by LONDON — The top 10 Chinese stars who attended fashion shows in Milan and Paris this season generated more than $49 million in media value earned on Weibo and Instagram, according to data compiled by influencer marketing agency Lefty.
Lea Mao, Lefty’s Asia Pacific marketing manager, expected the return of the Chinese could slow the K-pop boom.
Despite China’s luxury market contracting 10% in 2022, Bernstein said the market is set to grow 13% in 2023, giving brands an opportunity to work alongside influencers in the space, particularly across platforms. native like Weibo.
“China used to be the main market for luxury, but the effects of the pandemic have seen brands focus on other growth markets such as South Korea, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam. As a result, brands have activated influencers in these regions during fashion weeks, hence the K-pop boom,” she explained.
But with China fully reopened on Jan. 8, a slew of Chinese celebrities, buyers and press returned to the fashion calendar and took up big and important spots at the shows, sitting next to business owners or other big stars.
Mao also noted that Chinese influencers are “ambitiously building their image overseas” this season.
Xiao Zhan’s fans are waiting for her arrival at Tod’s Fall 2023 show.
AFP via Getty Images
Take Xiao Zhan, for example, who is the face of both Gucci and Tod’s in China. The actor created an Instagram account during Milan Fashion Week and garnered more than 463,000 followers in one week. Xiao alone has generated more than $9.3 million in media value earned on Weibo.
Meanwhile, musician Cai Xukun’s appearance at Prada created earned media value of $1.37 million and $2.2 million on Instagram and Weibo, respectively.
Model Liu Wen and actress Liu Yifei also created millions of dollars in buzz for their respective appearances at Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
But the biggest social media winner from China this season was Liu Yuxin, the face of Dior in China. His appearance alone accounted for half of the overall value of the top 10 media, generating $23.6 million in earned media value on Weibo and $693,000 on Instagram.
By comparison, the top 10 global opinion leaders amassed over $75 million in media value earned last fashion month.
