easy to take care of, and the price is high. The new Chinese style uses recycled fiber fabrics such as acetic acid to replace it, ensuring texture and lowering the threshold for daily wear.
In terms of tailoring, the new Chinese style mostly adopts a loose fit to enhance the comfort of wearing. Even items such as the cheongsam that are mainly slim have been changed to a loose silhouette and shoulderless design in the new Chinese style, increasing the inclusiveness of the figure, while making the cheongsam less "grand" and more daily.
In addition to the clothing itself, the "unprincipled" of the new Chinese style also makes it better to match, thus deriving many new styles.
In addition, "modern new Chinese" can also be the clothes themselves "modern".
For example, new Chinese style + French style, on the basis of the traditional cheongsam, add French style elements such as a neckline and puff sleeves to increase the sense of romance and liveliness; New Chinese style + Y2K / sweet and spicy style, often using exaggerated patterns, strong color impact fabrics, with chicken feathers, showing the personality and innovation of young people; The new Chinese style + Maillard that is popular this autumn is mainly brown and coffee, with a loose and cool fit, suitable for autumn daily life.
Why do young people fall in love with "New Chinese Style"?
Deng Zhaoping, winner of the "Golden Top Award", China's highest fashion design award and president of the Guangzhou Fashion Designers Association, said in an interview with the Global Times that traditional Chinese aesthetics pays attention to "vivid charm", and the same is true in clothing. The elegant charm of "new Chinese" design makes it highly recognizable in various clothing styles, and the designer meets the daily wear needs of ordinary people by integrating traditional Chinese elements into modern shapes, changing young people's inherent views on the "old soil" of traditional clothing, and giving traditional clothing culture the possibility of "breaking the circle". Nowadays, "new Chinese" suits, improved cheongsam and horse face skirts have gradually become new choices for young people to wear for commuting, and they are keen to create a different charm through dressing, which to a certain extent also reflects the practicality and inclusiveness of Chinese clothing culture.
Deng Zhaoping said that the younger generation has a strong sense of identification with traditional culture and has a high degree of acceptance. Intangible cultural heritage skills such as buckle, embroidery, tie-dyeing, Xiangyun yarn dyeing and finishing, and Chinese famous brocades such as Yunjin, Shujin, Song Jin, and Zhuangjin have been innovatively applied in "New Chinese" clothing and have been loved by many young consumers.
In her view, "New Chinese Style" is not only a style design, clothing style or cultural symbol, but also the embodiment of young people's cultural confidence, and a clothing culture trend gradually formed from the inside out.
How long can new Chinese outfits still be popular?
The fire of new Chinese clothing has also attracted many head brands to join, including many luxury goods.
But as the saying goes, no standard is the hardest. On the show, many international big names turned over on "Chinese style".
For example, in July last year, a black mid-length skirt with a price tag of 29,000 yuan in Dior's early autumn collection in 2022 was suspected of "copying" the horse face skirt of traditional Chinese clothing, which caused dissatisfaction among many netizens, especially Chinese traditional clothing lovers.
Another example is Gucci's spring/summer 2023 fashion show "The Land of Twins", which uses a large number of Chinese elements such as Chinese style flower and bird embroidery, cheongsam belly buckle oblique placket, etc., with rich colors and gorgeous appearance. But it was complained by netizens about "earthy taste" and "stereotypes" of Chinese style.
In this regard, Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iMedia Consulting, said that the new Chinese style can be popular mainly due to the cultural confidence of the young generation and the rise of Chinese culture, behind which it has social attributes.
Although "New Chinese Style" does not have the constraints of rules, it also tests the understanding of Chinese culture and the design itself. Stacking Chinese elements casually together, even big brands are difficult for consumers to pay.
Not only foreign big names, but also the situation of "new Chinese dressing overturning" often appears on domestic social platforms. In Xiaohongshu, "new Chinese style returns to reality" can always cause heated discussions, the same set of clothes, bought from different merchants, wear the effect is completely different.
In this regard, some insiders analyzed, "The texture of new Chinese clothing is all in the shape and fabric. Many merchant designs and versions are copied, and the fabric is not the same as the original, and the effect is naturally reduced. ”
The head brand doesn't stand out, but it's just the beginning
In addition to niche brands, at present, well-known women's wear brands such as Xiyu, Oushili, Evely, Peacebird, Disu, and UR have all made efforts on the new Chinese track. For example, the fast fashion brand Xiyu, as of press time, its Tmall flagship store "New Chinese" related products reached 125, and Oshili Tmall flagship store "New Chinese" related products had 76 items.
In this regard, Zhang Yi said that the new Chinese style in the field of clothing belongs to a new category, although many companies have joined, but most of them are still some flexible transformation of small and medium-sized factories, so it is prone to uneven quality, lack of design ability, blind premium and other problems.
However, the market size of the new Chinese style has reached 1 billion and is growing rapidly, and there is still a chance for the emergence of head brands. On the one hand, the brand must have good quality, on the other hand, it must pay attention to brand building, word-of-mouth maintenance and service maintenance. In terms of design, it is necessary to judge and follow up consumer behavior in a timely manner, and pay attention to changes in the direction of consumer interest.
For the future of new Chinese wear, Zhang Yi expressed optimism. Just like Hanfu, from niche popularity in 2014 to fire out of the circle in 2018, the market size has increased dozens of times in five years.
New Chinese clothing has been popular in a small range in the circle since the end of 2021, and in 2022, it will become the third place in the nine styles of the "2022 Taobao Tmall Clothing Industry Trend White Paper", and the market size of new Chinese clothing will reach 1 billion in 2023, and the GMV growth rate of "new Chinese" related clothing and accessories has exceeded 100% in the past three years. "Although the head brand is not prominent at present, it is only the beginning, and there is still a long way to go in the future."
Integration: Dong Xiaoyan