London Fashion Week (LFW) has become a melting pot for internet stars across the globe to gain traction and leverage their visibility. The city’s fashion week schedule is famed for drawing in some of China’s most well-known KOLs, with many grabbing the opportunity to don their best outfits and support domestic designers, as well as snap some viral-worthy content while they’re at it.
This Spring/Summer 2024 season at London Fashion Week proved a popular port of call for China’s leading internet mouthpieces, from actor and singer Chen Kun at Burberry to video personality Nuria Ma at Holzweiler. Keen to expand on their digital reach, the mainland’s most-loved KOLs punctuated the FROWs and mingled with international movers and shakers.
Jing Daily’s KOL Tracker column dissects the impact these KOLs had on the conversations surrounding LFW in partnership with social media data and influencer marketing platform Lefty, as well as whether their star presence made an impression on China’s netizens.
Chen Kun at Burberry#
Burberry bet big on Asian celebrity KOL power this season – the British brand invited a number of the region’s famous faces to sit front row at its showcase, which took place in Highbury Fields on Monday afternoon. One such personality was Chinese actor, singer, and Burberry ambassador Chen Kun, who was kitted out in the house’s new season checkered green suit. After being appointed as the new face of Burberry in April this year – the first Chinese ambassador in two years to achieve such status – Chen’s presence at the show was expected to make noise across China’s social media landscape.
Netizen Reaction:#
Photos of Chen attending Daniel Lee’s second Burberry presentation have flooded Xiaohongshu, while his official Weibo post generated over 20,000 likes. Meanwhile, Chen’s Instagram post, featuring the actor standing next to a ‘Burberry blue’ rose, has gained 2,538 likes to date.
Earned Media Value:#
$2.19k
Nuria Ma at Holzweiler#
As Holzweiler pushes ahead with its international expansion after winning over its hometown of Copenhagen, it’s banking on Chinese KOLs to achieve a similar cult status in the mainland. The brand invited a host of the popular influencers, including Chinese-born, London-based vlogger Nuria Ma, to attend its debut LFW showcase on Sunday. Ma is best known for her popular YouTube channel, which has amassed over 700,000 subscribers since its launch in 2014, where she covers fashion, beauty, travel, and lifestyle.
Netizen Reaction:#
With her more Western positioning, Ma’s audience spends more time on global social media platforms such as Instagram (315,000 followers) and TikTok (151,900 followers) over China’s domestic channels. As a result, her attendance at Holzweiler gained little traction across Weibo and Xiaohongshu, despite the brand’s collection receiving acclaim from netizens.
Earned Media Value:#
$12.4k
Kennie Cheng at Huishan Zhang#
An LWF mainstay, Chinese-born, London-based designer Huishan Zhang has achieved cult popularity across the mainland thanks to his refined signature style. This air of stylish sophistication extended to Zhang’s FROW this season, where the brand hosted KOL Kennie Cheng – a digital creator known for her classic, modest aesthetic and “romanticized life” content – to sit on the fashion frontlines.
Netizen Reaction:#
Cheng’s Instagram post from the Huishan Zhang show received 390 likes, but only 15 likes on Xiaohongshu, despite the KOL having more than 11,000 followers on the app.
Earned Media Value:#
$2.78k
Dorrit Li at Frolov#
Dorrit Li’s face was in demand both on and off the runway this season. The model, emerging micro-influencer, and University of the Arts London student kicked off the LFW calendar in an editorial shoot for Bonham’s Chanel Haute Couture auction on September 11, before sitting front row at Ukrainian fashion label Frolov’s show on Saturday, and rounding off her citywide tour walking in the Mac Cosmetics showcase on Sunday,. While the KOL only has 26,000 followers on Instagram and not much of a presence on Chinese socials, she’s one to watch on the fashion scene having already been featured in editorial shoots for British Vogue, South China Morning Post Style, Pandora, and Tatler magazine.
Netizen reaction:#
Li’s Instagram post from Frolov’s presentation gained 1,016 likes, while her TikTok post from the Mac Cosmetics show generated 19,8000 views.
Earned Media Value:#
N/A
Betty Bachz at Chet Lo#
Sporting one of Chet Lo’s staple popcorn-knit ensembles, model and creative director of eyewear label Møy Atelier Betty Bachz sat front row alongside a host of Lo fans to support the Chinese-American designer’s latest collection. The Chinese-Norwegian entrepreneur-slash-influencer has accumulated over 33,600 followers on Instagram thanks to her cool and collected style, catching the attention of some of London’s leading fashion players this season, including David Koma and Susan Fang, which sat her on the FROW.
Netizen reaction:#
Once again, Bachz’s influence is more skewed to a Western audience, with the influencer only having an Internet presence on Instagram. As a result, there was minimal coverage or conversation relating to Bachz on Chinese social media over the fashion week calendar.
Earned Media Value:#
$1.68k
All data insights provided by Lefty.io