Transcription
There's an entire creative scene in China that the West has never seen before. I run a multi-8 figure fashion brand and I've been coming here to see suppliers for over 5 years, but this time I finally saw the side of China that nobody's talking about. And here's what it looks like.
Streets are nice.
"This is sick, bro. I would have never expected China to look like this, to be honest. You think they've built this with intention, right?"
"Feel like the modern generation are definitely shaping how this feels. Pretty sure it used to be pretty frowned upon for if you to dress a certain way or have tattoos and stuff in China."
"I think so. Yeah."
"But now it's kind of chill."
"Doing denim differently for sure."
"I think a lot of brands could only imagine executing this properly whereas here I think cuz they have the facilities to just try, try, try, test."
"Very true. Yeah. Close proximity to where they produce it. So they can be a bit quicker with their testing and it's a lot cheaper for them to test as well. If the Chinese brands start coming to the West, like it could, that's going to be, they'll be tough to compete with cuz they, they can just be different with their speed, you know."
"Yeah."
"This brand's pretty fire, right?"
"Where you guys from?"
"The UK."
"Oh, we're in the UK."
"Uh, London."
"Where do you think I'm from?"
"From the US."
"Dude, what are you guys doing out here?"
"Uh, we got a brand out here."
"Oh, what type of brand do you guys got? I've got a fashion brand in the UK."
"Is it like street, like street stuff?"
"Streetwear and jewelry."
"Dude, that's fire."
"So, we do a bit of above. So, we're out here for a week doing [ __ ] supply trip."
"Oh, really?"
"Okay. No worries. Good."
"Coming to China, like the thing that I noticed the most is that in China, the attention to detail is crazy."
"Yeah."
"It's like brands like Personal, Mason Prince, I mean, they'll use inspiration from other big brands in the world, but if you look at some of the pieces they have, a regular person will be like, 'There's no way I can pull it up, possibly pull it off.' But then I feel like what they're doing, what these brands are doing is they're just like, 'I don't give a [ __ ] what other people think. As long as you can buy these pants and style it and work your way around it, you can make your own character.'"
"Yeah."
"So like when I went to a store like Person Soul, like they had names like, 'Oh, that girl was four. This girl's name is 11.' I'm like, 'Everyone has everyone has a crazy character here.'"
"Oh, it like the staff from the store."
"The seven, like that, that's their American names. I like how they use um the bigger brands as like inspiration, but then they kind of find their own way to make it like their own style. Like Mason Prince like reminded me of Balenciaga, but then if you looked more deep into it, like it was definitely very different."
"Appreciate all the insight."
"Yeah, of course."
"No, I really [ __ ] with what you guys are doing."
"Appreciate. Yeah. Yeah."
"Like little three from the boy."
"Take it in, man. Look at the visuals out here, bro."
"Is this not crazy?"
"Crazy, bro."
"This is easily one of the most insane places I've seen that you can play public basketball for free with the boys, you know, compared to like the UK or maybe in Europe where if you pull up, you know, it's going to be like the net will be ripped off. Probably be some wrongings hanging about. Your impression of China was just what you hear growing up or from older people who have never been here or even older generations where they built their own perceptions of what China was, whereas bro, this new young generation of China is different. Like they really are like creating a different version of it and it's fire. Look."
"So you're tapped in?"
"That's sick. Do you work with mostly like the Western brands or Eastern brands?"
"Mainly Western. I just like finding new Eastern brands cuz I find like they're, they're probably even more tapped in than I am in terms of like what's what's new and they take, they take advantage of that. So like a lot of the Chinese brands are like absolutely destroying it right now."
"Like I'm sure you've seen like people like Mason Prince and that like."
"Do you think like it's flipping a little bit where obviously they used to come to us for inspiration and..."
"Exactly. I think a lot of Western brands are now coming to like, obviously Japan's a classic one, but even more maybe China now to like get inspo on, you know."
"There's so many of our clients, like some of our clients from Australia, some of our clients from the UK, they'll come here and they'll be like, they'll go to uh Mason Prince and they'll be like, 'I bought like 12 samples from Mason Prince and I like this, this, this, this.' So it literally has flipped."
"Damn. So yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. And I feel like um, even the store experiences are quite, they're pretty fire out here. The next level."
"China is like, you feel like you can experiment here. Like you can be a mad scientist and just go crazy with things."
"Yeah, that's so real, man. Even some of the, because I guess there are a few brands like I'd say I know you mentioned in your video, non-radical got a good balance of like actually wearability."
"Cuz obviously there are some insane styles out here, but it's can be a little tough to wear it, you know."
"Yeah, for sure. Like that, I don't know if you've seen Person Soul."
"Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah."
"That's like the definition of like world-building. It's completely left field of like anything you've seen before, but like they've built a world for it and like credit to them. But like in terms of wearability..."
"Yeah."
"...there's like maybe one or two pieces that I could wear in that store just based on my personal style."
"And I feel like obviously in the West, there's a difference between the young generation, older generation. I feel like here it's really clear, you know, in terms of I think the younger generation got way more freedom than they used to."
"Oh, yeah."
"In terms of like they can express themselves, they can get tattoos, they can [ __ ] dye their hair, you know? So like, yeah, I feel like they're, they're a lot more now. They've got this kind of almost newborn creativity and freedom that's that's really expressive with the styles and what they wear."
"Yeah."
"And I don't know if you guys know much about like the history of China, but like I think it was 1960s there was the Cultural Revolution and like China had like a really big creative scene, but a lot of those people had to like re, like they were sent to relearn different skills. So like they had like really good artisans, but they would take those artisans and they would be like, 'You're not allowed to do this anymore. You now need to go learn how to farm.' So like there was a big generation that kind of like got lost within what they were doing and had to do something completely different. So like maybe now it's just kind of the effects of that and you're seeing a new generation come in and like they've got all this freedom, they've got all this like supply chain access, they've got access to all the options and now they've also got access to the internet. So it's like it's kind of like a melting pot of just ideas and creativity and just being able to actually execute on stuff."
"Yeah. And I feel like they're attracting more visionaries like you to come out here as well. Like I think to to work from here and be indulged in it too because..."
"Yeah. I just think it's, it's almost Yeah. like flips now the creative scene and the where all this these ideas are coming from the East now. So it's a interesting culture shift I think we're going through."
"So for sure."
"Yeah man."
"From East to West. Yeah, bro."
"It's insane."
"Yeah."
"Yeah. It's just good for me to see all this stuff too cuz when I'm thinking about pop-ups and doing our own store one day, then just have so many references in mind can help me like think of ideas or things I hadn't thought about that you could do. Even the sound thing is kind of sick. Having like a narration of something is pretty unique."
"Crazy."
"Crazy."
"Also like just make it makes sense with the brand as well cuz a lot of the pieces are pretty unique. Well designed."
"Sure. For sure."
"It's completely it feels authentic. It feels real which I think is also important when brands and are doing these type of things and experiences that like whatever they execute it does feel real. Otherwise if it's doing too much and doesn't match the product or the vibe then it doesn't come across in the right way. What's cool is that now that we've come into this room, which is clearly a little more formal, like a their take on like a formal setting, now the product shifted into that as well. Now it's like clean jackets, some like more tailoring. So, it's like a dope spot. Especially if you're a brand who got like multiple categories, then this is a great reference for how to like capture the product within the store as well. Keeping it on brand, but for the new category, if that makes sense. Oh, it's like a cool way to do it. You know, a brand's dialed when they got a coffee shop inside, you know. Feel like that's the new meta almost for stores."
"This store really had everything there. This is a fire. And honestly, Mason Prince Shanghai, the flagship that this is a sick experience. Not only have they got the amazing like visual interactive stuff in the store, but then to round off the full experience, they've also got like a cafe downstairs where you can order a coffee, chill for a bit, and you can probably spend like an hour in here. Um, and it really just shows like the offline experience now is becoming more and more important, particularly with AI um kind of drawing so much like brains into socials now and content, a lot of it feels the same. Whereas something AI cannot replicate is an elite in-person experience where you get to feel a brand. You get to really see what it's about. So, um, yeah, they're doing it right, man. Definitely going to see some more brands execute styles like this in the West. I have no doubt. Um, and like I said, like it's, it's not only just the big brands out here that are doing this type of thing. It's the upcoming smaller brands. I think Mason Prince is one of the more iconic Chinese streetwear brands, but even some of these ones I don't even know and never heard about that are probably small doing quite, you know, little revenue like they really consider every single detail. So, um, yeah, shout out to the Chinese brands. So, they're doing it really well."
"It is looking hot. So, got the noodles, got the crab sauce. It's iconic for this um this pop, which is so local."
"I'm really not trying to splash us cuz we're wearing white. So..."
"Danger."
"Man, you get Oh my god. Come on, bro. I knew that would cook you."
"Yeah. Stop."
"Better than the noodle."
"This that's a very Western like Chinese taste. This is actually. This is paying. It's not too fishy. Generally I like a lot."
"This is real Chinese food. Everyone thinks, 'Oh, you're going in China, you're having, you know, sweet and sour chicken and a hot pot.' That stuff doesn't exist out here."
"This exact spot's been going since 1891. I kind of wanted to end this video with a bit of a reflection about the last 7 days that we spent in China because we usually come here on business trips and it's super efficient, like 3 days, 4 days in and out, supplies back to back, 18 hours a day. But this time we extended the trip and we really got to see Guangzhou, Shanghai and a really different side of China. The creative, the the like inspirational side and seeing all the different brands and how they do things is has been really, really interesting for me because I think a lot of people when they come to Asia to get inspo, they might go to like Japan or South Korea and maybe assume China is a bit more of a business and corporate hub. But when you actually come out here and see some of these areas, um, see some of the brands and entrepreneurs and creative people doing amazing stuff out here, it's, it's actually so dope because it's something you wouldn't expect. And it's such a legendary like historical culture too in China, uh, that there's so much to learn and so much to to get inspired by. And particularly because this new generation of Chinese people like they've got this kind of new found freedom where they can be a bit more expressive than the older generations. And there are more people posting on social, there are more people um, yeah, there's just less of a stigma of being yourself, you know, and doing whatever you want to do, whether it's get piercings and stuff, you know. So yeah, it's been really cool to to spend some time and get new ideas. Uh, and it's not to say China's completely perfect, you I don't think it's necessarily the best place to be if you're an entrepreneur and you want to create something and you want to really like, you know, maybe achieve your entrepreneurial goals or whatever it is. But it's certainly an amazing place to get inspiration and to see creative people doing things very, very differently. So I'm certainly going to add this into every single one of my trips now whenever we come to see suppliers. is just check out some new cities, check out, you know, what the what everyone's cooking up out here because I've definitely left with 10 times more ideas than I came with. So, uh, yeah, it's been a been a lit trip. And if you want to see any more of the business stuff, then I actually dropped a vlog. My previous vlog was behind the scenes with our suppliers, what that looks like, how we think about things, so you can see a bit more behind the scenes of the brand. But, uh, I really hope you enjoyed this video because maybe you had some thoughts or or, uh, previous beliefs about what China is like and what it would be like. So, I hope I showed you some more differences of that. And if you want to see more cool videos, then tap in with me, drop a subscription, uh, drop a like and a comment and see what other videos you want to see from me. But yeah, hope you enjoyed."