Streetwear sales in China soaring, thanks to Kris Wu’s popularity
BEIJING: Streetwear in China is soaring, thanks to the promotional efforts by stars like singer-actor Kris Wu.
Kris is currently one of four judges for an online reality show and rap competition called The Rap of China.
For the show, four celebrity producers are tasked with training and guiding a rotating cast of young competing rappers.
The other judges are American-Taiwanese singer and songwriter Wilber Pan, and Taiwanese singers Chang Chenyue and MC HotDog.
But Kris has been largely credited with the show’s massive following.
Each of the judges select the winners of the competition and become their producers.
In addition to the contestants, many of whom went on to sign record deals, fashion labels have also hit paydirt.
The first episode of the show drew over 100 million viewers within the first four hours, according to local Chinese media. The average viewership of each episode is currently around 200 million.
One direct result of this wildly popular show is that a series of high-end streetwear brands, including Off-White, Vetements, Supreme and Raf Simons, have become household names among China’s trendy youths.
Kris has made his runway debut at Burberry’s Fall 2016 Men’s Show in London. Forbes named him in their 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list which comprises 30 influential people in Asia under the age of 30.