Rednote (小红书, lit. Little Red Book) remains the quickest gateway towards young Chinese consumers, especially the Gen Z cohort. On 30 May, French luxury fashion house Chanel officially entered Rednote and debuted its first post.
The maison’s post was a video featuring its brand ambassador, supermodel Liu Wen. In the video, Liu discusses the Métiers d’art show Chanel hosted at West Lake in Hangzhou last year. Cutting back and forth between Liu’s appearance as the opening model at the fashion show and the artisans working on the garment she wore at the event. The Chanel video currently has 2,695 likes, 329 comments and 215 collects on Rednote. The new Chanel account has over 3,100 followers at the time of writing.
Many online believe the timing is a move to promote the upcoming Métiers d’art collection. However, it might also be a measure taken by the luxury brand to increase its awareness and sales after its 2024 annual financial report showed a revenue decrease, the first since 2020, with a 4.3% drop in income to 18.7 billion USD and a 30% decrease in operating profit to 4.5 billion USD. The APAC market, including China, dropped 7.1% in revenue and the increase in South Korea and Japan could not offset the loss.
Due to it being a lifestyle platform mostly catering to the younger generations, luxury brands were hesitant to enter Rednote with concerns that it might dilute its brand image. This explains why Chanel waited this long to join. With Chanel promising 15 more boutiques in China this year, after opening 15 in 2024, the French brand is doubling down on investing in the market. The expansion online is naturally a part of it.