Vivienne Westwood x Palace Skateboards: China reacts

What happened In a visually delicious clash of British subculture styles, Palace Skateboards has unveiled a collaborative collection with Vivienne Westwood, dropping this Friday September 6. Across Chinese social media, fans of both brands (on Xiaohongshu, #palace has 9.1 million reads and #viviennewestwood has 180 million) have been busy speculating about price points, and according to floods of compliments across Xiaohongshu, the blue “horny beanie” is likely to be one of the first products to sell out in China. Combining menswear and a debut take on womenswear for Palace, it’s a comprehensive offering of bags, jewelry, accessories, and elevated streetwear. The “Salon” pattern that debuted in Vivienne Westwood’s 1992 Spring/Summer “Salon” series is crafted into the design of Gore-Tex jackets, sweatpants, and skirts. The campaign was shot by legendary street style photographer and Fruits magazine founder Japan’s Shoichi Aoki on the streets of London, from Soho to Chinatown, Camden, and Shaftesbury Avenue. The collaboration is Palace’s second luxury fashion tie-up, following the viral Gucci collection launched in Q4 of 2022. Yet, this one is a real “best of British” collaboration, already garnering online attention in China and worldwide for its quintessential expression of UK subculture fashion linking punks and skaters. From Harrods to Wedgwood, Palace has a vibrant history of English collaborations that thrived, and this one’s set to capitalize upon China’s adoration for performed-British identity in branding. Unlike the skate brand, Vivienne Westwood seldom releases collaborations, with hardly any noteworthy drops as of recent years, other than Eastpak (2023) and Burberry (2018). Catering to China’s rising love of skating and established adoration of Vivienne Westwood, the drop will be on both brands’ WeChat channels, as well as hitting select Vivienne Westwood stores across Shanghai and Beijing. The Jing Take A hit among Chinese netizens thus far, feedback has been wholly positive – yet, most are hoping for Palace prices rather than those of Vivienne Westwood. The currently-trending punk aesthetic and Asian link due to the campaign being shot by Fruit magazine’s Aoki has established an authentic connection for Gen Zers across Xiaohongshu. Ever since Palace hosted a Shanghai pop-up on Singles’ Day at underground club Arkham in 2019, its popularity in the mainland has been evident – fans of the brand traveled to the location from out of town just for that event. Fast forward to 2024, and the brand’s confidently selling out collections on WeChat. That said, it still hasn’t quite gained the market reach of competitors like Supreme or Stüssy. #stussy is at 155 million reads on Xiaohongshu, while #palacecollab (联合) has only 394,700. Palace is yet to launch a physical store presence in China, while Vivienne Westwood, on the other hand, has 12 across the mainland and Hong Kong. In fact, the British label entered China back in 2011, while Palace’s first move was not until eight years later with the Singles’ Day pop-up. As a result, the subculture-forward skate brand is likely to benefit more in terms of extended exposure through this collaboration in the market. While simultaneously, Vivienne Westwood will reap the rewards of being linked to a spearheading streetwear brand in terms of global reputation among stylish Gen Zers.

Vivienne Westwood x Palace Skateboards: China reacts

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Published September 05, 2024

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Vivienne Westwood x Palace Skateboards: China reacts