affluxlogo001

Our partner boutique PR and Marketing firm, Afflux, can get you set up on Chinese social media for extremely reasonable rates. This is worth it not only for promoting your sales here in China but also to raise general awareness of your brand or company since Chinese tourists do much of their spending while traveling. Our focus is on setting your business up on Weibo and Wechat but we excel at other platforms as well. Contact dion (at) affluxmcc (dot) com for more information.

The Denim Dandy

IMG_6603

There are not a huge number of options when it comes to menswear, so it is rare for truly something new to come along. Lapel widths and fits change all the time, but entirely new products or modes of dressing are not frequently witnessed. The last two decades have seen a revolution in premium denim that qualifies as an entirely new category of dressing. within the world of premium denim, perhaps the most interesting type of product is probably Japanese denim made on traditional American looms. Japanese denim is now the holy grail for jeans-lovers and this is probably going to change much in the near future since this is more about inherent quality than any particular style or fashion trend. Mr. Hidehiko Yamane, who created the Evisu brand in 1991, is widely viewed as a pioneer in this field.

Evisu was at the HUB in Hong Kong, but so was the latest project by Mr. Yamane, an eponymous brand focusing on a more sartorial, almost dandyish style of denim. The Yamane product line that ties together several recent movements in men’s style for a result that I would define as sartorial denim or “the Denim Dandy”. Recently, we have gone through Mad Men, the revival of enthusiasm for unstructured Neapolitan style, and the proliferation of e-gents on sites like Styleforum. Concurrently, other style tribes have sought ever more rarefied denim and streetwear. Yamane fuses these impulses and answers the need that the mainstream man has for items that make him look formal enough and hip enough but do not feel as restricted or difficult to maintain as classic menswear. Despite the recent revival of formality and all the rules of dressing, there remains an abiding desire for casualness. Yamane offers a great way to do it. I talked to Yosumi Yuji, the head of the Yamane showroom in Hong Kong, on the sidelines of the HUB.

IMG_6611

Timely Fashion

While trends in fashion and related arenas are fleeting, changing by the season, fashion show, or trend set by some celebrity, some fashion items never go out of style and basically remain the same. Watches belong to this class of item that doesn’t change much, but never really goes out of style either. Besides their practical functions, they are an all-round accessory; different watches can be matched to fit any outfit, event, or style. Watch are the most versatile accessory.

A Fantasy World

pp web
By Suzy

A figure like this impresses me because it is a reminder of how in an environment so tenaciously practical and competitive, one can still leave the fixed path a few moments via style. Dressing in your eccentric has always been a statement of liberation. In a world with so many pressures – many of them to conform – an outfit like seems to be telling others to “give it a rest”.

A Natural Palette

smile web
By Suzy

Rust was not a color that people here in Beijing felt comfortable wearing just a few years ago, but I have seen it grow quite a lot in popularity recently. I wonder if this might represent a new confidence about skin tones.