From ‘GQ’ to YouTube: KOL Delfino’s fashion journey

Click here to read this article in Chinese. Chinese KOL Delfino (Delfino雕雕) didn’t plan on working in fashion. An English major in college, he landed a job at GQ after graduation — almost by accident. Today, he moves between roles: Part writer, part digital storyteller, part observer of an industry in flux. In this edition of Jing Talent, he reflects on his path and the changes he’s witnessed across fashion media. Since May 2020, Delfino has been sharing his thoughts on style and culture under the name “Delfino雕雕” across platforms like Bilibili, Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), Weibo, and YouTube. His combined audience now exceeds 810,000 followers. In college, majoring in English gave Delfino an unexpected foot in the door: he helped translate international fashion books bought in by his university. Between the pages, curiosity turned into something deeper. By his sophomore year, he began writing for WeChat-based publications — his first formal step into fashion writing. “It was the golden era for public accounts,” he says. “A lot of platforms were hiring freelance editors and writers. That’s how I started.” Over the next few years, Delfino built a strong foundation through writing — work that would later shape his move to video. After finishing his senior thesis, and with some time before his graduate studies began, he thought: “Why not turn my writing into long-form videos?” In May 2020, just as longform content was gaining momentum on Bilibili, he uploaded his first fashion deep-dive. Within just a few episodes, an audience began to form. Delfino first began making videos on a wide range of topics — supermodels, celebrities, fashion history, brand case studies, and the economics behind the industry. Most of the content was long-form. “My videos were usually between 10 and 20 minutes,” he says. Over the past two years, he’s narrowed his focus to fashion business commentary, offering deeper analysis that helps viewers better understand the mechanics of the industry. As he continued to post consistently and build a presence, his work began to attract attention within the fashion world. In 2021, he was invited to join the editorial team at GQ China — one of the country’s most prominent fashion publications. “It was an online interview,” he says. “I got the offer right after.” He had originally planned to pursue graduate studies abroad. But with this unexpected opportunity on the table, he instead to move to Beijing, chasing what he describes as a once-in-a-lifetime chance. At GQ, Delfino worked as an editor in the digital team, sometimes juggling six projects at once. He loved the work, but the intensity took its toll. In 2022, he decided to leave. “Even though I stepped away, I remain incredibly grateful — especially to Rocco, who gave me so many chances and taught me a lot,” he says. Leaving GQ didn’t mean stepping away from fashion. “I was at a crossroads,” he says. “If I went ahead with my plan to study linguistics abroad, I’d likely return and become an English teacher like many of my classmates. But I wasn’t interested in teaching. Writing about fashion was one of the few things I’d done for years and actually felt confident in.” So, he moved from Beijing to Shanghai to seek new possibilities. But just a week after arriving, the city went into lockdown. “I couldn’t leave the apartment. I ended up unintentionally taking two months off and started making videos again from home.” Those two months turned out to be pivotal. His content began gaining traction, and commercial offers soon followed. His first brand partnership? Givenchy. Jing Daily: Beyond being a fashion content creator, do you also hold down a full-time job? Delfino: I like to say I have a “main job,” which basically means I write regularly for certain platforms — WGSN, for example. That gives me a relatively stable income each month, which in turn allows me to be more selective about whether or not I take on brand partnerships. JD: You’re often seen wearing a hat in your videos. Is there a reason for that? Delfino: Honestly, I just don’t like spending time on styling my hair — I’m not very good at it, and I prefer efficiency. A hat takes one minute — and I’m camera-ready. JD: Who or what has shaped your approach to working in fashion? Delfino: Back in college, I used to contribute to a fashion WeChat account known for its sharp, sometimes biting tone. The editorial director left a lasting impression on me. Her bio on social media read, “Observe quietly, watch closely.” Through her, I learned how to deconstruct luxury branding — how not to treat big names as sacred, but to look at them critically, to question the marketing logic behind the glamour. She never shared a thought without thinking it through. Her restraint, precision, and clarity taught me the value of speaking less, and saying more. Later, when I joined GQ, my editor Rocco had a similarly strong influence. He was the one who brought me into the industry, and he personally reviewed every story I worked on. Everyone on our team knew how meticulous he was. No matter how packed his schedule, he always made time to go through each piece before it went live. Working with someone like that taught me something essential: professionalism isn’t a slogan. It’s about respect — for the work, and for the people who read it. JD: How do you view the current luxury market slowdown? Delfino: I don’t think luxury spending is declining across the board — it’s more that people are shifting what they spend on. On my channel, I’ve summarized the 2024 earnings reports from major luxury brands. The data shows that some brands were barely affected by the broader slowdown. Gucci dropped by 23%, but Miu Miu surged by 93%. That tells us consumers might be moving away from traditional luxury goods, jewelry, watches, classic handbags, and leaning more into luxury experiences: travel, food, lifestyle-oriented indulgences. In the past, people didn’t know much about luxury and approached it with a sense of curiosity — “Let me see what all the fuss is about.” But now, information is everywhere. Consumers know the brands inside out. That sense of novelty is fading. I wouldn’t call it “demystification,” exactly — it’s more like aesthetic fatigue. And in my view, that’s the real challenge the industry is facing right now. JD: Designer shake-ups seem to be happening more often than ever. What’s your take on this? Delfino: To me, the constant turnover of creative directors is a symptom of broader industry anxiety. If you look at Chanel, for instance — the brand’s annual revenue grew from $8.6 billion in 2016 to $18.7 billion in 2024. That’s a $10 billion increase in less than a decade, which by any measure is extraordinary. Hermès, too, nearly doubled its revenue in just five years, jumping from 6.8 billion euros ($7.33 billion) in 2019 to nearly 15.2 billion euros ($16.39 billion) in 2024. That kind of rapid growth has, I think, skewed expectations. Brands and investors got caught up in the illusion that this pace could continue indefinitely. So now, any slowdown, even a slight one, triggers a kind of panic. And in that panic, brands start making rash decisions. For many, the default solution to any dip in performance is to replace the creative director. There’s this assumption that fashion is a purely creative business, and that if sales slump, the issue must be the design. So, they swap out the talent. But I think that’s a narrow view. Often, the real problem lies with management strategy, not the clothes themselves. A creative director isn’t a magic fix. Nor should they be treated like a replaceable part in a machine. JD: Why is it so rare to see younger designers leading heritage fashion houses today? Delfino: I think part of it comes down to the overwhelming expectations placed on creative directors today. They’re not just expected to be creative. They have to be skilled managers, emotionally steady, capable of upholding brand heritage, and ideally, they should also function as public-facing stars. In many cases, a brand’s visibility depends more on who’s leading it than the product itself. But the number of people who can truly check all those boxes is very, very small. So, brands often fall back on veteran designers who’ve been trained by the old fashion system. Younger talents feel like a gamble, and many companies don’t want to take that risk. I also wonder how much the average consumer really cares who the creative director is. Many people learn about new collections through salespeople or advertising. They might not even know who’s behind the design. That’s why I think retail still matters enormously. Business is built shop by shop, client by client, through human interaction. And in that process, sales — not statements — often carry the weight. JD: Do you agree with the idea that younger consumers are ‘demystifying’ luxury? Delfino: Younger people today are simply more price-conscious. Many of them aren’t yet at a stage where they have strong purchasing power, but as they grow older and earn more, they naturally start seeking quality. The more you buy and the more you experience, the easier it becomes to recognize that certain materials and levels of craftsmanship really are exclusive to some luxury houses. That said, yes, there are definitely items hanging in luxury boutiques that make you raise an eyebrow. I wouldn’t say we’re seeing a massive “pullback” from luxury. What’s really happening is the end of the myth of endless growth. The industry is entering a new phase, one that might look more like Europe’s: rational, steady, and less reliant on explosive expansion. And honestly, I think that’s a healthier place to be. JD: Finally, what qualities do you think make a great fashion writer today? Delfino: You really have to understand how the industry works, not just the design, but the mechanics behind it. To be honest, I strongly agree with Virgil Abloh’s idea of the “3% rule.” Most of my own takes are built on reading what others have written before me, then layering in my own observations to produce that tiny, but meaningful, 3% difference. After all, the information we’re working from is mostly public: brand press releases, trade reporting, open interviews. We all have access to the same pool of source material. The real difference lies in how you interpret it, how you digest it, and how you tell the story in your own way. I try to break things down in a way that feels true to me, and then reconstruct the narrative using my editorial instincts to make it more engaging. As for “originality”? That’s something I think about constantly. The truth is, I’m standing on the shoulders of others — just doing my best to stretch a little further, to see things from a slightly different angle. Read more: The new rules of KOL engagement in China China’s influencer economy: 3 top fashion KOLs to know How China’s KOLs are adapting to trade war fallout

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From ‘GQ’ to YouTube: KOL Delfino’s fashion journey