Stores on e-commerce site Taobao offer the suits worn by Hu Ge. (Photo/GT)
The Chinese Spring Festival Gala or chunwan, one of the biggest events held in China every year, used to be just an event that families in China could get together to watch and enjoy on Chinese New Year, but now it is increasingly becoming a stage for triggering new trends in fashion.
In recent years, audiences have started to pay close attention to the fancy clothes that celebrities wear on the stage of this gala that airs on China Central Television every Chinese New Year's Eve. Some even try to copy this style by buying from the same designers on e-commerce sites.
While a flood of criticism about the quality of this year's show swept social media after the gala welcoming in the Year of the Monkey came to an end, the suits, dresses and even stage props became instant trends on Chinese e-commerce site taobao.com.
Online stores began posting pictures of celebrities performing on the gala stage even before the gala was over. Of course these stores were selling the same or similar clothing and other items used by these celebrities.
Although shipping services were on break during the seven-day holiday, some sellers were taking pre-orders, promising to deliver these trending items as soon as the holiday ended.
More than a few netizens were shocked at the speed retailers were updating their product pages and their dedication to turning a profit at a time most of the country was enjoying a well-earned holiday with family.
Almost everything celebrities showed off on stage is sold online, even down to the stuffed dog doll carried by a comedian in a talk show. Of course many of these online items are knock-offs.
Hu Ge, currently a hit heartthrob in China for his several recently popular TV series, was one of the most highly anticipated celebrities at this year's gala.
The Etro 2016 Spring suit he wore was one of the most searched items online. On taobao.com, prices for this suit ranges from 1,999 yuan to 26,000 yuan ($306-3,990). Most online stores promised to deliver a custom tailored suit that looks exactly like Hu's.
Together with the suit, Hu also wore a Piaget watch and shoes by Jimmy Choo.
TFBoys, the hit Chinese boy band with three teen members, wore suits that clothed them in red from top to bottom. Some netizens said they also wanted similar red suits because this year was the year of their Chinese zodiac sign. (It's a tradition for people to wear red when their Chinese zodiac sign comes around.)
Besides their suits, many people paid more attention to the three's ridiculously long legs - perhaps the very reason those suits looked so cool on them.
Clothing styled after traditional Chinese ink paintings was one of the best parts of the gala. To present this style, three attractive actresses - Ruby Lin, Gigi Leung and Liu Tao - wore long dresses of green, yellow and blue respectively. The dresses, from Shiatzy Chen, were a big hit as they were attractive and elegant and combined both Chinese and Western styles.
Lin's green Qipao style dress ranges from 998 to 14,000 yuan.
Singer Tan Weiwei wore a leopard print long jacket by Givenchy with a jean jumpsuit underneath. The exaggerated vibe of the whole outfit didn't look like anything would be able to pull off, but it still managed to trend on e-commerce sites. While the official outfit on the Givenchy store costs a few thousand yuan, rip-offs can run as low as 138 yuan.
