The Rumors On Chinese Socials Are True: Palace x Gucci Is Official

What happened Last week, Chinese social media started to flood with rumors of an upcoming Palace x Gucci collaboration. Days later on October 14, the brands revealed that Palace would be the latest Gucci Vault invitee, offering a monogram-heavy collection of baggy jeans, several soccer shirts, T-shirts, sliders, and a hoodie sporting the trademark triangle printed with GGs all over. Launching in September 2021, Gucci Vault is an experimental multimedia platform, selling exclusive brand collaborations such as this, alongside pre-owned Gucci and other conceptual experiences. Past brands that have worked on Vault lines include the likes of Bianca Saunders, Collina Strada, and Ahluwalia. Despite dropping a well-received, high-end Harrods capsule earlier this year, and previously partnering with Polo Ralph Lauren, Mercedes-AMG, and Moschino, this is ultimately the first extravagant luxury fashion house collaboration for Palace — there will be 70 pieces sold in the collection. Opting for Gucci instead of other heritage names works as the industry's leader of the moment, with both tastemaker-names sharing similar tongue-in-cheek branding and often championing the stylish outskirts of society. Palace has 10.56 million fans on Weibo and a loyal following on WeChat, but this co-branded line is sure to attract even more Chinese consumers to the skate brand; according to Barclay’s 2022 estimates, the country accounts for 35 percent of Gucci's annual sales revenue. Prior to the official announcement, within an hour of the photos being leaked, Chinese social media got talking, with the logomanic selection hitting the mainland’s luxury streetwear sweet spot. The Jing Take From New Balance and Engineered Garments of September 2022 to this month’s Apple Music, keeping up with Palace’s collaborations is an extreme sport. However, any major Gucci drop tends to break the internet and judging from the reaction of Chinese netizens already, this is set to be solid. Also tapping into the streetwear scene, the Italian luxury house’s collaboration with The North Face (TNF) back in September 2020 instantly went viral, earning a meteoric Media Impact Value of $15.3 million according to Launchmetrics. Gucci has landed its share of trending streetwear drops, from TNF to Adidas, but it has not yet worked with a skate brand so this marks a first on their side too. There are obvious parallels to draw between the groundbreaking Supreme and Louis Vuitton collab, perhaps that walked so this could run. The house's Creative Director Alessandro Michele has a keen interest in the skate community, and even launched the Grip watch specifically for skaters. Labelling Palace as "A defining underground force of men's fashion in the 2010s" in the press release, this collaboration marks the dynamism of luxury streetwear in 2022, embodying an industry free of hierarchies. Subscribe to Collabs and Drops here for more information on co-branded releases. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

The Rumors On Chinese Socials Are True: Palace x Gucci Is Official

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Published October 17, 2022

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The Rumors On Chinese Socials Are True: Palace x Gucci Is Official