By Lisa Li

Understanding the trend mechanism (how trends start and spread) in Chinese context has been one of our major interests. In the past year, aside from ethnographic research on the youth (from cutting-edge youth to mass youth), we have also been lucky enough to talk to various friends in our expert network. A great thank to their sharing of insights here:

Jian Cui (Art Director at Modern Weekly, artist), Peng Hongwu (Editor-in-Chief of 0086) and Chris Wang (PR Manager at TheSource, worked at Yoho and W+K), Eryk Tian (Dynamic Marketing, DJ and party organizer), Ronny Shao (Wega Watts Communications, DJ and party organizer), and Li Sisi (Converse, live show organizer) in Shanghai; Chen Gang (art Director at 21st Century Business Herald, artist, fashion brand owner) and Cai Keng (Owner of Muma Gallery & Café) in Guangzhou

Among other topics about trend, the understanding of ‘hipsters’ is one of the most interesting topics to many of our clients/ friends. In this post, I would like to focus on this specific topic.

When it comes to ‘youth’, especially ‘youth trends’, ‘hipsters’ (currently in Chinese ‘Chao Ren’, ‘潮人’), or the images of them may usually come to mind. ‘Chao Ren’ are a group of youth (usually 15 – 25 yrs old) who 1) care/dare to look ‘cutting-edge’ and fashion-savvy and 2) consume fashion/lifestyle brands that are relatively niche and up-market (not in luxury sector though).

The group of ‘Chao Ren’ do tend to lead fashion trends among mass youth. However as a matter of fact, ‘Chao Ren’ in many cases are NOT ‘trendsetters’; and many ‘trendsetters’ don’t look ‘Chao’ (‘hip’) at all.

Our questions about ‘Chao Ren’ include who they are, what influence them, how their attitudes are changing, and who among them are the real trendsetters.

Mainstream hipsters and creative hipsters

To better understand this group of people, we need to distinguish two subgroups of hipsters.

Creative hipsters		Mainstream hipsters
Who they are? The super knowledgeable and creative young people among those who work/study in the fields of art, design, music, fashion, media, venue owners, event planners, etc. Not all of the creative people look hip. But some of them do look really trendy. In fact they don’t care to ‘look’ cutting-edge but just care to be different. They usually HATE to be labeled as ‘Chao Ren’ which in their perception refers to ‘mainstream hipsters’. Core values: This group of people tend to consider originality and persistence to dreams higher priority than status and wealth.		Who they are? High income youth who care to look trendy. Some of them work in creative-related professions that requires low knowledge and/or originality, for example, photographers in studios targeting mass individuals, stylists in hair saloons, dancers, etc. Core values: This group of people basically conform with mainstream value – status is the main aspiration.
Why do they want to look hip? They have different values and aspirations from the mainstream, and they want to set apart from the mainstream from the look.		Why do they want to look hip? They want to proudly claim the ‘trendy’, ‘cutting-edge’ identity. They want to differentiate from the mass who know little about ‘fashion’ and who cannot afford niche trendy brands
Sources of influence: Magazines that are considered original and creative: City Pictorial, 0086，The Outlook Magazine, Vision, and various domestic and foreign art/music/design magazines and websites. Opinion leaders through offline interactions (live houses, galleries, exhibitions, art/music festivals, private parties, etc.) and online platforms: Douban.com, blogs, Sina Microblog, SNS, etc.)		Sources of influence: Magazines and websites that are considered hip: for example, Milk, 1626, Yoho, Vision, Vogue, Yoka.com, etc. Opinion leaders through offline interactions (events, bars/clubs, style-related services such as hairstyling, photography) and online platforms (including blogs, SNS, street snapshot websites, etc.) Mainstream celebrities: for example, Lady Gaga, Edison Chen

What matters to youth brands?

‘Creative Hipsters’ are the real trendsetters. ‘All trends started ‘organically’ by people who live their life with creativity.’ Says Jian Cui, Art Director at Modern Weekly. ‘Things and lifestyles are embedded with the IDENTITY of creative class when creative people invent or adopt them. Early adopters among non-creative people then consume them for the IDENTITY of ‘hip’ and ‘cutting-edge’.’ When trying to explore future trends, be sure you are not merely looking at the ‘mainstream hipsters’ but rather learning from the ‘creative hipsters’.

‘Creative hipsters’ are hardly ever the core customers of brands, except for a few very niche brands, ‘Mainstream hipsters’ are. Why? ‘Creative hipsters’ are less consumeristic – they don’t need to identify themselves through consumption of brands; they tend to distrust the ‘aspirational image that brands tend to deliver to their consumers; in number they are a much smaller group than ‘mainstream hipsters’; and they usually are less well-off than ‘mainstream hipsters’.

However, brands should not understate the value of ‘creative hipsters’. Targeting ‘creative hipsters’, you can be edgy, recognized by ‘creative hipsters’, and followed by ‘mainstream hipsters’. Examples are Converse, Comme De Garcons, Absolut, Apple, etc. Targeting ‘mainstream hipsters’, you can only be ‘in’, irrelevant for ‘creative hipsters’, recognized by ‘mainstream hipsters’, and followed by ‘mainstream hipster wanna-be’s’.

Attract ‘creative hipsters’ with authenticity and ‘mainstream hipsters’ with aspirational lifestyles. Take Apple for instance, ‘creative hipsters’ love Apple for its user-centered technology plus design, and ‘mainstream hipsters’ love it because ‘it looks fancy and premium although it ‘doesn’t really work well’.’

Last but not least, the very expression of ‘Chao Ren’ is becoming outdated. Ditch it.

Filed under: Creative culture, Fashion & visual arts, Methodology, So What?, Chao Ren, China youth culture, creative youth, hipster, influential marketing, Lisa Li, opinion leaders, trends, trendsetter