Brands need China's #softcore aesthetic on their radar

Young Chinese consumers have settled on an aesthetic steeped in wanderlust, AI, comfort and nostalgia: #Softcore has accumulated 1.8 billion views on Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), and unlike the microtrends that churn through the platform weekly, it has held steady for a couple of years. Part mood, part lifestyle manifesto, softcore is quietly rewriting the rules of desirability for the world’s most consequential young consumer cohort — and it reveals behaviors and habits around spending. “On the colour front, WGSN’s observations from the four major fashion weeks reveal that leading brands (like Prada, Dior, Sportmax, Amiri, and Vivetta) are anchoring their collections in timeless neutrals, with pastels taking center stage as emotional regulators and atmospheric narrators,” Mindset Consulting Director, WGSN China, Cece Xi Zhu told Jing Daily. She continued, “Pops of brighter hues punctuate the ensembles as playful accents, building a layered, dynamic colour architecture that breathes with restraint and expression. Think blush pinks, sage greens, ethereal celadon (reminiscent of ancient Chinese ‘sky-blue’), and moonlight whites — each adding a nuanced depth to the overall chromatic story.” Softcore reimagines minimalism with warmth: sensory-driven experiences and products, from the jelly fashion trend to calming hues to silver, glistening desserts that look AI-generated. In fashion, it encompasses ribbed knits, earthy tones, soft pastels, oatmeal shades and fabrics that drape rather than constrict. It extends to dreamy 2000s interiors bathed in diffused light, lace layered over jelly textures and the “shell girl” archetype — soft, self-contained, unbothered. Wellness operates less as a category within softcore than as a filter, applied to everything from skincare shelves to apartment corners to outfit grids. Circumstance explains the aesthetic’s staying power. “Chinese Gen Z haven’t had a straightforward early adulthood,” said Jack Porteous, commercial director at Tong Global. “From disrupted education during the pandemic, to the growing digital pressures faced by young people globally, and a challenging job market in China — now compounded by the disruption of AI adoption — external factors have pushed some Chinese youth towards a more relaxed, expressive, and at times childish sense of fashion.” Softcore fashion That softness is translating directly into product. The clearest case is the jelly shoe revival, which carries the lightness and cartoonish visuals #softcore entails. Chloé’s Disney princess-style mules for Spring 2026 have become a hard-to-attain luxury piece in China, while #jellyshoes has drawn 35.6 million views on Xiaohongshu. Brazilian label Melissa — a longtime favorite of Blackpink’s Lisa — has reached 19.4 million views for its own hashtag and recently staged “Jelly Land,” an immersive exhibition on Shanghai's Yuyuan Road, turning the aesthetic into a retail destination. This appetite extends across China's expanding kidult economy, where adults buy toys, collectibles and playful accessories as forms of escapism and self-expression. Labubu charms, Sanrio collaborations and plush bag accessories all occupy the same emotional territory as softcore’s 2025 canelé-toned cousin lulicore, which draws its palette from dessert pastries. What looks whimsical is really emotional cushioning, as purchasing across demographics becomes driven more by joy and feeling. Dreamcore vs softcore A similar longing runs through Chinese dreamcore, an adjacent aesthetic that The New York Times recently reported is taking over the social feeds of young Chinese facing falling wages and a dire job market — memes and videos expressing a desire to return to simpler times. Where Western dreamcore leans on empty suburbs and VHS glitches, the Chinese subgenre romanticizes the discordant architecture and kitsch of the country’s rapid urbanization, filtering early-2000s memories through a surreal, nostalgic haze. Softcore is the wearable, shoppable end of that same emotional spectrum. “There’s a very 2026 postmodern irony at play in this revival, with Gen Z’s emphasis on not taking fashion too seriously and an appetite for all things ugly but cool,” says Emily Gordon-Smith, content director at trend-forecasting agency Stylus. She points to the pull of anemoia — nostalgia for a time you didn’t live through — among consumers reaching for the carefree summers of the 1990s and early 2000s. Global color authorities are converging on the same mood. Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2026 is Cloud Dancer, a soft, airy off-white — the lightest shade the company has ever chosen, positioned as a serene counterweight to hyper-connected modern life. It is coincidentally softcore’s official hue. And because Pantone maintains a deep footprint in China, with a Shanghai headquarters, a Color Lab, and a Color Academy bridging design inspiration with factory production, that palette has been flowing directly into what the country’s fashion, print, and manufacturing industries are producing. For brands still calibrating their post-logomania China strategy, the trend is hard to miss. The highly polished jingzhi (精致) aesthetic that dominated the post-pandemic recovery is giving way to something whimsical, and emotional. Softcore rewards durability over flash, texture over logos, and experiences over acquisition — a subtler, ongoing language of personal investment and much-needed whimsy. The result? Brands should consider gentle palettes, tactile materials, immersive activations that feel akin to exhaling. As Zhu said, “Social metrics reaffirm the shift: on Xiaohongshu, posts about leisure‑driven vacations grew by 18.9% from January to December 2025. And when it comes to scene colors, consumers are leaning towards pristine whites, soft grays, and powdery pinks — clean, uncluttered tones that mirror the season’s tranquil soul.”

Brands need China's #softcore aesthetic on their radar

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag

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Brands need China's #softcore aesthetic on their radar

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag