Fashion From “Nothing But Thirty” Went Viral on Chinese Social Media
Popular TV shows in China often generate buzz not just for the storyline – but for the fashion and beauty content. Over the summer, a TV show called Nothing But Thirty (三十而已) became extremely popular in China. The show followed three different women’s careers and relationships. But what caught people’s attention was that the characters were all over 30 years old. The show stuck out because it featured the struggles women over thirty face. Along with the plot, another aspect of the show that was quite buzzed about was the fashion.
One of the main characters Gu Jia (顾佳) loves hanging out with rich women. One day they were having afternoon tea and taking group photos. She hid her Chanel bag behind her because other women were carrying Hermes bags. This scene went viral on social media and started bringing the show to a wider audience base.
Luxury brands that benefit from the show are Hermes, Dior, Roger Vivier and Loro Piana. Items from these brands appear quite frequently. They even become a turning point or iconic point of the plot, such as the Hermes scene above.
Domestic brands that benefit from the show are Ellassay (歌力思), ICICLE之禾 and OVV from Heilan Home (海澜之家).
Matching the brand to the character
Luxury brands often appear in Chinese TV shows, so what made Nothing But Thirty different? A key reason was that the stylist Li Yikai (里翌锴) did an excellent job of matching the characters to the brands. For example, Gu Jia is a very independent woman, an excellent entrepreneur, a good mom and a good wife. Li frequently features her wearing Dior because the feminism and independence that the brand delivers are exactly what Gu Jia has.
Li shared that for brands to benefit from sponsoring a show, they need work closely with the stylists. Making sure that the right character wears them can help create viral products.
The challenge for Chinese stylists
However, for brands looking to collaborate with China TV shows, it is important to note that they typically have a different production and publishing schedule than shows in Korea or the US might. For example, shows such as Gossip Girl or the hot Korean TV show My Love from the Star (来自星星的你) will film a couple episodes and broadcast them almost immediately while they continue to film more, whereas many Chinese shows will film all the episodes for 3-5 months intensively and then wait for months to be broadcasted while they are edited. This makes it hard for Chinese TV shows to catch what is trendy or borrow apparel from brands and keep them for months.
Read more: 深度｜从《三十而已》看时尚品牌究竟如何潜入影视剧？
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To see another example of this, watch this video about fashion topics related to the popular reality TV show “Sisters Who Make Waves” .
About: During the past summer vacation, one of the most popular TV shows is called “Sisters Who Make Waves”. Numerous hot topics on Weibo, Douyin and Xiaohongshu are dedicated to the show. After every episode people are posting about the outfits that the contestants are wearing, showing the outfits and where the item came from – even their shoes and jewelry!
Fans also noticed that many of the contestants have similar style makeup so there is a trending topic on XHS teaching each other how to recreate that look. Both of these are something that fashion and beauty brands can both easily leverage. Even if your brand’s clothing isn’t featured in the show, if you have items that are similar you can share your own version of the look.
