Line Friends x Sank Toys, Xie Xin dancers in Bottega Veneta, and more: China collabs of the week

Running from July 13 to July 29 2023, the Biennale Danza 2023 in Venice was an exquisite celebration of choreographers and dance companies from a real range of countries. That included China, with the Xiexin Dance Theatre headed by Shanghai’s famed choreographer Xie Xin having its dancers kitted out in Bottega Veneta. For the show, titled When I Am Facing U, dancers performed to a soundtrack by Sylvia Wang wearing silk pieces that had the aesthetic quality of heavy denim, making the performance feel like a moving nightclub scene. More on that collaboration with Bottega Veneta creative director Matthieu Blazy later. This week’s Collabs & Drops also examines Randomevent’s Lamfast capsule and Line Friends’ limited edition figurine and exhibition with Sank Toys. Read on for our verdict on some of the latest brand collaborations in mainland China, and subscribe here to receive these updates straight to your inbox every Tuesday. Xie Xin x Bottega Veneta Date July 29 Product When I am Facing U Biennale Danza performance Social context On Weibo, Xiexin Dance Theatre has 2.34 million followers and 819 followers on Instagram. The Instagram post for the world premiere gained 53 likes and #biennaledanza generated 1,379 posts on Instagram. The dance group’s (谢欣XDT) post on Weibo has 555 likes. Verdict A route for fashion brands to attain prestigious cultural capital while connecting to the creative industry, costume design is a popular form of collaboration for luxury. This year, both Burberry and Erdem are creating costumes for the British ballet company, The Royal Ballet. In this instance, the outcome for Bottega Veneta will be how it connects to Chinese consumers. Guangdong Dance School-educated choreographer Xie Xin has a huge following in the mainland. Having costumes designed by Bottega Veneta’s Blazy elevated the performance, too. The dancers wore urban looks comprising tank tops and thick denim, cut from silk/viscose twill, an exclusively created technique. With the designs conceived over Zoom, this project illustrates the beauty of a collaboration between a major choreographer and leading designer. Randomevent x Lamfast Running Club Date July 29 Product “Run As Random As You Can” capsule collection Social context Randomevent has 265,000 followers on Weibo. On the platform, #Lamfo has 1.15 million reads, whereas #Randomevent has 99.7 million. Verdict Collaborations are a standout feature of Randomevent’s strategy, contributing to its well-rounded positioning on China’s local streetwear scene. Joining the likes of global names such as Puma, Dickies, New Balance, Be@rbrick, and Gramicci, Lamfast Running Club is the latest brand to co-design a collection. To celebrate Lamfast’s one-year anniversary, it is opting to more deeply connect further with streetwear fanatics and Gen Z consumers, while Randomevent will be able to amp up its connection to sportswear technicality. Line Friends x Sank Toys Date August 6 to 21 Product "Sea of Hearts" exhibition in Shanghai, plus limited edition of 150 toys Social context On Weibo, Sank Toys has 3,832 followers and Line Friends has 306,000 — the hashtag linefriendlianwopengyou (#linefriends连我朋友) has 27.58 million reads and Sank Toys has 16.99 million reads on the same platform. Verdict Established in July 2017, China’s Sank Toys is a game concept designer and illustrator with an on-trend IP that’s perfect for South Korea’s Line Friends to collaborate with. Line is a popular instant messenger app used in countries like Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. Line Friends started out as stickers and evolved into an IP that’s used to sell products such as stationary, homewares, plush toys, and jewelry. Naturally, as both names cover the toy market, their target markets align, which makes this a reliable collaboration that’s sure to only fuel excitement among existing consumers. Furthermore, the limited stock makes the product a collector’s item, feeding long-term cultural capital into each brand.

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Line Friends x Sank Toys, Xie Xin dancers in Bottega Veneta, and more: China collabs of the week