Kris Wu, Luhan, Yang Mi, Cai Xukun, Zhou Dongyu – the Chinese celebrities helping Western luxury brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Cartier conquer Chinese millennials

Oct 2 , 2020

Yang Mi, Kris Wu and Luhan are among the prominent Chinese celebrity ambassadors working with Western luxury brands. Photo: @yangmimimi912, @kriswu, @7_luhan_m/Instagram

Music, film and fashion stars connect their millions of followers to global brands such as Armani, Prada and Burberry that want influence in the vital Chinese market, now seeing the fastest rebound from pandemic lows

Luxury brands targeting the lucrative Chinese market have been trying to ingratiate themselves with Chinese celebrities’ extraordinary social media fans through brand associations. This strategy follows the wisdom that an association with these celebrities helps increase public awareness and credibility, and influences purchasing decisions. Armani Group has just announced 19-year-old Jackson Yee, the youngest member of Chinese boy band TFBoys and the top-ranked celeb on Forbes’ China Celebrity 100 List, as ambassador for its younger line Emporio Armani.

So who are the Chinese stars that have successfully become brand ambassadors, and why were they selected?

Kris Wu

Commanding over 58 million followers on his Weibo and Instagram platforms, Kris Wu made international fashion headlines in 2016 when he was the first non-British celebrity to represent Burberry.

On Wu’s appointment as brand ambassador, former Burberry chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, stated, “Kris is a modern-day artist who works seamlessly across all these different worlds from music to fashion to film, which really resonates with us as a brand and which inspired me to want to work together.”

In late 2018, Louis Vuitton appointed Wu as brand ambassador with the launch of the spring/summer 2019 men’s collection fronted by the celebrity. The French brand was named China’s Top Luxury Brand in 2019, according to Gartner L2, with credit given to improved digital performance amid Wu’s influence.

Luhan

Ranked as the second highest-paid celebrity in China by Forbes in 2017, Luhan plugs diverse brands such as Oppo mobile phones, Baidu interactive maps, Star Wars, KFC, Lancôme, Gap and L’Occitane. In 2016, Cartier featured him both in its high-profile Chinese Valentine’s Day video campaign series and in the brand’s Juste un Clou global launch, which received significant engagement. On September 25, Gucci announced Luhan as its new ambassador with a campaign featuring Gucci beauty offerings, with Cartier replacing him with Jackson Wang as its newest spokesperson.