Fans follow noses when it comes to mimicking idol Liu
At first I hadn’t seen the post, but reflecting on it, I would like to try the Tom Ford one used by Jackson Wang. I have been fascinated by this brand for a long time, and Jackson Wang is one of my favourite stars in China. Dexter, student aged 21
BEIJING: When fans discovered that actor Liu Hao Ran, used the fragrance Chanel Bleu, social media in China exploded.
It wasn’t surprising. He had 26 million fans following him on Weibo.
It only took days for the topic “Which fragrance does Liu Hao Ran use?” to amass an astonishing 220 million views. His fans, in comment after comment, begged to know if it was the Eau de toilette or the more recently launched Eau de parfum that they should buy in order to smell just like him.
Apparently, bodyguards make sure fans never get close enough to get a whiff of his armpits.
And it didn’t stop there. Shortly afterwards, fans of young celebs like Liu Hao Ran went a step further, creating a list of other favourite young male celebrities and their supposed choice fragrances that went on to garner more than 160 million views.
To be sure, the two posts were a tremendous boon for the fragrance industry, but what — if anything — can luxury brands learn from them? Even though much of the information in the fragrances list was speculation, the virality of the list shows just how committed young Chinese are to their favourite young stars, and more importantly, to what they wear, buy, and now what they smell like.
Take Lu Han. Based on the list, the iconic 28-year- old singer and actor opts for Bulgari’s Eau Parfumée au Thé Bleu, while Cai Xu Kun, 20, of the boy band Nine Per cent (and currently listed as the number one male celebrity influencer for 2018 by Tencent) supposedly likes the masculine top notes of Dior Sauvage.
This is one interesting aspect of the list — the wide range of brands included from Chanel, Dior, and Jo Malone to niche brands like Creed, Diptyque, John Varados, and Tom Ford. These choices reveal a deep change in the fragrance habits of young Chinese consumers, who are now electing to set their own generational benchmarks and no longer simply following popular Western trends and rankings.
Another takeaway — beyond a strong interest in what Chinese male idols smell like these days — is just how influential these top stars are. “At first I hadn’t seen the post,” said Dexter, a 21year- old student, “but reflecting on it, I would like to try the Tom Ford one used by Jackson Wang. I have been fascinated by this brand for a long time, and Jackson Wang is one of my favourite stars in China.”