In a historic alley named Yanqing Li in Shanghai, Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) collaborated with a diverse and lively cast to present a uniquely styled third “Everybody’s Fashion Week.” This show, unlike the aloof atmosphere of conventional fashion events, exuded a sense of approachability and down-to-earth charm. The models, hailing from various professions, included a delivery worker who has written thousands of poems, a plus-size girl who dabbles in fashion editing, a company founder, and even a granddaughter who walked the runway with her grandmother. They offered their unique perspectives on fashion and staged a distinctive “fashion makeover.”
The audience at the show was not just made up of “unprofessional” models, but also “unserious” spectators. Xiaohongshu explored the integration of fashion into everyday life through their in-house podcast “Someone’s Growing Potatoes.” In the second episode of the podcast, a fashion blogger named Plastic Strawberry and Xiaohongshu’s head of communications shared their thoughts behind “Everybody’s Fashion Week.”
Looking back at the origins of Fashion Week, the initial idea was to open a brick-and-mortar buyer’s shop to promote original designer brands. However, it was quickly realized that in order to bring fashion to life, it was essential to have people wearing and showing off the clothes. Therefore, they decided to leverage Xiaohongshu’s greatest resource—bloggers—to hold a fashion showcase for the average person and non-professional models. This showcase was specially chosen to take place in a typical alleyway—a spot that truly represents everyday life—close to reality and full of the spirit of Xiaohongshu.
Plastic Strawberry, a blogger focused on diversified aesthetics, believes that such a fashion venue is very uplifting as the display of various body types helps to alleviate long-standing body anxiety issues and singular aesthetic views. Addressing the Fashion Week that might be perceived by the outside world as just a runway show, Xiaohongshu’s communications officer, Ye Yang, pointed out that it feels more like a gathering of fashion enthusiasts. The interaction during the runway and the subsequent exchange blurs the line between “performance” and “spectating,” authentically reflecting everyone’s understanding of fashion.
In summary, “Everybody’s Fashion Week” starts with people, expresses through people, and ultimately serves people. It presents not just outfits, but a lifestyle attitude.
When we see others shining brightly and looking fashionable, we often envy them, longing for the same style. But more often, what we desire are qualities like sunshine, confidence, or beauty, which are far more important than the clothes themselves. As an innovative experiment, Xiaohongshu’s Fashion Week stands in stark contrast to traditional fashion weeks.
At traditional fashion weeks, the primary aim is to showcase the beauty of the garments, and designers usually select size zero models to ensure the clothes look their best on perfect figures. But Xiaohongshu’s Fashion Week has overturned these conventions, creating a different kind of runway experience that fills the gap left by traditional fashion weeks and offers the audience a fresh interpretation.
At the inception of the Xiaohongshu Fashion Week idea, we delved deep into the lives of our users. Through in-depth interviews with thirty to forty target audience members—also Xiaohongshu users—we explored their understanding of fashion and their views on the concept of ordinary people walking the runway. The findings revealed that fashion should be integrated into life, not untouchable. The democratization of fashion is a core concept that we have continuously verified by deeply “entering into the user’s” world.
Every time we start a large project, we conduct a lot of one-on-one user research. Through such intensive interaction, the views and conclusions we have drawn already possess the unique characteristics of Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).
As for what good marketing is according to Xiaohongshu’s definition? Good projects are based on users’ genuine reviews, concerning whether users spontaneously participate in the discussion about the project. The “self-flowing water” effect that Xiaohongshu values actually refers to the natural connection between users. The essence of marketing activities is that the platform provides a stage for merchants and users to participate together.
In Xiaohongshu’s fashion week, the most attention-grabbing content is usually not pre-planned, but rather the sparks that naturally occur between merchants and users or among users themselves. These unpredictable highlights tend to be the fastest to spread and attract attention, and they are also the most heartwarming.
“First of all, this thing was discussed by all of us together, you know it’s good just by looking at it, there are no barriers when departments coordinate, and if it’s interesting, we will spontaneously help complete it.” This boundaryless work culture allows Xiaohongshu to quickly gather resources and amplify valuable things.
For new members of Xiaohongshu, one new phenomenon they experience is that, no matter which team they belong to, from an external perspective, the results are a common creation of Xiaohongshu. Users do not carefully distinguish between departments, which means if something deserves to happen on Xiaohongshu, the whole company’s resources will be focused to make it bigger and better.
Many companies may run hundreds or even thousands of events within a year, and they may not care too much about the success or failure of these events. However, Xiaohongshu has its uniqueness, each event at Xiaohongshu seems exceptionally precious. Whenever an event is held, Xiaohongshu takes this opportunity to exhibit three core aspects to the world: first is the nature and philosophy of the platform itself, second is the user community on Xiaohongshu, and last is the cooperating merchants. Therefore, every event is carefully crafted, allowing people to feel the mission and conviction behind the team. What they pursue is unique, not only without precedent within the company but also standing out in the entire industry. This pursuit has achieved the unique charm of Xiaohongshu’s events.
— “The number of fans on Xiaohongshu is not just about marketing tactics, but a display of a person’s sincere involvement and careful living.”
Some users shared their unique experiences on Xiaohongshu. For example, one user mentioned that through Xiaohongshu she made many friends, and even helped a girl to get an ideal job through a resume recommendation. She exclaimed, “This is the power of Xiaohongshu; it can gather people who are unrelated together.”
Another regular creator talked about how he prefers to share things on Xiaohongshu instead of his circle of friends, because it allows for more interesting interactions with strangers.
For content creators on Xiaohongshu who seek growth, several points are crucial. The first is to have precise positioning. After clarifying one’s positioning, maintaining a sincere sharing of one’s life can attract more attention. A user with only over two hundred followers shared their experience of a sudden increase in followers, attributing it to a piece of content crafted with special care. A small but heartfelt observation, such as the description of a diligent security patroller on a subway line, is enough to arouse the readers’ curiosity and interest.
In the end, a creator emphasized an important realization: “Live your life well, and followers on Xiaohongshu will naturally come. Success on Xiaohongshu is not just about managing an account, but managing your own life as well.”
