#I miss model wang YiBo

[anotherdescentintomadness]

Wang YiBo x Leon Young

October 2018

[ginsoakedgirl80]

dramas I watched in 2022

The Legendary Life of Queen Lau (2022, my first cdrama, damn the ppl who brought this one down, will probably rewatch because now I get more about the cdrama tropes they subvert, Li Jiaqi hopefully will get more main roles despite this debacle)

Love Between Fairy and Devil (2022, tumblr loves it for good reason, so good, well written and gorgeous costumes and scenery, I laughed, I cried, I shaked my fist at communication failures, learned to like Yu Shuxin's voice, who doesn't like a story about a demon lord who lost all his emotions and regains them with the help of a cute fairy, cultivation in several senses xD, some songs made it to my spotify 100 most played songs of 2022 list, will rewatch now that it is on Netflix)

Word of Honor (2021, the hype has a reason it is so goood, started out not liking WKX, how the tables turned, hahahaha, side characters who rock, morally grey main characters yay, "A'Shuuuu", you don't need on screen kisses to feel the love, character dump was confusing as hell, somehow missed that WKX is also boss of Ghost Valley in the beginning bc of that. 🤣🙈 Taught me to rewatch the first episode a little bit into the drama to actually get what's going on when there are a lot of characters.)

Old Fashion Cupcake (2022, my first jdrama, cute office romance about finding joy in life again, will make you hungry)

The Rational Life (2021, watch it if you want soft, caring, loyal WH but it is actually about Qin Lan's character overcoming bullying at work and being a model employee in a car company (and promoting e-cars 😄), could have been shorter)

The Blue Whisper (2022, wrecked me with all the suffering but so good and pretty, Ren Jialun going from cutiepie to badass, rocking his ear jewellery, red flags but you ship them anyway, Diliraba and Guo Xiao Ting, another talk it out already yelling at the screen drama, going from hating SML and his attendand to pitying them, LuoLuo 🫶, side characters you will root for, some songs made it to my spotify 100 most played songs of 2022 list, story is by the author who wrote LbFaD, not set in the same universe)

The Romance of Tiger and Rose (2020, Zhao Lusi the Queen, much needed comedy after TBW, loved it, nothing like a writer caught in her own badly written drama world trying to rewrite it while the rules of the world she wrote fight against the rewrites. Su Mu and First Lady just needed to talk to each other aaaargh)

Who rules the World (2022, find yourself a person who looks at you like Hei Fengxi looks at Bai Fengxi, geez Yang Yang, Zhao Lusi is a delight in this, they wrote the two lead characters too perfect??, draws you in with wuxia, gives you a lot of palace drama, including emo first prince who deserved more screen time but they ran out of ideas for him, Writing, editing and fight scenes got worse in the 2nd half of the drama, I guess because the director had to leave, needed to give more side characters a life, the sismance is perfect)

The Untamed (2019, watching to be finished in 2023, I was intimidated by the amount of characters and episodes so only started watching late in the year and am glad I waited because now I know wuxia storytelling better and can fully enjoy it, taught me that you don't need great cgi, sets or fight scenes to tell a compelling story, Wang Yibo 🥹, Xiao Zhan 😼, great side characters)

Semantic Error (2022, my first kdrama, watched it because of this and was not disappointed, enemies to lovers at university, cute quick watch)

The Blood of Youth (2022/2023, just started, the character dump is a lot but it is a romp so far, despite the kinda choppy writing/editing, also geez Youku those youtube subtitles are too fast for my tired eyes)

As someone who enjoys series/movies like the UK North and South, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, etc, where a small touch or little gestures can already be a big deal, slow burn romances in cdrama fit me perfectly. (The barbie kisses are something to get used to though. Props to Wang Hedi and Yu Shuxin who went for organic kisses once the feelings hit their characters.)

(and as someone who likes men with long hair 🤣)

Thanks to my friend B who got me into cdrama. 💕

[accio-victuuri]

wang yibo - t magazine 2020

[p-h03n1-x]

Wang Yibo for Emphasis July 2019

[sanstropfremir]

it’s the episode 8 review!!! how many episodes is this show supposed to even be?

the stages from the episode feel like such a grab bag.... i still don’t understand why they didn’t put all the skill stages together, and then did the normal two episodes of the third round. i guess it makes sense that they didn’t want to have six stages in one episode and then three in the other two, but eh. 

feeling kinda average on these as a whole, there’s a lot of good elements going on here but probably because of my own preferences (i don’t listen to ballads or blackpink) none of them really hit all the buttons. hopefully this will be a shorter review because i'm only going to do a quick rundown of the vocal stages; i dont really have that much to say about them because they are (intentionally) not very stage picture focused. i'll do the normal stage breakdowns for the other two though, even though i won’t rank them because we still need to see the other four!

vocal stages

sf9 + tbz + ikon

not much to say here other than wow, that’s RED. glad to see some more specific use of spotlighting and i always love when they light things on fire. i do wish they had fill lit with a brighter amber so we could actually get a bit more detail on their faces, especially because there’s six of them. i appreciated the simple blocking and only using one of the ‘stages,’ this stage didn’t need to be anything complicated and it wasn’t. i don’t love spinning camera shots because they make me a bit ill, and i'll forgive the constant cutting because it's a vocal stage and there isn’t any other real movement that we should be paying attention to. not my favourite of the two, i found it visually a bit too repetitive and complex at the same time. always love a crushed velvet suit though, so bonus points for that.

atz + skz + btob

i was braced for the worst and i dont know what kind of miracle happened but it was listenable! like i said, not a ballad fan but i could listen to eunkwang all day. i love a good plinth for a ballad stage, they’re one of my favourite devices in kpop design and i especially love it with a good groundlevel fog. glad they kept it black and white for the first half of the stage, it was in line with the blooming flower projections, and it made a very clear colour arc. they kept the visuals clean and simple with very little blocking at all, a very smart choice for this stage. not sure why they decided it would be the chanel time stage, which i disapprove of because i don’t like chanel, but i do love eunkwang’s shirt with the cameo buttons and the massive turnback cuffs, very 17th and also 19th century. i know they never do it because they dont read on stage normally but yes absolutely more thin chain pendant chokers on men, thank you! i also liked that there was emphasis on a more traditional lighting scheme, there weren't any crazy concert effects, just some good directional beam spotlights and the rear stacks in the climax. 

third round stages

ikon

costume

the first look for them is definitely my fabourite of theirs so far. there’s enough variation in the jackets that the base layer of tshirt and jeans don’t look too repetitive. and i do love a good statement jacket. my favourite is probably donghyuk’s because i'm a sucker for fringe always.

i don’t like the backup dancers costumes, but given the way i’ve reacted to every other all black outfit for this entire show i don’t think anyone was surprised about that. these ones particularly irk me because they’re very matte; there's pretty much no texture or pattern differentials to define the shape of the limb, which makes them disappear when theyre all grouped together (mostly on the women). i think they probably were intending to make a statement/emphasis on the hands because of the sleeve cutoff point, but there were so many arm movements that were just totally missed because the costumes were just black voids. most egregious parts are here, with the female dancers up center. i can barely tell what the movements are unless i’m paying specific attention to them because there's so many black shapes. maybe it was the point for it to be an indiscernable writhing mass, but it wasn’t my vibe.

don’t love this styling on lisa. i hate peeptoe shoes in general but peeptoe boots are the worst offenders. they make you look like you have duck feet, no matter who you are. especially with a flat cutout like that. a universally unflattering shoe, and i would know, i worked in a shoe store for two years. this whole look is just pg-13 rihanna cfda awards 2014 and really nobody should try to run up against rihanna.

also i have to mention this because it’s actually really bothering me, but lisa’s backup dancers are serving very allgemeine ss looks and i do not like it. generally when we see ‘military’ uniforms in kpop theyre usually modelled off older styles (pre wwii) of western uniforms that usually aren’t in circulation, and they’re usually non-matching and embellished in ways that are deliberately not military. i know logically that it's a budget constraint+they’re backup dancers+current trend thing but the clean lines with only button detailing and the all black and that specific harness shape? it hit my brain the wrong way. i mean, technically those uniforms are designer because hugo boss did them, but the uh..... girlboss move didn’t land for me.

this is my PERSONAL OPINION please for the love of all that is holy do not come yelling at me about this. it’s all under a cut, you chose to read the post.

set

very glad to see some busy kitschy sets! this is a massive build, since there’s essentially three full sets here: the temple, the jungle, and the first tiny room. and all of them are very heavily decorated. 

the starting room is just five walls on casters (wheels), that have been set into place with the cameraman and ikon inside at the start, and then once they exit the walls can be easily struck and rolled off set. simple, smart, and convenient!

i missed it the first couple times around but glitching out the projections in the temple for a split second was a neat little trick.

the silver and polygonal nature of the tiger/panther/cat(?) head is a bit disconnected from the gold and the aesthetic of the rest of the stage for me. the difference between the original room set and the jungle tracks, but the cat head isnt able to make the same leap for me. i'm also not a fan of mixing metals so maybe that’s why.

the tiger/panther/cat(?) head is a fun physical transitional device; i'm a big fan of tunnels and small transitory spaces like that and if they’re well dressed like this one they do so much for establishing place and mood.

i'm very sure i’ve seen this style of polygonal animal head with laser eyes before....i cannot for the life of me remember where or for what. i know wang yibo did a panther stage for sdc3 that had a human formation panther with green laser eyes, i wonder if i'm just crossing wires.

OH nevermind it’s because it looks like the witcher medallion. wires were definitely crossed.

lighting

using purple/teal lighting for the jungle was a smart choice because purple is the direct compliment to the gold and also is much more flattering on humans than green. green is one of the colours that humans can see the most variations in, so when something is green when it's not supposed to be (like human skin), we register that very quickly and associate it with unease and sickness. you know how old fluorescent lights have that greenish tinge that kinda makes you feel ill? it's your cone cells and your brain recognizing that you’re looking at things that are not supposed to be green.

very clean colour arc, i love to see it.

sound

it’s.....fine? i don’t listen to blackpink and have no opinions on their music other than it's not my type. i dont really know what the thematic connection to the visuals is, which is not strictly necessary in a lot of cases, but i don’t particularly care for the conflation of ‘savage’ and a (presumably) precolonial religion that’s assembled from stereotypes of real colonized cultures. you can come at me about how ‘it's not that deep’ all you want but i am here specifically doing an in depth analysis, and i gotta point it out. i'm not here to pass judgement on you if you didn’t realize or don’t care or whatever, i'm just saying that it's important to consume content with a critical eye. what you do with that information is your own personal choice, but you should be aware of it at least. 

staging

they took a big risk eating popcorn right before singing, and we definitely got some residual mouth noises of them trying to clean out their teeth. eating on stage is difficult in general because you have to make sure it's not going to dry out the performers mouths, because they dont have access to water and it takes WAY longer to chew and swallow something than you would expect. there’s a LOT of testing that goes into making stage food and guaranteed it’s not made out of what it looks like or what its supposed to be; i worked on a production of amadeus were we did literal weeks of testing amalgams of different desserts to make sure that salieri could actually eat the ones onstage without totally drying him out, because fun fact about that show, salieri doesnt leave stage like, at all, so there was no way to get him water. poor bloke.

i thought the blocking of this was really smart. the long take from the ‘normal’ room and transition into the jungle was super slick, even if that weird circle the camera did while pointed up at the ceiling was unnecessary and pointless.

bobby’s ‘acting’ was extremely funny and that’s the only way people are allowed to act surprised now. edvard munsch scream style only.

the pacing is a bit off and this time it wasn’t mnet’s editing that fucked it up. as fun as it is to have a feature, clearly she wasn’t allowed within proximity of the rest of them for covid or other yg related reasons, but it made for some extremely long transitions, especially the one out of her verse. it kills the momentum of the stage in that beat, even though they manage to pick it up after.

this is a very simple little narrative arc that’s easy to follow and doesn’t require any extra explaining. which is exactly the kind of arc that groups should be doing at this stage in the game. this is a good formic step up for ikon!

i thought the turning off of the monitor at the end was fun and a good callback to them watching the videos at the beginning of the stage. a nice clean way to make it circular.

skz

costume

FINALLY something different on the skz boys! these were mostly fun eboy looks for them, and i like it on the basis that it's not the same as the last set of costumes.

bang chan out there with his thigh OUT and a (fake) bridge piercing? LOVE to see it. great work.

(copy-paste every thing i’ve said about backup dancers wearing all black)

the backup dancers that were dressed as bystanders/extras were great! they should have kept that with all of them because it would have given a little more shape to the choreography and establishing what function the backup dancers were supposed to have.

set

that is meant to be a giant rice cooker on stage, right? i think so because it's a god’s menu mashup? if that's not a rice cooker i have NO idea what its supposed to be

there’s only two large setpieces here, which was a smart way to go. i LOVE the subway car doubling as the truck, even if the truck itself makes no narrative sense. what a fun way to double the use of a single big piece. you’ll be able to see the way it moves in the full cam but it splits down the centre and there entrance doors at the back with attached stairs that bang chan and the dancers use to climb up.

lighting

not a whole lot happening here. i like the cool white leds in the subway car and the contrast with the more warm tones of the outside, which is good atmospheric establishment, but i can't discern a visible arc. 

not a fan of these projections; they’re in line with what we’ve seen from skz so far, which is: extremely literal. i dont think they’re that distracting, but they’re not to my personal taste. they really should have kept the comic panel theme that they did for changbin’s first verse, because that was inventive and fun to watch! and a great atmospheric indicator! i would love to see a bit more experimental projection use but it's hard when they don’t have a lot of time to build these stages and the lighting team is definitely working remotely.

sound

i love that they made the choice to do some actual talking, it’s a good gimmick and it works for the deadpool/comic book/fourth wall break theme, but australian accents take me the fuck out i am so sorry i cannot listen to either felix or bang chan speak english without laughing uncontrollably. 

i don’t like this arrangement but i'm not surprised about that, given my predilections. i'm also tired of skz shouting STRAY KIDS in every performance they do. i know on music shows it's probably more relevant and yea producers tags are a thing but we’ve been watching this show for nearly two months at this point. we know who you are, you can stop yelling. be more creative with it!

staging

my biggest issue with this stage is that it doesn’t have a payoff. there is an arc here: they’re stealing the truck, but why are they stealing the truck? who are they stealing it from? who are they fighting against? it's kind of important in a stage where the theme is stealing and fighting someone that you tell us who that is. in both of ateez’s previous stages were they were both stealing (rhythm ta) and fighting (wonderland), they made sure to show us who the villain was. there needs to be tension for a big blowup climax to actually pay off. whether it be against a a balloon arm kraken or a fascist government. this stage could have reached that next step if they’d just done a little bit more exposition. 

there were a lot of fun choreo moments here, and this is probably my favourite choreo of theirs so far. i thought the whole first bit in the subway car was excellent and a very fun play on those viral videos that we used to see roll around every so often of dancers doing routines in subway cars.

did it need the guns? not in the slightest. more on this point later. i could talk more about weapons and weight here, but i’ve done that several times already.

like with the tbz game of thrones stages, theyre relying a little too much on the audience's preconceptions of the source material in order to carry the theme. the guns are there because deadpool likes guns, but they don’t actually use the guns for anything? the most we get of the stealing segment is felix and the safe, which admittedly is a great bit with him leaping over and under the ‘laser’ lines (theyre likely led strips). because comic books are by nature procedural and deeply tied to narrative, it's unsatisfying when there’s no tension and no payoff.

HOW did we manage to get two stages that are blackpink covers with remote/tv static gimmick and durags? i know the slot machine of kpop tropes is not very big but surely the probability of hitting triple sevens on this one was pretty low. i’m pretty meh on both of these stages overall. skz was unsatisfying but i loved the choreo in the subway bit so that bumped it up a little ahead of ikon’s in my personal preferences, but i'm reserving my actual rankings for next week. assuming we get the other four stages next week and they dont do something stupid and only show two. which they very well might. i’ve stopped trying to understand why mnet does things the way that they do. 

as always the ask box is open, drop your comments/questions/personal opinions, i love to hear ‘em! but don’t be rude just because some of this is touchier subject material.

[eohachu]

Post pictures of your first ever (fictional/celeb) crush to the latest one and tag five others to continue the game.

Ali tagged me, thanks. I guess 😘 @lanzhansmiles​

A’ight so I’m simply taking this as an opportunity to show off my frankly impeccable taste 😌 *coughs into the crook of my elbow with my mask on and from a safe distance* More under the cut, godspeed!

I’m tagging uhh I really don’t want to expose anyone but uh. @morifinwes​ @ttaechwita​ @sunshine304​ @treemaidengeek​ @flamingwell​ no pressure tho!!

Since 2006

Janina Fautz: Die Wilden Kerle, anyone?? Tbh i had a crush on quite a lot of the characters/actors but in hindsight Janina was and is the most influential one. Also probably my first ever girl crush (again, in hindsight bc it took me until 3 years ago to finally find out i’m queer lol)

Eva-Maria May: Yeah well I’m not gonna talk about where I know her from let’s say it was an incredibly bad soap opera my mom used to watch. She was one of the reasons why I went Yeah I Have Always Been Into Girls. I was pretty obsessed with her to the point where mini me secretly printed out a photo of her to look at lmaooo the signs have always been there and it’s truly amazing how I had been missing them for years

Amy Adams: Her as Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum was also definitely a huge Thing to young me. Again, I had been completely oblivious about this crush for years

David Luiz: HAH! This is the point where we do NOT get into my football/soccer crushes bc this list would get WAYYY too long hahaha. I had to cut loads of people from my list for this post bc I develop a new celebrity crush every 5 minutes basically but yeah. David Luiz was definitely my biggest football/soccer crush out of..... everyone else

M*rvel

I don’t have a lot to say about any of them since I’m not into m*rvel anymore TFATWS makes me want to stick the tip of my toe back into m*rvel waters but otherwise NO THANKS

Sebastian Stan was, if my judgement of my archive is right, the longest highkey celebrity crush I’ve ever had. Mostly because I love Bucky a lot and he was so amazing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I must’ve had a crush on him for as long as I had been in the m*rvel fandom

Recent Past

some celeb crushes from last year that were all more or less short-lived tbh

Ester Expósito: As it often goes I didn’t find her spectacular in the beginning but as Élite went on I started to develop a huge crush on her. I still find her pretty hot but I’m not invested in Élite so yeah..... I have no object permanence

Mina El Hammani: Got to know her through Élite, too. She’s so incredibly beautiful. Had a hard time choosing a photo of her bc I’d stare at every single one for ages. Wow.

Danger Days!Gerard Way: Hah! The ones of you who’ve been following me for longer might remember my posts about wanting to dye my hair neon red. Well, him’s the reason and also clinical depression. Ended up with natural red/ginger bc my hair is too thin for bleaching lel. ANYWAY

Maxence Danet Fauvel: Pretty short-lived crush from my Skam days

Ramy Moharam Fouad: So Ramy has a brother, Tamino-Amir Moharam Fouad, who makes INCREDIBLE music. Ramy made some of his music videos (directed them? not sure), that’s how he came to my attention. Idk man he’s just so incredibly beautiful.... gives me a hint of genvy, too......

Janelle Monáe: Became a fan when Make Me Feel came out, listened to the entire album for days and eventually inevitably crushed on her

Lera Abova: Saw her in ANИА and fell in love. I screamed to my friends for weeks about how she was the most beautiful human being I’d ever seen etc etc. Eventually my crush went away mostly, but I still think she’s stunning

Keiynan Lonsdale: Keiynan said FUCK gender and I said 😍😍😍 and that’s all you need to know.

Current

*deep breath* alright let’s gooo

Bright (Wachirawit Chivaaree): Crushed on him for as long as I watched 2gether/Still 2gether lmao. I still like him a lot and sometimes lose my mind over him but I’m not exceptionally Thirsty™

Tul (Pakorn Thanasrivanitchai) and Max (Nattapol Diloknawarit): If you search either of them on tumblr you will have to scroll for a long, long time to find seperate photos of them. However, I’m not patient enough so here we are. Re: Tul, actually I want to copy/paste what Ali said bc DAMN a man who is confident about his masculinity and sexuality really is kinda hot. Same goes for Max tbh. Also Max’ lips look so soft I [redacted]

Lukas von Horbatschewsky: Also known as Lukas Alexander. He did an amazing job in Druck and he’s just a person I admire in general. As one of the few out trans actors in Germany, he had a main role as a trans boy in Druck and also co-wrote Druck’s seasons 5 and 6. He’s just a huge role model to me and, apart from that, Big Crush Material (h i s  e y e s)

Li Wei: Someone suggested him as Hua Cheng for the TGCF live action and my life hasn’t been the same since. While I’m open for whoever will get that role in the end, I could look at his face for hours and not get bored. Major Genvy, too.

Li BoWen and Liu HaiKuan: I will have to deal with these two in one paragraph bc LanLan bc they have the exact same effect on me which is. that they’re not 100% my type but I WILL go absolutely feral about them at regular intervals, if you know what I mean

Song JiYang: ohh honey. oh honey.......... hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I have a natural affinity for aquarius ppl and this one lives in my heart rent free. I’d even make him soup if he’d ask.

Wang YiBo: WELL HOLY SHIT. listen. LISTEN! the hype around him is 100% justified imo he really is That Bitch and I love him so so much for it. Fucking ICON

Honorary Mentions: Gender Envy

Here’s to the People I Thought I Had A Crush On But Not Quite until I learned the word Gender Envy:

Zhu YiLong: Man, this is the person who’s mainly responsible for me finding out AT ALL about not being entirely cis. The POWER he holds!!! His performance as Ye Zun in Guardian was like a breakthrough point for me which. certain people witnessed in real time hahaha oh I love this fandom!!

Zhu ZanJin: HIM. AAAH!! He’s literally so beautiful and whenever I see him I just go ZANZAN!! in my head and in the tags bc. well. hIM.

Xiao Zhan With Long Hair: Look, Xiao Zhan is always amazing but BLESS the person who made these manips. I can finally rest.

Wang YiBo: uhh what’s he doing here again?? Tbh YiBo is one of the few, if not the only person that gives me Major Gender Envy that I would also [redacted] if they asked. Do I want to be him or be with him? The answer is Yes.

I skipped the fictional characters bc I tend not to crush on them 👉👈 Instead I will just directly crush on the actors/actresses lol!

Thank you for bearing with me. As a prize, you can choose between a ladder supported forehead kiss, or a bowl of homemade soup. ❤

[maplecornia]

Maple RECOMMENDATION time

Today I'm going to be talking about a group called UNIQ.

They are a group that I've loved ever since I got into Kpop and just recently I have gotten into their music again.

Background

So Uniq is a Chinese Korean boy group who debuted in 2014. They are apart of the company Yuehua entertainment, who also hosts the popular girl group, Everglow.

Originally Yuehua was purely Chinese which was why this group was considered a Korean-Chinese boy group. They had 3 Chinese members and 2 Korean members. At their peak, they were really popular in China, but also promoted in Korea

FUN FACT: these boys were also training as a third team in YG entertainments survival show. A show which also included groups such as WINNER and iKon. However, for unknown reasons, they didnt join and debuted a year after WINNER.

Their debut song was "Falling in Love" (which is a BOMB debut if I do say so myself) and they have both a Chinese and Korean version of it. A year later they came back with the title track to their first album, "EOEO".

This comeback was their most successful and could have made way for more comebacks in the future and a eventual boom of popularity for them.

They did have some recent singles released in 2018-2019 but shortly after 2019 was when activity and promotions stopped.

HOWEVER

There wasn't any word of the group disbanding, so to this day they are still considered an active group despite their inactivity (lolol see what I did there?)

Their members now focus solely on solo activities and promotions in all fields (I'm on FIRE today). Such as acting, music, and modeling.

Members

There are 5 members in total, 2 Korean and 3 Chinese as stated above. Each member is fluent in Chinese and Korean, which no doubt was useful considering their promotions in those two countries.

Now onto the members!

Zhou Yixuan

Chinese leader

Lead rapper

Vocalist

Lyricist

In 2017 he was a part of a competition called "Rap of China". He was able to pass four rounds, but was unable to get into the finals ):

Since then he has ventured into acting and released a few solo EPs. Since he's a songwriter (after all he did write those two title tracks for his group), he's also written a few songs for Uniqs junior group, NEXT.

In 2019 he participated in a survival show called "All For One" and was able to debut with the group New Storm. Their single is "Get High" and is pretty good, so check them out!

Nowadays he is more or less active with the group, but I haven't heard much from him.

Kim Sungjoo

Korean leader

Main vocalist (with the voice of an ANGEL I'm telling you)

He can speak Japanese

Sungjoo isn't really active as a singer much nowadays, even though he has a solo song in Chinese. Instead, he's had more activity in the acting industry.

In 2017 he played a minor role in the drama "A Liar and His Lover" (one of my personal favorites). And in 2018 he played a hacker in "My Secret Terrius".

He enlisted in for mandatory service in the military in 2020, so now he is currently serving his time there. He won't really be active much until 2022 when he is discharged. (And yes that breaks my heart 💔)

Li Wenhan

Vocalist

Chinese

He can speak English

PLUS he can beatbox

He ALSO has participated in a survival program in 2019, called "Idol Producer 2" (aka Youth With You, which is the same survival show Lisa is currently a trainer for now).

Due to his popularity and SKILLZ he was able to debut in first position with the group UNINE. He was their leader, main vocalist, center, sub rapper, lead dancer, and face of the group.

Like I said...

SKILLZ.

Sadly though, UNINE has since disbanded in October of last year, only a year after their initial contract.

Nowadays he has very subtle activities, mainly appearing on variety shows and stuff in China.

Cho Seungyeon

Main rapper

Vocalist

Korean

you might know him as WOODZ

2016, he debuted as a soloist as well as producing many songs for c-pop, survival shows, and k-pop groups (such as Super Junior).

In 2019 he joined the last season of the Produce X 101 and ranked 5th overall. Thus, he was able to debut with X1. Their debut song "Flash" (which was a TOTAL bop btw) was sadly their only single and they disbanded shortly afterward.

Nowadays, he is active mainly in Korea under his solo name, WOODZ. I suggest you check out his stuff they are SO good and truly underrated.

Wang Yibo

Main dancer

Rapper

Visual

Vocalist

Maknae

He can be considered the most famous out of the group, most likely due to his role in the historical Chinese drama, "The Untamed" as one of the lead roles (let's be honest, most of yall know him from this...plus he's HAWT af) which was released in 2019.

A year earlier, however, he was a dance mentor for the Chinese version of Produce 101 (I swear all of them appearing on survival shows :,).

Last year, his team won on the show "Street Dance of China" where he was a fellow mentor alongside Lay (EXO) and Jackson (GOT7).

He is ALSO the MC on a popular Chinese show called "Day Day Up".

He is the one with the largest popularity and fan base. He's won multiple awards for his popularity and high respect towards him.

Maple POV

So you're probably wondering why I'm gushing over them, it's just that I really wish they could come back as a group. I really miss them and their songs are still SO GOOD even after all these years. They are one of those groups where they never die out, I guess I just wish they had more of a chance to shine in the spotlight.

Who knows? If we bring enough exposure to them, maybe Yuehua will organize a comeback. I know that they will really appreciate the chance to sing together again.

ANYWAYS STAN UNIQ BECOME A FELLOW UNICORN

(Their Fandom name is Unicorns...ISN'T THAT SO CUTE?!)

STAN UNIQ

STAN TALENT

And comment who else I should recommend ;)

Sources

Maple's brain

[berestweys]

thinky thoughts

now that i’ve finished the untamed (and now that lauren’s finished it), a few things i thought were great, and the not great things, mostly as compared to the novel. this is spoilery i guess, so mind yourself if you’re planning to read mo dao zu shi and/or watch chen qing ling.

the great:

1) the casting! almost universally i loved the casting. it makes no sense in-’verse that wei wuxian has the same body and face in both lifetimes, but i’m just as willing to handwave it away as the show is because, what? were they going to have a different actor play wei wuxian in his second life when they had most-beautiful-human-alive xiao zhan at their disposal??? i think not! no one wants any face but his in that role. so it’s fine. silly silver mask and all. and absolutely everyone else was great. (wang yibo is someone i would never give a second glance in real life, but he embodies lan wangji so well it’s like his entire face is transformed into pure handsomeness. how can anyone be that good at acting? i’m so very impressed.)

at first i was dubious about the change from 13 to 16 years between wei wuxian’s death and reincarnation, but i quickly realized that was a good choice. if the ducklings had all been aged 13-16 instead of 16-19 it would be a very different dynamic, and i like the bit of maturity that few more years gives them in the show. it makes them more compelling as capable young cultivators, and i love the casting for all of the juniors.

my only quibble is i would have liked to see a slightly younger toddler playing little wen yuan (maybe around two - a precocious, chatty 2-year-old), as well as a younger child playing a-qing. a-qing in my mind is a know-it-all seen-it-all tween girl aged 12 or so, with the attitude to match. but the show’s choice for a-qing is lovely, don’t get me wrong. so spunky and cute and sweet underneath it all.

2) the sets, the costumes, the effects. gosh, this show was gorgeous. a visual feast. i don’t have more to say about this, really. i loved watching every little bit of it. 

3) all the time spent on the jiang siblings. more face time for jiang yanli, more family feels, more glimpses into why they mean so much to each other. it’s not that the novel leaves this out, but somehow watching it made it more moving, and made yanli in particular more real as a character. i loved that the show took the time to really flesh out their growing up years.

4) getting to ~see~ jin zixuan growing from an arrogant mean high school kid into an awkward, fumbling man of conviction who looks at yanli with such tenderness. the scene of him covered in mud while planting a lotus pond for yanli was just the sweetest thing. i missed the emphasis on how much his mother loved yanli and browbeat him into growing up and being worthy of her, but seeing him love her and the both of them being happy with a-ling was very satisfying. i don’t exactly care about either of them as characters in and of themselves because they’re not multi-dimensional either in the book or on the show, but they are both good people, they didn’t deserve what happened to them, and jin ling growing up with jiang cheng and jin guangyao as his role models, you see all that he missed by losing them, and it makes me miss jzx and jyl more.

5) the sword fighting. the fights are really cool. especially the ones between lan wangji and wei wuxian. oh, and the fights in yi city. i’m not really one for being impressed with fighting, but i could tell how much care went into the choreography, and how thematic it was, and it made all the fights fun and harrowing to watch.

6) really laying it on thick with jin guangyao’s affection and reverence for lan xichen, and vice versa. i feel like in the book we know that they love each other like brothers, that meng yao saved xichen and kept him alive during the most terrible time of his life, but we don’t get to feel it as much as we do in the show. (there isn’t nearly enough emphasis placed on nie mingjue’s role in all of that in the show as opposed to the book, which is a weakness, but i’ll save that for my gripes)

7) wei wuxian’s death. this is the single greatest achievement of the show. instead of a single vague reference to lan wangji learning that wwx lost control of his dead army and was killed (how? why? who knows, the author won’t tell us), we get an emotionally overwhelming scene of heartbreak, sacrifice, and love. hats off to the show. and having jiang cheng there too? a stroke of genius. the whole thing made me giddy.

and then, the not so great:

1) all the details the show assumes you know because everyone making chen qing ling has already read mo dao zu shi. having already read it myself, there wasn’t anything i found confusing (except for the changes the show makes that i either liked or didn’t like), but some of lauren’s questions while watching made it clear that there was a lot missing that my brain had to fill in. heck, i had no clue what was going on the first time i tried to watch, but when i started over after reading the novel, it was easy peasy. that’s enough right there to know important things were left out. no cinematic interpretation of a book is ever going to include all the detail of the text it’s based on. but it should be complete enough so as not to cause confusion with basic plot points? and this show did not always succeed at that.

2) the lack of nie brothers. idk to me this is a big gaping plot hole. i understand there’s an additional movie that focuses on the nies, but i haven’t seen it and without extra information the show leaves the impression that nie huaisang and his brother aren’t that close? completely leaves out that nie mingjue is like a father and a big brother all in one, that nie huaisang depends on him for everything and never ever wanted to be sect leader, and has his heart broken when his brother dies. the show only alludes to nhs’ cleverness and the depth of his involvement in plot shenanigans until the very very end, which imo makes the ~big reveal~ less impactful.

3) following from point 2, i disliked that the show radically changed lan wangji and wei wuxian’s mission/mystery solving in the present time. i didn’t like the sword spirit replacing the corpse hand, and i was waiting for them to start discovering pieces of nie mingjue’s body instead of just having the sword spirit and eventually finding his entire body in yi city. it was very unsatisfying. part of the visceral horror of the book and what was done to nie mingjue was that not only was he killed, his body was mutilated and spread around the cultivation world so he could never find peace. it was vicious, and part of the greatness of the story is exposing that viciousness, that disgusting grossness, and our heroes putting it to rights. the show waters it down and lessens the impact of what his absence in the world and the desecration of his body and spirit has on everyone in the present time. and it makes wei wuxian’s resurrection less meaningful. because nie huaisang was overwhelmed with rage and grief so he did an unforgivable thing to mo xuanyu to get revenge. but we don’t get to see any of that, so it’s not as emotionally devastating.

4) changing the timeline of when jin guangyao learns that qin su is his half-sister and how their relationship plays out afterwards. this is a huge gripe. i kind of can’t believe that the show decided to go this route, except i can because meng yao is consistently much more one-dimensional in the show than in the book. i get that the show had limited episodes to set him up as the villain and execute all the relevant plot points, but making him even more of a monster almost makes him cartoonish in his villainy? which i do not appreciate. yes he’s an awful awful person and murderous and places ambition and revenge above all else. but... he’s not completely morally bankrupt. the novel makes it clear that he and qin su were a love match, and succumbed to temptation and conceived jin rusong well before they were married. it’s explicitly stated that he never touched her again once he knew the secret of their parentage. he had to marry her for political reasons, yes, but also because if he didn’t she’d be ruined - she was already pregnant, and he loved her and wanted to protect her. against everything else he did it might seem small, but i think it matters a lot and reveals his complexity as a character. he truly cared about his wife. watching the show twist that around was dissatisfying.

5) su she being responsible for the fierce corpses being out of wwx’s control at nightless city, and for wen ning going apeshit on qiongqi path and killing jin zixuan. ffs, let wei wuxian own his mistakes! the show does not let him be culpable for things he should bear the responsibility for. let wei wuxian be messy! he’s a messy person and he doesn’t do the right thing all the time and he does lose his shit and lose control. he’s complicated! but the show absolves him of much of that responsibility, much to my disappointment. also su she is annoying as hell, and i resent that he got to play such a prominent role in the narrative. fuck su she.

6) the entire wen family going to jinlintai to face retribution for jin zixuan and jin zixun’s deaths. like, this is straight up nonsensical. the whole point of wen qing and wen ning sacrificing themselves is to protect the rest of their family from the jins’ wrath, and to buy wei wuxian some time to come up with a way to save all who are left. it makes no sense for all of them to go and offer up their necks. and for what? just to protect wei wuxian and only wei wuxian??? please. they are grateful to him, sure. they love him, yes. but to give up their entire family willingly just so he lives? there is no way in the world wen qing would agree to granny and fourth uncle swinging from a rope in order to show her gratitude to wwx. no. way. i can’t be at all forgiving because the show just plain fucked up with this one. (it also means that we didn’t get the blood corpse scene in the show, which was one of the most heart-wrenching, poignant parts of the entire novel.) it’s just unforgivable to me that this was changed the way it was.

. . .

overall, i’m glad i experienced both the novel and the show, because both are great in their own ways. but i prefer the story that gets told in the novel to the one told in the show. it’s morally juicier, and the characters are more complex. but i’m grateful to the show for bringing these characters alive in my mind, and loved watching it. i may watch it again. i will definitely read the novel again. maybe today.

.

[orbemnews]

What is Going on with China, Cotton and All of These Clothing Brands? Last week, calls for the cancellation of H&M and other Western brands went out across Chinese social media as human rights campaigns collided with cotton sourcing and political gamesmanship. Here’s what you need to know about what’s going on and how it may affect everything from your T-shirts to your trench coats. What’s all this I’m hearing about fashion brands and China? Did someone make another dumb racist ad? No, it’s much more complicated than an offensive and obvious cultural faux pas. The issue centers on the Xinjiang region of China and allegations of forced labor in the cotton industry — allegations denied by the Chinese government. Last summer, many Western brands issued statements expressing concerns about human rights in their supply chain. Some even cut ties with the region all together. Now, months later, the chickens are coming home to roost: Chinese netizens are reacting with fury, charging the allegations are an offense to the state. Leading Chinese e-commerce platforms have kicked major international labels off their sites, and a slew of celebrities have denounced their former foreign employers. Why is this such a big deal? The issue has growing political and economic implications. On the one hand, as the pandemic continues to roil global retail, consumers have become more attuned to who makes their clothes and how they are treated, putting pressure on brands to put their values where their products are. One the other, China has become an evermore important sales hub to the fashion industry, given its scale and the fact that there is less disruption there than in other key markets, like Europe. Then, too, international politicians are getting in on the act, imposing bans and sanctions. Fashion has become a diplomatic football. This is a perfect case study of what happens when market imperatives come up against global morality. Tell me more about Xinjiang and why it is so important. Xinjiang is a region in northwest China that happens to produce about a fifth of the world’s cotton. It is home to many ethnic groups, especially the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority. Though it is officially the largest of China’s five autonomous regions, which in theory means it has more legislative self-control, the central government has been increasingly involved in the area, saying it must exert its authority because of local conflicts with the Han Chinese (the ethnic majority) who have been moving into the region. This has resulted in draconian restrictions, surveillance, criminal prosecutions and forced-labor camps. OK, and what about the Uyghurs? A predominantly Muslim Turkic group, the Uyghur population within Xinjiang numbers just over 12 million, according to official figures released by Chinese authorities. As many as one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been retrained to become model workers, obedient to the Chinese Communist Party via coercive labor programs. So this has been going on for awhile? At least since 2016. But after The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios and others published reports that connected Uyghurs in forced detention to the supply chains of many of the world’s best-known fashion retailers, including Adidas, Lacoste, H&M, Ralph Lauren and the PVH Corporation, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, many of those brands reassessed their relationships with Xinjiang-based cotton suppliers. In January, the Trump administration banned all imports of cotton from the region, as well as products made from the material and declared what was happening “genocide.” At the time, the Workers Rights Consortium estimated that material from Xinjiang was involved in more than 1.5 billion garments imported annually by American brands and retailers. That’s a lot! How do I know if I am wearing a garment made from Xinjiang cotton? You don’t. The supply chain is so convoluted and subcontracting so common that often it’s hard for brands themselves to know exactly where and how every component of their garments is made. So if this has been an issue for over a year, why is everyone in China freaking out now? It isn’t immediately clear. One theory is that it is because of the ramp-up in political brinkmanship between China and the West. On March 22, Britain, Canada, the European Union and the United States announced sanctions on Chinese officials in an escalating row over the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Not long after, screenshots from a statement posted in September 2020 by H&M citing “deep concerns” about reports of forced labor in Xinjiang, and confirming that the retailer had stopped buying cotton from growers in the region, began circulating on Chinese social media. The fallout was fast and furious. There were calls for a boycott, and H&M products were soon missing from China’s most popular e-commerce platforms, Alibaba Group’s Tmall and JD.com. The furor was stoked by comments on the microblogging site Sina Weibo from groups like the Communist Youth League, an influential Communist Party organization. Within hours, other big Western brands like Nike and Burberry began trending for the same reason. And it’s not just consumers who are up in arms: Influencers and celebrities have also been severing ties with the brands. Even video games are bouncing virtual “looks” created by Burberry from their platforms. Backtrack: What do influencers have to do with all this? Influencers in China wield even more power over consumer behavior than they do in the West, meaning they play a crucial role in legitimizing brands and driving sales. When Tao Liang, otherwise known as Mr. Bags, did a collaboration with Givenchy, for example, the bags sold out in 12 minutes; a necklace-bracelet set he made with Qeelin reportedly sold out in one second (there were 100 made). That’s why H&M worked with Victoria Song, Nike with Wang Yibo and Burberry with Zhou Dongyu. But Chinese influencers and celebrities are also sensitive to pleasing the central government and publicly affirming their national values, often performatively choosing their country over contracts. In 2019, for example, Yang Mi, the Chinese actress and a Versace ambassador, publicly repudiated the brand when it made the mistake of creating a T-shirt that listed Hong Kong and Macau as independent countries, seeming to dismiss the “One China” policy and the central government’s sovereignty. Not long afterward, Coach was targeted after making a similar mistake, creating a tee that named Hong Kong and Taiwan separately; Liu Wen, the Chinese supermodel, immediately distanced herself from the brand. And what’s with the video games? Tencent removed two Burberry-designed “skins” — outfits worn by video game characters that the brand had introduced with great fanfare — from its popular title Honor of Kings as a response to news that the brand had stopped buying cotton produced in the Xinjiang region. The looks had been available for less than a week. So this is hitting both fast fashion and the high end. How much of the fashion world is involved? Potentially, most of it. So far Adidas, Nike, Converse and Burberry have all been swept up in the crisis. Even before the ban, additional companies like Patagonia, PVH, Marks & Spencer and the Gap had announced that they did not source material from Xinjiang and had officially taken a stance against human rights abuses. This week, however, several brands, including VF Corp., Inditex (which owns Zara) and PVH all quietly removed their policies against forced labor from their websites. That seems squirrelly. Is this likely to escalate? Brands seem to be concerned that the answer is yes, since, apparently fearful of offending the Chinese government, some companies have proactively announced that they will continue buying cotton from Xinjiang. Hugo Boss, the German company whose suiting is a de facto uniform for the financial world, posted a statement on Weibo saying, “We will continue to purchase and support Xinjiang cotton” (even though last fall the company had announced it was no longer sourcing from the region). Muji, the Japanese brand, is also proudly touting its use of Xinjiang cotton on its Chinese websites, as is Uniqlo. Wait … I get playing possum, but why would a company publicly pledge its allegiance to Xinjiang cotton? It’s about the Benjamins, buddy. According to a report from Bain & Company released last December, China is expected to be the world’s largest luxury market by 2025. Last year it was the only part of the world to report year on year growth, with the luxury market reaching 44 billion euros ($52.2 billion). Is anyone going to come out of this well? One set of winners could be the Chinese fashion industry, which has long played second fiddle to Western brands, to the frustration of many businesses there. Shares in Chinese apparel groups and textile companies with ties to Xinjiang rallied this week as the backlash gained pace. And more than 20 Chinese brands publicly made statements touting their support for Chinese cotton. Source link Orbem News #brands #China #clothing #Cotton

[accio-victuuri]

Style Guide: Wang Yibo

His personal style through the years. from clothes, shoes and accessories. I will include “concept” styles from his UNIQ days and variety shows. As well as a few from awards show & fan meets he attended. I honestly just want to see how he changed so here it is. plus an excuse to look at his pretty pictures. 

I. Early Years and Idol Life

Yibo’s initial style was pretty much divided into his idol life and his personal style. His clothes were leaning more into a blend hip-hop and Korean/contemporary style. He went through various style changes as an Idol with his group, UNIQ and really adapted the KPOP idol style. from changes to his hair color, make up on his performances and elaborate stage clothes. The transition from the innocent/delicate looking blonde to his EOEO look -- he just proves that he can represent any concept well. 

II. Solo work as Wang Yibo

Things started to speed up with his popularity from late 2017 to 2018. Juggling his work as a Musician, Actor, Host, Model, Brand ambassador- everything else. Famous brands started to notice him and his magazine covers are coming one after the other. This is the time where you can see him move fully into the skateboard / streetwear brands as his go-to. Airport photos also show him in ripped skinny jeans and his shirt of choice with a matching cap. he went onto say that he choose the clothes carefully, knowing a lot of people are looking even at him even at the Airport. 

It’s a stark contrast to how people see him in his Produce 101 mentorship stint. A common favorite among fans, every episode shows him in an interesting style. From the hair to his clothes and accessories -- He would always gain attention. You can ask any fan and they will definitely find it hard to rate all of his looks.  

notable brands he loves to wear ( either personally or at events) : off white, stussy, supreme, evisu, wasted youth etc. 

III. Rise to Fame

It’s 2019 and Yibo’s name is everywhere, not only in his home country but on international platforms. His transition to an Actor is finally complete. Keeping his other roles still intact but people noticed a few things missing. No earrings. Dark colored hair with no more highlights. However, his style during fan meets show him in very interesting pieces. Yibo’s airport style remains the same with his go-to streetwear brands but the slew of fans following him around definitely dampened the urge to stroll around the airport. 

His clothes on red carpets and fan meets were always on point. 

IV. The Black Panther

Wang Yibo established himself as a strong player in the entertainment industry with hard work an pure talent. At this point, everything he does and wears is going to be on display for everyone. There is little change to what he prefers to put on during his off time, predictably seen with his favorite brands. sometimes with loose pants on and signature hoodies. No more “instagram” style airport fashion photos as people gathering where he is became a security risk. He was sporting a military cut for his role in BAH most of the time but continued with his laid back style in TTXS episodes. 

A real treat for everyone was when he decided to be a Captain in SDOC3. Every weekend, fans were anticipating what style he was gonna wear. Yibo-official also posts photoshoots for every look/episode. This brought us back the highlights, eyeliners and a combination of street and idol look.

Also he can forget this situation with his pants! 

HIS STYLE QUIRKS

1. His love for personalized things- his love for one of a kind things is not a secret. from his limited edition Legos and shoes, him, wanting to put his names on things is not new. His collaboration with Evisu launched clothes that have his name on it and Audi even has special edition cars dedicated to him.

2. The earrings - He’s not been wearing one lately as he moved from the “idol” image to being an actor. However, it’s one of the most notable fashion accessory associated with him early on. In his Vogue Film cover last year he was wearing one for his role as a bartender. In an interview, he said he liked the earrings he was wearing.

3. Beekeeper hat - This actually went on trending as netizens did not get this type of style. In an interview, he explains that it is “hip hop style”. we don’t see him with this style anymore but it’s a notable one that gathered attention. 

4. Wearing caps  - Yibo’s signature accessory ever since, a combination of fashion and to keep his anonymity nowadays. What everyone really likes though is his 85 cap merchandise and hopefully, he release his own line soon. 

5. Skateboard - If there is anyone who can make holding a skateboard and having it with you all the time a fashion statement - then it’s Yibo. He is often seen carrying it in airport photos and using it on his breaks. As CHN’s ambassador for it, he truly represents the culture. Yibo is also known to influence the people he works with with trying to skateboards. 

BRANDS HE ABSOLUTELY LOVES.

1. Nike - The brand loves him and sends him stuff as their partner, but aside from the shoes--- he definitely influenced his fans in buying his white Nike bag that he always uses. More recently, he started using a black one instead. There is even a joke going around in weibo that people hate it when he wears a specific type of shoes they like, cause it ends up getting sold out.

2. VLONE- He truly is a trendsetter as he is the first artist in CHN who started wearing this brand. You can see him using it on his personal time as well as in some appearances. It’s a brand by one his favorite artist, Asap Rocky. like him, Asap is a style icon and in an interview said he does not shy way from wearing what he wants even if it’s against the norm ( wearing jeremy scott’s adidas collabs at the time that it was considered not masculine to do so.). The brand stands for “You live alone, you die alone” from this quote 👇🏻

3. PeaceMinusOne - Yibo is a fan of G-dragon and like everyone else, is excited and waiting for what he brings out next. He famously posted this brand’s collab on his social media platform twice. He was seen with a phone case from them. G-dragon goes onto say that this project is an extension of himself ; A utopia that we have not reached. He wants peace, but we are not there yet. These pairs of shoes are very hard to get especially since the competition are from celebrities, collectors and fans.

4. Chanel - Do I even need to explain this? He’s been wearing this brand on numerous events. not to mention his love for his chanel coco crush rings. His recent photoshoot for his single had him decked out in Chanel accessories. He started wearing the Chanel women’s blazers around 2019 and has been rocking it ever since. This just goes to show his unconventional approach in fashion & this is why the brand loves to work with him too. 

5. Palace - This is a London based skateboard and clothes shop that he frequently wears during his off days. Yibo is very into the skateboard culture & it’s a perfect fit for him. I cannot count the number of times I saw him wear this.

6. Rolex - I have a whole collection post about this but what he’s been sporting this from very early on. limited editions mostly. 

That’s it for now. This boy’s evolution in his style will continue. He will have more great fashion moments. More brands to collaborate with/ He is sure to bring something interesting every time and his one of a kind choices are always a hit.  ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ  

[orbemnews]

What is Going on with China, Cotton and All of These Clothing Brands? Last week, calls for the cancellation of H&M and other Western brands went out across Chinese social media as human rights campaigns collided with cotton sourcing and political gamesmanship. Here’s what you need to know about what’s going on and how it may affect everything from your T-shirts to your trench coats. What’s all this I’m hearing about fashion brands and China? Did someone make another dumb racist ad? No, it’s much more complicated than an offensive and obvious cultural faux pas. The issue centers on the Xinjiang region of China and allegations of forced labor in the cotton industry — allegations denied by the Chinese government. Last summer, many Western brands issued statements expressing concerns about human rights in their supply chain. Some even cut ties with the region all together. Now, months later, the chickens are coming home to roost: Chinese netizens are reacting with fury, charging the allegations are an offense to the state. Leading Chinese e-commerce platforms have kicked major international labels off their sites, and a slew of celebrities have denounced their former foreign employers. Why is this such a big deal? The issue has growing political and economic implications. On the one hand, as the pandemic continues to roil global retail, consumers have become more attuned to who makes their clothes and how they are treated, putting pressure on brands to put their values where their products are. One the other, China has become an evermore important sales hub to the fashion industry, given its scale and the fact that there is less disruption there than in other key markets, like Europe. Then, too, international politicians are getting in on the act, imposing bans and sanctions. Fashion has become a diplomatic football. This is a perfect case study of what happens when market imperatives come up against global morality. Tell me more about Xinjiang and why it is so important. Xinjiang is a region in northwest China that happens to produce about a fifth of the world’s cotton. It is home to many ethnic groups, especially the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority. Though it is officially the largest of China’s five autonomous regions, which in theory means it has more legislative self-control, the central government has been increasingly involved in the area, saying it must exert its authority because of local conflicts with the Han Chinese (the ethnic majority) who have been moving into the region. This has resulted in draconian restrictions, surveillance, criminal prosecutions and forced-labor camps. OK, and what about the Uyghurs? A predominantly Muslim Turkic group, the Uyghur population within Xinjiang numbers just over 12 million, according to official figures released by Chinese authorities. As many as one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been retrained to become model workers, obedient to the Chinese Communist Party via coercive labor programs. So this has been going on for awhile? At least since 2016. But after The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios and others published reports that connected Uyghurs in forced detention to the supply chains of many of the world’s best-known fashion retailers, including Adidas, Lacoste, H&M, Ralph Lauren and the PVH Corporation, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, many of those brands reassessed their relationships with Xinjiang-based cotton suppliers. In January, the Trump administration banned all imports of cotton from the region, as well as products made from the material and declared what was happening “genocide.” At the time, the Workers Rights Consortium estimated that material from Xinjiang was involved in more than 1.5 billion garments imported annually by American brands and retailers. That’s a lot! How do I know if I am wearing a garment made from Xinjiang cotton? You don’t. The supply chain is so convoluted and subcontracting so common that often it’s hard for brands themselves to know exactly where and how every component of their garments is made. So if this has been an issue for over a year, why is everyone in China freaking out now? It isn’t immediately clear. One theory is that it is because of the ramp-up in political brinkmanship between China and the West. On March 22, Britain, Canada, the European Union and the United States announced sanctions on Chinese officials in an escalating row over the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Not long after, screenshots from a statement posted in September 2020 by H&M citing “deep concerns” about reports of forced labor in Xinjiang, and confirming that the retailer had stopped buying cotton from growers in the region, began circulating on Chinese social media. The fallout was fast and furious. There were calls for a boycott, and H&M products were soon missing from China’s most popular e-commerce platforms, Alibaba Group’s Tmall and JD.com. The furor was stoked by comments on the microblogging site Sina Weibo from groups like the Communist Youth League, an influential Communist Party organization. Within hours, other big Western brands like Nike and Burberry began trending for the same reason. And it’s not just consumers who are up in arms: Influencers and celebrities have also been severing ties with the brands. Even video games are bouncing virtual “looks” created by Burberry from their platforms. Backtrack: What do influencers have to do with all this? Influencers in China wield even more power over consumer behavior than they do in the West, meaning they play a crucial role in legitimizing brands and driving sales. When Tao Liang, otherwise known as Mr. Bags, did a collaboration with Givenchy, for example, the bags sold out in 12 minutes; a necklace-bracelet set he made with Qeelin reportedly sold out in one second (there were 100 made). That’s why H&M worked with Victoria Song, Nike with Wang Yibo and Burberry with Zhou Dongyu. But Chinese influencers and celebrities are also sensitive to pleasing the central government and publicly affirming their national values, often performatively choosing their country over contracts. In 2019, for example, Yang Mi, the Chinese actress and a Versace ambassador, publicly repudiated the brand when it made the mistake of creating a T-shirt that listed Hong Kong and Macau as independent countries, seeming to dismiss the “One China” policy and the central government’s sovereignty. Not long afterward, Coach was targeted after making a similar mistake, creating a tee that named Hong Kong and Taiwan separately; Liu Wen, the Chinese supermodel, immediately distanced herself from the brand. And what’s with the video games? Tencent removed two Burberry-designed “skins” — outfits worn by video game characters that the brand had introduced with great fanfare — from its popular title Honor of Kings as a response to news that the brand had stopped buying cotton produced in the Xinjiang region. The looks had been available for less than a week. So this is hitting both fast fashion and the high end. How much of the fashion world is involved? Potentially, most of it. So far Adidas, Nike, Converse and Burberry have all been swept up in the crisis. Even before the ban, additional companies like Patagonia, PVH, Marks & Spencer and the Gap had announced that they did not source material from Xinjiang and had officially taken a stance against human rights abuses. This week, however, several brands, including VF Corp., Inditex (which owns Zara) and PVH all quietly removed their policies against forced labor from their websites. That seems squirrelly. Is this likely to escalate? Brands seem to be concerned that the answer is yes, since, apparently fearful of offending the Chinese government, some companies have proactively announced that they will continue buying cotton from Xinjiang. Hugo Boss, the German company whose suiting is a de facto uniform for the financial world, posted a statement on Weibo saying, “We will continue to purchase and support Xinjiang cotton” (even though last fall the company had announced it was no longer sourcing from the region). Muji, the Japanese brand, is also proudly touting its use of Xinjiang cotton on its Chinese websites, as is Uniqlo. Wait … I get playing possum, but why would a company publicly pledge its allegiance to Xinjiang cotton? It’s about the Benjamins, buddy. According to a report from Bain & Company released last December, China is expected to be the world’s largest luxury market by 2025. Last year it was the only part of the world to report year on year growth, with the luxury market reaching 44 billion euros ($52.2 billion). Is anyone going to come out of this well? One set of winners could be the Chinese fashion industry, which has long played second fiddle to Western brands, to the frustration of many businesses there. Shares in Chinese apparel groups and textile companies with ties to Xinjiang rallied this week as the backlash gained pace. And more than 20 Chinese brands publicly made statements touting their support for Chinese cotton. Source link Orbem News #brands #China #clothing #Cotton