Shanghai designer invites internet celebrities for livestreamed fitting

SHANGHAI — Shanghai-based designer Chen Yehuai, also known as Grace Chen, has launched her own channel on China’s major video-sharing platform Bilibili, showing the couturier’s willingness to embrace digital technology and the social-media platforms popular among young generations.

The move, she said, will help her couture brand Grace Chen reach a larger group of customers.

In coordination with some domestic multi-channel networks, Chen invited young vloggers and livestreaming celebrities to visit the House of Grace Chen, located in Shanghai’s Changning district, to try on the haute couture collection designed by Chen.

The whole visit to Chen’s house was livestreamed on Bilibili, Douyu and Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, attracting more than 10 million views. Different from the public’s stereotyped impression about typical social elites like politicians, entrepreneurs, investors, educators and lawyers, these online celebrities are an emerging group of elites in the age of data, Chen said.

“I hope these young women could get suddenly changed in the House of Grace Chen, just like the story of Cinderella,” she said, adding she’s also inspired by this special cooperation.

Livestreaming host Maoningjiang said this is her first time to try on couture collections, which she found would help her foster self-confidence.