Fashion Exchange Observations

In the increasingly competitive outerwear market, Stone Island, which has shined brightly in recent years with its iconic armband, now focuses on fabric advantages and high-end brand differentiation. On July 4th, Stone Island collaborated with DIOR to launch a new capsule series. This collection reinterprets the classic brand compass logo through handcrafted embroidery, creating a timeless vintage style with unique resin and wax materials, expressing the innovative passion of both brands through haute couture.

The campaign ad features DIOR men’s artistic director Kim Jones, along with several celebrities and industry leaders, visualizing the elite image of the brand’s clientele. Additionally, a brand dinner event, co-created with DIOR and set in a mountain wilderness under candlelight, deepened the luxurious outdoor sportswear image of Stone Island, extending the brand’s identity from product to experience. Prices for some limited-edition collaboration sneakers have increased by more than 118% in the secondary market.

Concept: Gallop The World

Value: Collaborating with luxury brands to shape a high-end brand image through haute couture craftsmanship

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

McDonald’s tapped into the childhood memories of Chinese consumers from the 90s, bringing back the same pure happiness on 2024 Children’s Day in collaboration with global doodle artist Mr. Doodle (Sam Cox). This partnership combined McDonald’s mission to “Bring Happiness to the Whole World” with DoodleLand’s “Never Ending Joy,” creating a quirky new doodle-themed vision for McNuggets. The goal was to reconnect with the new generation of Chinese consumers through unique doodle visuals.

The themed doodles quickly topped the charts in Chinese marketing, and the special McWalkie-Talkie was a stroke of genius, blending nostalgia and interactivity to create immense emotional resonance. The collaboration garnered a staggering 5 billion views on the first day and sparked a buying frenzy.

Concept: One Chicken McNugget, all the sheer joy

Value: Capture the top spot in marketing with visual memory

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

On May 23rd, LOEWE and On launched their 5th collaboration. While luxury and sports brands might seem unrelated, their shared brand spirit and common customer base bring them together. In this collaboration, LOEWE shifted its strategy from a grand historical narrative to a more humorous and relaxed approach inspired by Spanish life philosophy. This perfectly aligns with On’s brand theme, “Run On Clouds.”

Additionally, the marketing focus has shifted from categories to audiences, emphasizing the importance of meeting diverse needs within the same customer base to build brand trust. The LOEWE x On collaboration targets the same customer group, creating an elegant and healthy lifestyle through casual strolls, and breaking the boundaries between fashion and sports. This collaboration helped LOEWE reach the top of the LYST Q2 2024 brand rankings, with searches for the On brand surging by 308%.

Concept:  Craftsmanship in Harmony, Pioneers in Action

Value: Collaboration focuses on middle-class customers

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

Jackson Wang, the creative director of TEAM WANG design, collaborated with Pharrell Williams, the creative director of LV, for a special auction on the JOOPITER platform featuring Jackson’s personal items. Highlights included the in-depth experience behind one of Jackson’s music videos, which sold for around 560,000 CNY, and his athlete uniform, which fetched over 15 times its estimated value, showcasing his immense commercial appeal. The simultaneous launch of collaborative merchandise also kept the buzz alive.

For celebrity-led brands, private collections are a unique commercial treasure. This auction, focused on Jackson’s personal journey, featured key items from various stages of his life, along with hand-signed memorabilia and exclusive photos for the winning bidders. This approach fostered a closer connection with fans compared to traditional celebrity marketing. As a result, the hot topics of celebrity-owned items, controversial valuations, and sky-high bids sparked continuous discussion from the announcement to the conclusion, bringing unprecedented exposure to the TEAM WANG design brand, both domestically and internationally.

Concept: Jackson Wang Metamorphosis: Athlete - Musician - Designer

Value: Celebrity private collections have become the unique commercial treasure of celebrity-led brands

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

Over the past six months, the three consecutive collaborations between CLOT and Adidas have made a significant impact. As Edison Chen mentioned in a previous interview, the goal of these collaborations is to transform Adidas “sneakers” into more fashionable “shoes.” The latest collaboration exemplifies this by reimagining the classic Adidas Gazelle with burlap craftsmanship and a unique “Halo Ivory” color, giving the shoe a casual yet elegant style. The campaign features the influential celebrity icon Jennie, who exudes confident and vibrant sensuality. This collaboration not only enhances Adidas’s celebrity influence and exposure but also develops an elegant and romantic sportswear style, showcasing CLOT’s expertise in balancing sports and fashion. The overseas secondary market premium exceeds 327%.

Concept:  CLOT Gazella by Edison Chen

Value: Uniting creative minds to infuse elegance into sporty styles

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

Hublot, known for its “Art of Fusion” in materials and movements, continues its innovation by collaborating with Daniel Arsham on the “Arsham Droplet,” blending art and horology. 

This collaboration features a fully transparent dial shaped like a smooth water droplet, deviating from Arsham’s traditional erosion style to offer a fresh and subversive aesthetic. The visible internal structure, crafted from titanium, rubber, and sapphire, adds a sculptural quality that embodies the concept of “Future Relic” and timeless beauty. 

This piece not only enhances its collectible value through artistic empowerment but also showcases Hublot’s ongoing innovation in product design and craftsmanship.

Concept: ARSHAM DROPLET

Value: Showcase the brand’s core competitiveness and innovative spirit through artistic techniques

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

The concluded Sacai Spring/Summer 2023 show unveiled new clothing designs and launched four collaborations. In a budget-limit apparel environment, collaborative shows in diverse brands have become a new trend, they not only express creative fashion looks in more high-quality and professional style but also encourage accessory brands to display their products fully and comprehensively.

Meanwhile, the collaborative shows also ease the pressure of communication content creation, help brands focus their energy and cost on core product design in this fast-paced information time. For Sacai, it brings new creative inspirations through multi-brand collaboration and expresses its signature deconstructed style to a broader audience through partnerships with more mainstream brands and items. With support, Sacai’s WeChat index surged by 698% within one day after their fashion show release.

Concept:  Tribute to James Dean

Value: Collaborative fashion shows are becoming a new trend

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

In May, GENTLE MONSTER teamed up with Jennie for their third collaboration, “Jentle Salon,” which quickly went viral. The unboxing video released by Jennie garnered 400,000 likes on a single Instagram post. Collaboration charms sold out in just one second, and secondary market premiums exceeded 359%. With collaborative spaces opening in 13 cities across Asia, traffic rapidly converted into sales.

This collaboration combines Jennie’s youthful character to precisely target the desired customer group, creating a vibrant fantasy world and incorporating the popular “Capybara” character into the charm designs, boosting cross-market appeal. The 11 interchangeable temple accessories cater to the unique desires of the new generation, and Jennie’s strong influence sparked a buying frenzy.

Concept: Jentle Salon

Value: Long-term collaborations between brands and style icons effectively target specific customer groups

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

In May, NewJeans made a strong comeback with their first Japanese song, marking their debut in Japan. Japanese trend artist and fan, Takashi Murakami, supported them by creating new visuals and celebrity merchandise for the single’s music video. This collaboration sparked 4.5 million views on YouTube within only one day and set off a buying frenzy. Murakami’s national fame facilitated excellent communication, while NewJeans’ iconic smiling flowers fostered a sense of community, resulting in impressive marketing success for both.

For NewJeans, the key to their success lies in creating interactive and emotionally valuable experiences. The cheerful smiling flowers created a healing vibe, resonating with fans and going viral. For Murakami, this collaboration wasn’t just a “fan’s dream come true.” His influence in pop culture, already bolstered by collaborating with artists like Billie Eilish and J Balvin, was further enhanced, boosting his market value and expanding his artist-marketing reach.

Concept: Supernatural

Value: Artistic visuals trigger community effects and assist in spreading messages

Overall rating:  ★★★★★

Fashion Exchange Observations

Under the influence of the vintage wave igniting market trends, Guess has collaborated with YUEQI QI, a popular artist in the Y2K group, to launch the “Love·GUESS” series. This collection is based on Guess’s classic denim products from the '90s, enhanced with YUEQI QI’s avant-garde prints and haute splicing techniques, creating a uniquely designed style.

Inspired by Y2k vintage aesthetics, this collaboration features strong millennial vibes in both its products and visual expressions. It captures the consumer’s attention under the New Vintage wave, helping Guess refresh its brand image and appeal to a new generation.
 

Concept: Love·GUESS

Value:  Collaborating with young designers revitalizes the brand’s DNA

Overall rating:  ★★★★★