The Most Audacious Fashion Collabs in China

From Prada tapping film director Wong Kar-wai to design its Shanghai restaurant to Loewe’s tie-up with Chinese transport app Hellobike, 2025 is proving to be a busy year for fashion collaborations in China.

As soon as the Chinese economy started showing signs of a slowdown four years ago, global brands became bolder and braver with their choice of marketing partners. Now eye-catching and unexpected collaborations are seen as a lifeline for their ability to excite customers and reach new fanbases amid a declining luxury market and weaker overall demand for fashion.

In uncertain times it’s often the most inventive brands that survive, explains Miranda Yuan, a strategy manager at China-focused marketing agency Tong Global. When consumer confidence dips and competition intensifies, brands that “cut through the noise” with audacious and imaginative partnerships are more likely to emerge stronger once the crisis subsides.

“Creativity becomes a key differentiator, allowing companies to reframe challenges as opportunities, whether by reimagining product offerings, building emotional loyalty, or finding unconventional ways to engage new consumer segments,” Yuan said.

In other words, brand alignment may be paramount but collaborations that would fail in one market can sometimes hit the sweet spot with customers in another.

Notwithstanding the risks of falling foul of cultural or political taboos — including consumer backlashes, boycotts and even being banned by the authorities — brands that push the boundaries without crossing the many red lines that exist in China can see their products go viral.

To work out how far to go and which trends to explore before they become stale or overused, foreign brands can look to local market leaders who typically move faster and have a more nuanced understanding of collaboration buzz.

Here The Business of Fashion analyses some of the more remarkable non-celebrity partners and non-fashion categories that fashion brands have explored since the downturn gripped China.

Poetry

Bottega Veneta & poet Yu Xiuhua

The phenomenon of Booktok and a little push from Miu Miu’s Literature Club have helped bring reading back into the style spotlight. Poetry has emerged as a key subcategory of the trend in China at a time when there is a surge in popularity of 24-hour libraries. Chinese perfume brand To Summer leaned into this movement by dedicating an issue of its biannual limited-edition publication “Nosepaper” to women poets in March.

By April, Bottega Veneta had decided to tap into the trend, stepping up its intellectual rigour by opening an interactive poetry installation at Shanghai’s Rowing Club that featured several thousand copies of an anthology by Chinese poet Yu Xiuhua, arranged in a three-dimensional Bottega brandmark.

“In China, we were deeply moved by the voice of Yu Xiuhua,” said Leo Rongone, CEO of Bottega Veneta. The poet writes with a raw, confessional style that is rooted in personal experience and rural life, while contemplating themes of love, freedom and disability.

‘A Poetic Conversation,’ marks the second time this year the Italian house has partnered with a prominent poet (it hosted a performance by Patti Smith during Milan Fashion Week). But Rongone told BoF that the brand’s collabs are always a thoughtful response to their context and never templates.

“This project is not just about a partnership, but a dialogue with a cultural figure who embodies the complexity and richness of contemporary China,” Rongone added.

Sex

Rui Zhou & sex toy maker Osuga

Sex still sells but, in an era of new generations looking beyond traditional gender binaries and narratives of female empowerment, companies must navigate the topic with great care and nuance. This is especially true in China where anything relating to the erotic is viewed with its own unique set of codes and cultural sensitivities.

In a project for Paris Fashion Week, Chinese sexual wellness brand Osuga forged an authentic collaboration with local designer Rui Zhou, known for her uncompromising and daring aesthetic for Ruibuilt which foregrounds a less conservative female identity. The result of the pairing was a sex toy channelling sensuality and self-intimacy rather than provocation. Zhou says it was about “softness, control, desire and agency.”

“The partnership allowed us to speak to some new audiences who are curious about body, intimacy and emotional experience,” she added. “By reimagining Osuga’s object in our colour language, we expanded a tactile symbol of our brand’s values: subtle, charged and deeply personal. It also brought us into conversations around sexuality, pleasure and wellness — topics that are often underrepresented in fashion but essential to how we think about the future of embodiment."

Shelly Yan, founder of Shanghai-based Closet Showroom explained how the two brands are linked in the eyes of younger consumers. “The philosophy behind Rui’s design ethos aligns with the mindset [of] embracing self-pleasure as an authentic form of self-care, just as one curates their personal style.”

Money

Balenciaga & payment platform Alipay

Balenciaga released a limited-edition version of a T-shirt emblazoned with the Alipay logo and Balenciaga font shortly after it was shown on the luxury brand’s Shanghai runway last year.

Exclusively available from e-commerce giant Tmall, Balenciaga.cn, selected stores and a WeChat mini-programme, the oversized T-shirt paid irreverent homage to China’s ubiquitous digital payment provider which, like Tmall, is owned by Alibaba Group.

The off kilter pairing localised Demna’s trademark efforts to push boundaries during his time at the house and sparked great interest on China’s social media channels. Austin Feng, a fashion director at W Magazine China who attended the show, said the collaboration was a bold effort that he feels is also controversial and, therefore, in line with the brand’s marketing strategy.

“There’s nothing more integral to daily life in China than Alipay which has hundreds of millions of users,” he said of the service that can be used for anything from booking a taxi to buying a Balenciaga bag. “For that reason, it cleverly inserted luxury into daily life but in a humorous way. You would never actively think of Alipay when you think of Balenciaga but the two are intrinsically linked.”

Feng believes similar pairings will be more frequent in the future.

Ancient Culture

Icicle & Shanghai Museum

The rise of guochao—a wave of national pride and appreciation for homegrown products—is quietly but profoundly changing the China market. From Hanfu clothing and beauty brands featuring TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) ingredients, to traditional art, jewellery, calligraphy and temple-inspired ‘fortune pouches’, consumers are thoroughly embracing their heritage.

International luxury brands realised the soft power potential of traditional artisans and intangible cultural heritage long ago. What’s new is seeing the way domestic brands like Icicle celebrate China’s rich past in a luxury context.

“It’s good to have a Chinese brand that talks about topics such as...craftsmanship because very often it has been western brands doing that like, say, Dior,” said communications agency Arc’s Coco Yu.

Icicle’s third Shanghai Museum capsule launched in January. Co-founder and CEO Ye Shouzeng said it achieved a sell-through rate of over 70 percent for core styles within the first month — making it one of the brand’s more successful launches.

“Partnering with the Shanghai Museum was about bringing cultural heirlooms to life — masterpieces on display inspire ready-to-wear pieces which are at once artistic and relevant to a modern wearer. Seeing these pieces sell out confirms our belief: heritage isn’t antique, but a living language of style,” said Ye.

For its fourth and upcoming collection, the brand draws inspiration from painter and calligrapher Yun Shouping, one of the six masters of the early Qing dynasty.

In a very different take on traditional culture, German activewear giant Puma’s latest leaned on kung fu and ink art for its collaboration. Marketing consultant Amber Wu said the F1 Chinese Grand Prix Puma and Ferrari China capsule collection highlighted “Puma’s deep understanding of the power and elegance within Chinese aesthetics,” in products that “seamlessly blend” racing culture with distinctly Chinese elements.

Toys

Balmain & toymaker Pop Mart

Toymaker Pop Mart is a Chinese phenomenon that made headlines overseas when its app reportedly topped the US download charts in April. It’s hardly surprising that foreign brands have been lining up to partner with the collectibles firm before and since then.

For early adopters like Balmain, which is still a niche player in China compared to heritage luxury rivals, Pop Mart was considered an effective partner. Last year’s collaboration with the toymaker’s Molly series elevated the brand’s visibility by enlisting Chinese celebrities like Guan Xiaotong, Song Yanfei and Zhai Xiaowen to showcase the pieces on social media.

“The series targets independent, individualistic women, with Molly’s intrepid astronaut persona reflecting the same bold, feminine and innovative spirit that defines Balmain,” said Tong’s Yuan, adding that Space Molly is one of Pop Mart’s most well-crafted IP lines as the character’s spirit of cosmic exploration quietly inspires people to have the courage to seek out the unknown. Balmain basks in its halo effect.

Now it’s Labubu, another Pop Mart character, that’s trending again following collaborations with the likes of Chinese fashion brand Pronounce and endorsements from global pop stars.

Tea

Fendi & Heytea

Despite the rise of coffee chains in China, tea is still a common denominator across diverse communities and generations. Fresh perspectives on fashion and tea collabs include the Vivienne Westwood branded afternoon tea experience at the Ritz-Carlton Guangzhou.

While this was niche in appeal, local beverage company Heytea hit the mainstream after marketing the drink for the younger generation. A clever tie-up with Italian luxury brand Fendi in 2023 resulted in a successful dedicated hashtag which garnered over 70 million views on Weibo and over a hundred thousand interactions on Xiaohongshu. According to local business media Yicai Global, the co-branded drink priced at 19 yuan (around $2.70) sold out on its first day in several Chinese cities.

The partnership boosted Heytea’s brand value, giving its affordably priced products a “chic makeover” from Fendi’s iconic branding and colours, said Lu Bai, founder of boutique agency B-mint, but Fendi saw benefits too.

“I would say this is a smart dip into cultural localisation for Fendi— it’s a low-risk minimal cost way to test out a youth-focused expression of the brand. And it worked. At the very least, more young people around me now know about Fendi.”

The limited editions and exclusive stores element of the collab played into the scarcity effect, creating a “FOMO frenzy and viral marketing” for both partners.

Fast Food

Clot & McDonalds

American fast food giant McDonalds is a pioneer when it comes to fun fashion mash ups. Past collaborators have included designer Jeremy Scott and Moschino. In China, it has chosen to embrace cult streetwear brand Clot helmed by Edison Chen — first in 2023 and then this year with a second iteration.

The latest McSpicy Clot Alienegra capsule series saw the brands introduce exclusive merchandise and limited-edition meal packaging across mainland China. The staggered rollout started at the end of April, when consumers could receive a special tote bag for an additional fee with a minimum purchase. A week later, special pin sets and shoes were released through the McDonald’s app and the McDonald’s WeChat mini-programme store.

Although the first outing might not have been a viral hit, it still sparked excitement and organic discussions online. Bai suggests that the more recent update of the collab remains relatively niche.

“Although there aren’t many public metrics available for this collaboration, I found that on Xiaohongshu, users were quite enthusiastic about sharing this product — UGC (user generated content) makes up around 70 to 80 percent of the related content, mostly from fashion and trend-conscious users,” reported Bai, adding that she expected it to have more of an impact.

While the tie-up has “cemented the fast food chain’s China strategy as risk-taking and single-minded,” it’s out of the box even for Clot, which is known for its crossover model. “It’s a way for them to push boundaries in terms of what consumers can expect. It’s lending its streetwear credibility to a more widely relatable, lifestyle-first product,” Bai explained.