Our team went back to school and asked college students and recent graduates to describe their looks:


Cheer, 21, f, college student major in new media

This semester my style is more refreshing (or qingxin) in design and color than it was last year.

In a recent interview in Reuters, several young women in China stated that they regard Louis Vuitton as out of fashion. We have witnessed first-hand the evolution of luxury in China, the evolution of status if you will, and this was not a big surprise. We have watched LV push distribution and brand far and deep across the mainland. According to one of the Reuters interviewees, “even an ayi (housekeeper)” can buy an LV purse. In this case, the young interviewee is not talking about affordability, she is talking about access. For these consumers, luxury should be safely out of reach for some to keep it attractive for others. The fact that LV is widely available is the very reason they don't want it.

For Western consumers, luxury can be associated with personal heritage and tradition. Many Western consumers prefer brands that have been in their collective family memory for generations (my mother wore Chanel, my grandfather carried a Gucci). As luxury brands were introduced in China in the 1990s, Chinese consumers can't call upon a personal sense of nostalgia to connect with a brand, they look forward.

Yuerong (in the middle) and the model with her design on (on the left)

Creating a collection to be sent down the runway, students got a taste of what pursuing a career in fashion would be like. 

In her junior year as a fashion design major, our trendspotter Yuerong was enthusiastic to share her experience with us:

On June 21, a post-90s girl, Guo Meimei caused outrage among netizens by posting ostentatious photos of her villa, several luxury sports cars, and a dozen or so colorful Hermès handbags. When netizens investigated this flaunter's identity, they saw on her Sina Weibo personal profile that Guo claimed to be the general manager of Red Cross Commerce. Ay yo! Now there are rumors being swung online suspecting the Red Cross of misusing funds. A host of companies, brands and people are being connected to the scandalous rumors (which are mind you, rumors).

A Sina micrblogger made a relationship chart tying Guo Meimei to various companies, brands, organizations and celebrities, helping people better understand how the situation got complicated after the “Guo Meimei incident” exploded online.

A new Group Purchase category is now available on Baidu Feng Yun Bang,a list updated in almost real-time at http://top.baidu.com. The list reveals the top keywords used in historical searches for the day and the week and — for some categories — even, the month. When browsing the page, visitors can see the top ten group purchase websites and a scrolling window detailing purchases made by shoppers' gender, generation (70s, 80s, 90s, etc.) and location.

According to Baidu Feng Yun Bang, on April 29^th female searchers favored Jumei (www.jumei.com), the first cosmetics-focused group purchase site. The site also reveals generational differences; 90s include Jumei as one of their top ten favorite sites while post-70s and post-80s do not.

Location-wise, netizens from tier one cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have almost the same site preferences. While, shoppers in lower tier cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan and Inner Mongolia have more diverse preferences. Province-based sites like  Luobotuan (www.luobotuan.com, offering group purchase services only in Zhejiang) and city-based sites like 0731 (www.0731.com.cn, only in Changsha) are favored by lower tier city consumers.

The South Korean boy band Super Junior (Suju) is one of the most popular groups in Asia. On March 5, 2011, they held their last concert of their 3rd Asia Tour  at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Having organized online before the event, fans bought blue light sticks days ahead. The glowsticks in the band’s signature blue color turned the concert area into an ocean of blue light. The night was exciting for the largely 90s crowd as they sang along to the Korean lyrics of some of Suju's biggest hits - but it was about to take a turn.