From Xiao Zhan to Eileen Gu: Milan Fashion Week Secures Spotlight Leveraging Chinese Stars

Jing Daily’s new KOL Tracker examines Chinese stars’ attendance at Milan Fashion Week. Are they a solid investment for brands looking to boost their visibility in China?

Host to luxury’s biggest brands, the Spring/Summer 2024 edition of Milan Fashion Week (MFW) is under the media and fashionistas’ spotlight.

The anticipated debut shows of Sabato de Sarno for Gucci and Peter Hawkings for Tom Ford, as well as the celebration of Moschino’s 40th anniversary, dominated online conversations as big-spending maisons shrewdly pushed to new publicity heights.

For instance, homegrown down coat label Bosideng invited Chinese-American Olympic freestyle skiing champion and global brand ambassador Eileen Gu to open and close its MFW show, marking her runway debut for a Chinese clothing brand. Gu’s video garnered 6.26 million views on Weibo.

By splurging on celebrities and influencers, especially Chinese ones, luxury houses secured millions of earned views across China’s social media platforms.

According to social media data and influencer marketing platform Lefty, 25 Chinese celebrities shared MFW posts on social media (Weibo and Xiaohongshu), generating a staggering $13.8 million in earned media value (EMV) in total.

In partnership with Lefty, Jing Daily’s KOL Tracker column dissects the impact these KOLs had on the conversations surrounding MFW and whether their star presence made an impression on China’s netizens. Continue to read the full article here