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The renaissance man

China Daily | Updated: 2018-07-14 09:11

MR KIRA/CHINA DAILY

Formerly a creative director at specialist website Only-Lady, owned by American television powerhouse CBS, he's also been an editor of a Japanese music magazine, a radio DJ and an acclaimed author of fiction, on top of being a prolific writer for numerous publications. But he's best known for being one of the most-followed fashion bloggers in China, with 2.4 million fans on Sina Weibo and half a million subscribers on WeChat, where he posts the latest looks, trend-based news and his roundup of "Who Wears What".

When did you start blogging and how did you end up writing about fashion?

I started writing a blog on (the now-defunct) MSN Spaces around 2006. My blog was among the first batch that had more than a million views. I officially became a fashion blogger as I transitioned from MSN to Weibo, in 2010. At that time, Chinese netizens were just exploring Weibo out of curiosity-"the Twitter of China" and the 140-word limit were a new thing.

What was the first time you worked with a fashion brand?

In the MSN era. Some brands found me and gave me their products to try. Then, if I found them to be good, I'd recommend them. The commercial sense was very much lacking at that time, though; the brands didn't really know how to do these types of collaborations. But I did realize that I was given some sort of attention.

The first brand I collaborated with was a cosmetics line, I think under L'Oreal. At that time I was also writing a beauty column for a magazine, so I took the article from the column over to my blog and added a new facial cream. But it was cheaper than the rest of the products, so I remember there were a few followers who suspected me-nothing serious, people were just curious.

As far as the first larger-scale collaboration, that was in my Weibo era. I was invited by Gucci to their show in Italy, and I wrote some pieces and tweets on the way. We didn't know anything about increasing fans or boosting sales at that time; fashion blogging in the West was already quite mature then, but not in China. So I was selected as a representative of fashion bloggers coming from China.

In 2009, you published a fantasy novel and in the next two years, you published two novels that are collections of love letters. Where did you get the inspiration?

I like to imagine what life stories the people around me are having. I was inspired by my experience in Beijing as a bei piao (Beijing drifter)-many prototypes came from my neighbors in the same building and the little restaurants downstairs.

For the first book, I was an editor for an animation magazine then, so there are many things people who love ACG (anime, comics and games) can relate to. It's a book for young people, perhaps aged from middle school to university.

In the two love letter collections, I wanted to talk about the preservation (of love). Vegetables can be preserved in the frozen section, but preserving love is difficult for human beings.

I used daily-life objects to create love metaphors. It's not addressed to anyone specific; I just hope to be a person who can tell love stories that others can relate to.

Who's the most interesting celebrity you've ever interviewed?

Gwyneth Paltrow. I was invited by Boss to interview her in New York when she was the face of the brand's perfume.

It was held in her hotel room; she was in a very luxurious velvet robe, lying on a sofa looking extremely rich and laid-back. I asked her, "Why were you chosen as the spokesperson?" She said in a very lazy tone: "I don't know." The Boss PR person was right next to us, so it was quite embarrassing. So then I tried to talk about something else, like "Your husband (Chris Martin of Coldplay) loves you and we all envy your marriage." She instantly became excited and began to talk a lot, like about that her husband had just released a new album and so on. The funny thing is, the next day I went back to China and I read about her divorce in a newspaper.

Some fashion bloggers only post and repost information from brands. But you're also a critic who doesn't hesitate to give your opinions-so in your mind, who has the best style in China?

Liu Wen. She can make every fashion item look effortlessly chic on her. I don't normally think that Erdos is a fashionable brand, but those sweaters look very chic on her. Also Xiao Song Jia, Liu Tao-she matches the watches with her outfits.

What's your personal style like?

I'm pretty slouchy in private. With friends, I wear hoodies. At fashion shows, I wear suits and the latest fashion items. I have a collection of more than 200 jeans. When I was younger, I tended to collect and maintain them, but now I just can't wait to wear new jeans.

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