Chinese Youth Fashion Goes ‘Red’

With the 60th anniversary of China upon us, we have been looking at youth trends which celebrate the nation. One of these, which has recently become popular amongst Chinese youth, is known as the ‘red trend’.

As we all know, red is the national color of China; it is used to represent Chinese tradition, joy, fortune, and an attitude of ‘brave advancement’. Now the Chinese youth, who have inherited this ‘red spirit’, have reinterpreted it and developed their own ‘red trend’.

Taobao recently showcased a page of products from the revolutionary ages of China, which they dubbed the ‘red collection’. The items, which include stamps, food tickets, newspapers, clothes, photos, footwear and so on, are all good representations of the ‘red trend’. The site also shows the origins of the products and how they now are being reappropriated by young people in China.

This trend of retro China has been some time in the making, but up until now this has largely been focused on the ‘haishan’ (navy shirt) and Warrior sneakers. As Chinese youth dig deeper we see even more styles coming into vogue.

Plum Flower was a Chinese sportswear brand popular from the 60’s to the 80’s. The brand has been revived through Taobao, due to the popularity of it’s iconic tracksuit top. It first became popular amongst trendy college students, entertained by the idea of wearing something older than them. Now, spurred by the oncoming 60th anniversary celebrations, Plum Flower products have again seen an upsurge in sales via Taobao.

Of course there is a certain irony, being that the entrepreneurial spirit of the Taobao sellers is driven by sales of socialist curios. However beyond this, what the ‘red trend’ shows is that to be proud of China is not to be unfashionable. Actually, it is a pride that can be worn on the sleeve, the head, the feet, the legs…all over!