Brand Previously Worked With Orlando Bloom And Agyness Deyn#
Alexa Chung (C) for ME&CITY
This week, the Chinese fast fashion retailer ME&CITY released promotional shots for its A/W 2011 collection, which feature British "It Girl" Alexa Chung sporting the brand's new looks on a rooftop in Paris. Shot by photographer Feng Zhikai (冯志凯), this campaign marks Chung's first collaboration with ME&CITY, which has perhaps invested the most money of any Chinese brand in roping in well-known Western faces for its advertisements. For its inaugural campaign in 2009, ME&CITY signed Wentworth Miller, star of the American television show "Prison Break," and British celebrities Orlando Bloom and Agyness Deyn modeled for the brand's spring 2010 collection, shot by photographer Terry Richardson.
Now, ME&CITY apparently wants to latch on to Alexa Chung's growing notoriety in China, where her namesake Mulberry Alexa handbag has become a must-have among certain circles of fashion types in Shanghai and Beijing (where the brand just opened its first China boutique). Since its launch two years ago, owner the Metersbonwe Group has tried to establish ME&CITY as China's only "premium" fast fashion brand, on par with Zara or H&M and more upmarket than its relatively inexpensive youth-focused brand, Metersbonwe.
Will Alexa Chung's face entice more China's fast fashion crowd to choose a home-grown brand over their beloved H&Ms, Uniqlos and Zaras? If the brand slaps Chung's name on a special collection or two, probably. If not, selling a Chinese brand priced comparatively to foreign rivals will probably remain, as it has, a hard sell.
Alexa Chung for ME&CITY
ME&CITY A/W 2011
ME&CITY A/W 2011
ME&CITY A/W 2011