Fashion month finally completed its final stretch, and Paris Fashion Week’s (PFW) Fall 2024 season has inundated the internet with content throughout its eight-day affair, which concluded on March 5, 2024. On Weibo, “Yang Chaoyue at Paris Fashion Week” (#杨超越巴黎时装周) has garnered over a billion reads, while the same hashtag on Xiaohongshu has racked up 922 million views.
Those figures were fueled by a combination of surprise celebrity appearances, meme fashion, and national pride for Chinese designers demonstrating elevated success on the global stage.
Analyzing what is grabbing consumer attention during fashion week provides notable insight into the interests of Chinese fashion consumers in 2024. Here, we break down what caught netizen attention in Paris for Fall 2024.
Chenpeng#
The 2015-born brainchild of Peng Chen, Chenpeng wowed the industry with another otherworldly, cartoon couture collection. One of PFW’s most talked-about Chinese designer labels, #chenpeng now has over 2 million views on Weibo and 6 million on Xiaohongshu.
One contribution to Chenpeng’s popularity online was beauty influencer Alibae walking in the show; the creator has 1.8 million followers on Xiaohongshu and also walked for Windowsen.
However, Chenpeng’s uniquely eye-catching aesthetic, which the brand has become known for, was the main topic of conversation. The Fall 2024 collection also featured a footwear collaboration with emerging Chinese label Untitlab, celebrating local design talent.
KOLs galore#
During each season of PFW, all netizen attention is fixated on the attending celebrities. This year, the enormous fan base of Gen Z Chinese actress and Rocket Girls 101 band member Yang Chaoyue showed strong support, as the hashtag "Yang Chaoyue at Paris Fashion Week" (#杨超越巴黎时装周) soared past one billion views on Weibo.
Also warranting a mention was the surprise appearance of Lisa from K-pop group Blackpink at the Louis Vuitton show. The Weibo hashtag about Blackpink’s Paris Fashion Week appearance, #BLACKPINK巴黎时装周四人四色, has 94.7 million reads currently.
Another A-lister highlight was Loewe ambassador, Chinese actress-singer Yang Mi. The hashtag “Yang Mi landed in Paris” (#杨幂落地巴黎) has attracted a whopping 36.9 million reads so far. The star has generated $1.98 million in Media Impact Value on the platform.
Coperni’s Air Swipe Bag#
Coperni is undeniably the king of going viral. Ever since its spray-on dress spectacle starring Bella Hadid for the Spring 2023 runway, global consumers have eagerly awaited each show.
This season, the Air Swipe Bag, crafted from NASA’s nanomaterial silica aerogel, was at the top of news feeds in China and beyond. Designed in collaboration with researcher Iaonnis Michalous, the accessory made from 99 percent air and one percent glass has boggled minds all over the globe.
On Xiaohongshu, “Coperni Bag” (#coperni包包) has 3.6 million views, with all recent conversation surrounding this air-filled take on the brand’s hero piece, the Swipe Bag.
Kanye West and Bianca Censori#
A controversial media mainstay, Kanye West and wife Bianca Censori were in Paris for the Marni show, which spurred interest from Chinese netizens due to the music artist’s meteoric fanbase in China.
Censori was pictured wearing tights without underwear, going viral in China and all over the world. The hashtag “Kanye’s wife may go to jail for wearing revealing clothes” (#侃爷妻子或因穿着暴露坐牢) attained 420 million views on Weibo, outdoing many luxury brands that showed on schedule. Balenciaga’s official hashtag, “Balenciaga Winter 24 Show” (#巴黎世家冬季24发布秀), for example, has garnered 67.6 million reads so far.
Although branded hashtags did hit these figures, the highest engagement was derived from KOL and celebrity appearances. Or, in Censori’s case, controversies.
In the West, Victoria Beckham’s eponymous brand’s runway won on Instagram, according to data released by NSS Magazine. However great fashion design is, it seems that fashion month will forever be driven by the cult of celebrity.