Thread by @lillianmli

1) Prediction: China domestic brands and design will enter into a golden age in the coming 5 years, with at least one DTC brand breaking the $100bn market cap.

This is from a combination of growing demand and supply of innovative brand storytelling and design.

2) On the demand side, the rise of Gen Z heralds a new generation of brand-agnostic consumers who doesn't implicitly hold western brands in high regards. They are focused on expressing individuality and control the spending power of 2 generations from parents to grandparents

3)Western brands are not only too mainstream but also tainted with political allegiances given geopolitical tension.
These brands' haven't been able to provide hyper-local zeitgeist products. Chinese traditional embroidery is table-stakes. Where's the hanfu, lolita and JK stuff?

4) On the supply side - the emergence of an artist and creative class is predicated on society surplus and advanced training.

China's middle and upper classes are hitting that stage of abundance where they are happy to let their children go to art and architecture school en-mass

5) Parson's school of design's incoming classes are apparently 12% mainland Chinese students. Between 2009 and 2014, UAL saw a 100% increase in its number of Chinese students.
That artistic talent is flowing right back to China.

6) The bank of affluent mum and dad will be bankrolling these artist endeavours when they land. Many of which will fail, right so. But given the sheer numbers, a few will succeed.
These domestic brands will rely on counter positioning by tapping into their Chinese heritage.

7) It will increasingly become a status signifier in China to indicate you're a patron of the arts, and better yet, design-related businesses that make money. The investor set will move into to take these seed companies to the growth stage.

8) In the background, not so subtly, the emphasis on internal circulation from the planning parties will enable these domestic brands to get plenty of airtime and tax breaks.

https://twitter.com/lillianmli/status/1347266562638581760

9) Of course everyone's wary of a 'this time will be different' story, but the new generation of designers know where the bodies of the last generation are. Brand stories and aesthetics unity are top of mind. They are western-trained but Chinese bred.

10) As I wander around Shanghai looking at the painfully hip mono-chrome avant-garde shops and the strange and beautiful creatures that stride around them. I do think this time will be different.

Let time prove me out.

Actually should have asked @RioJot who's a consumer VC in China. What's your take?