Anime and Luxury: How Nostalgic Marketing Captivates Asian Fashion?
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When we talk about fashion, we cannot separate the Asian market from the luxury market. Indeed, representing a major share of global luxury spending, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese customers have demonstrated, over the years, their appetite for renowned houses and brands. This precious relationship endures and challenges brands to offer even more high-end customer experiences. Additionally, they must revise their strategies to adapt to new generations, in order to offer them great quality while maintaining emotion and authenticity. Thus, the design and communication surrounding the pieces from designers are part of nostalgic marketing, wrapping luxury in softness and finding strength in anime to encourage buyers to spend. Decoding a winner and comforting formula.
Why are luxury brands targeting the Asian market?
This is no longer a secret; Asian customers have a certain attraction to high-end fashion, and this is not about to stop. A study by Bain & Company projects that China’s share of global luxury spending will reach 50% by 2025. And 70% for the overall share of Asian buyers.
We naturally understand the interest of luxury brands in taking care of their presence in the Asian territory, especially following the pandemics and the reopening of borders. But also, to give visibility to Asian creators in our environment, as evidenced by the spotlight on Robert Wun during the last Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.
The designer, originally from Hong Kong, who made his debut in the capital, is part of a new approach to luxury. A vision of ultra-luxury, where pieces are made to order, to provide private clients with a new premium experience.
This desire to further refine proposals and customer experience is also illustrated by the deployment of the Tmall Luxury Pavilion app. Gathering over 200 high-end brands, including 80 luxury ones from the LVMH and Kering groups, the platform, highly selective, has managed to link luxury and digital to fit into a new era of buyer experience, and to align with the importance that the Asian market places on digital. The 3D boutiques offer an immersion comparable to physical stores, in addition to online showcases, allowing brands to present various ranges of pieces, providing customers with choices, as well as exclusive events.
With this new approach to luxury and digitized ultra-luxury, brands can target diverse buyers across the entire territory. From ultra-rich individuals to buyers from lower classes. Among the targeted profiles, young people are increasingly favored, which can be explained by the fact that they are more connected and thus more likely to be influenced by digital campaigns, visit online boutiques, and also engage more in participating in digital events.
Why is Generation Z the new target for developing the luxury market in Asia?
When we look at buyer profiles, we see that digital allows acquiring a more diverse clientele, between wealthy profiles and lower classes, by providing easier access to products. This is also a real strength to address Generation Z, which holds significant importance in the current ultra-luxury sales strategies of brands. Indeed, in addition to being very present on digital platforms and thus easily reachable, the new generation has, just like their elders, a real attraction to luxury. A study even highlighted that 37% of Chinese claimed to have been interested in luxury before the age of 18. However, they admit to being more discerning about the quality of pieces to ensure they match their cost.
In order to retain this audience, we have seen brands refine their communication strategies, particularly by playing with trends. Thus, we have seen major houses like Dior, Valentino, and Bulgari surround themselves with figures from pop culture, such as K-pop stars. By inviting them to fashion shows, designing their stage costumes, or even making them their muses, brands position themselves as trendy and modern with a direct link to these new buyers they target.
How have anime become the card to play in nostalgic marketing?
After low-end brands like Primark, it is now luxury, and even ultra-luxury that is designing collections around anime characters and other direct references to our childhood. And this is not trivial. Indeed, these pieces reflect, beyond a creative vision, a very specific and virtuous strategy: that of nostalgic marketing (or nostalgia marketing).
This strategy, which consists of using visual or written references from past pop culture elements on clothing, accessories, or decorative objects, acts on several levels for a customer. Seeing a nod to an element from our youth immediately evokes nostalgia (hence the name). From this state arises a great number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, softness, comfort, and optimism. It is a suspended moment, where the customer travels back in time and makes a link between their current evolution and where they come from, bringing memories to the surface.
In a world that is not always rosy, this sensation is even more amplified and naturally creates engagement with the customer, while also the emotion encourages taking action and purchasing the piece.
Studies have highlighted the real impact that this type of piece has on a customer, and how much they influence the person’s morale and psychological state, with repercussions both on themselves and on others.
The Asian Generation Z, who loves to see their culture represented, is thus a very sensitive target for this marketing, and the record sales of brands in this type of product confirm this.
When pop culture and Asian fashion go hand in hand
This marriage between the representation of Asian culture and the comforting bubble created by nostalgic marketing has allowed brands playing on this trend to stand out in this competitive market. It is notably through anime that we have seen houses and creators within luxury develop this new vision, through pieces and collections, receiving warm welcomes from buyers.
Beyond the sales objective, it is now the desire to create a link with their clients on an emotional and authentic level that prevails. Because it is precisely this emotional factor that will lead them to purchase. Young people, being discerning about the product, are won over to see their culture highlighted in designs with a polished and trendy aesthetic. They find real added value in the piece, which brings back numerous memories.
The design of products now takes this emotional factor into account, which is why we have seen a surge in pieces referencing anime. These belong to the Asian cultural heritage but are also known worldwide. Moreover, they reach multiple generations due to their reach. These pieces stand out by creating events in the fashion world.
For example, Maje’s capsule collection, released in 2022, presented pieces showcasing the universe of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, one of the most beloved Japanese anime, in a kawaii style with pop colors. An anime that also managed to captivate another more streetwear brand, Vans, the same year.
This trend has also been illustrated by other creators and brands like Loewe, Gucci, Givenchy, Balenciaga, Moncler, Mulberry… Each in turn has come to link luxury fashion and anime, featuring characters from Asian animated films as prints.
In early 2022, Loewe notably honored the works of Studio Ghibli, from Totoro to Spirited Away, in its collection, offering a range of ready-to-wear, accessories, and decorative pieces.
During this Lunar New Year period, which is shaping up to be the year of the rabbit, luxury brands are echoing this theme and highlighting anime like Roger Rabbit at Moncler or Miffy at Mulberry.
The French creation house, Maje, is also returning at the start of this year by proposing a collection to celebrate the Lunar New Year 2023. It collaborates for the second time for its campaign visuals with Chinese illustrator Jiayi Li. The young woman’s creations even adorn the windows of the boutiques.
So, will you succumb to nostalgic marketing by wearing a t-shirt featuring your favorite anime?
