Why are Uniqlo co-branded models hot again?

YouTubers all over the country have been ransacked!

Uniqlo and KAWS co-branded T-shirts go on sale June 3,...Online and offline dual-channel store, but just after zero hour, Uniqlo Tmall flagship store kaws series of T-shirts were snapped up, people turn their attention to the line, wait for the physical store once the door is open, rushed frantically into the store to grab the goods.

Weibo circulated all kinds of unbelievable videos and pictures of people standing in long lines, sprinting, crawling in under protective doors, and even tearing and fighting just to grab a few more pieces, not even what the models were wearing, and Uniqlo's models had a hard time with their lives, with missing arms and legs abounding in the scramble.

As a popular clothing brand, Uniqlo is not rare, although KAWS is the most commercially viable artist in recent years, and his design of Companion dolls has many fans around the world, but the gang of Chinese amazons who are fighting for the T-shirts don't necessarily know who KAWS is, and there are a lot of people on Weibo who say that this is the first time they've heard of KAWS and his work.

What is it about a plain T-shirt that sells for $99 and is just printed with a trendy bobblehead image that drives people so crazy?

01.Speculation of the odd one out

KAWS is an American contemporary artist, known as the "graffiti bandit", who has loved street culture since he was a child. But he doesn't just paint iconic elements on the wall with a strong personal style, he also likes to bring back the advertising posters on the street to his own studio, and then paste them back after the secondary creation. His unique behavior and distinctive art style have made KAWS gradually become a representative figure of the trend culture.

hisXX eyesThe image is highly recognizable, in 2006 he set up his own personal tide brand Origina Fake, through a series of commercial operation, and a variety of popular brands to start cooperation, gathered a large number of fans in the trend circle, and its creation of the classic image by the young people are familiar with, and really put him on the trend altar, show their own very high commercial value, is the series of KAWS dolls.

Last year's Paris Fashion Week, KAWS and Dior co-branded a limited edition plush doll, in the auction site was speculated to a high price of 28 million yuan, and another set of 2010 from the sale of a full set of six limited edition dolls price is as high as a few tens of thousands of yuan, once upon a time, KAWS dolls are the trend of the circle of economic strength symbol, theLimited quantities and high prices make KAWS figurines destined to be niche, in other words, synonymous with a sense of superiority in the trendy world.

However, it is a fact that even if the price is expensive, there are many people who can afford it, and the consumer market is in short supply. The pre-release bobbleheads have generally appreciated in value on the secondary market, so it can be said that whether it is for investment or personal use, the KAWS bobbleheads have become a solid choice.

Doll is always a priced and very niche product, only in the circle fire, T-shirt is different, since KAWS's good friend NIGO went to Uniqlo as a creative director, KAWS and Uniqlo reached a cooperation to launch a series of co-branded T-shirts, KWAS's artistic concept and trendy style is also conveyed to the public through the affordable T-shirt of 99 yuan a piece, in 2016, the two sides launched the UT series sold 500,000 pieces in China within a month of its opening and eventually sold nearly a million pieces.

Uniqlo said the collaboration "greatly expanded the democratization of trends and creations," but at the time, the domestic awareness of KAWS was not enough, and there was not the same intense rush of goods as yesterday, but it still caused a lot of people to follow the trend of buying.

In the past few years, KAWS held solo exhibitions in China, and giant installation dolls were placed in many cities. The popularity of KAWS has been increasing, and the pursuit of KAWS-related products has become a trend, and the commercial value of KAWS has been highlighting. A lot of people smelled the business opportunity and began to speculate on the peripheral products printed with XX eyes and other elements, and Uniqlo's UT has gradually become a hot pop-up.

Yesterday was a mad rush, it is KAWS and Uniqlo cooperation of the last series, KAWS sincerity, T-shirts on the image are the original own work, rather than several times before the re-creation, and even the online price tag of 28 million yuan pink BFF dolls were put on the T-shirt, as long as the 99 yuan, such a high quality and low price of the absolute, basically will be in the secondary market is speculated up. It's not unusual for the price to double several times.

In the second-hand trading platform idle fish, the series of T-shirt prices are generally more than 200 yuan, it is not difficult to understand why those people are crazy, stacks and stacks of grab, a piece of it, grab 10 pieces, there may be thousands of dollars, if the long-term stockpiling, the price may be higher.

Snatch, in the eyes of many people this is a business. According to microblogging users broke the news, there are many people in the snatched T-shirt after sitting on the ground to resell, the price is not high, to earn a difference, the people who bought it and then add a little to sell it to someone else, a few rounds down, a T-shirt price can be fired up.

Trend-boosting, affordable original price, limited marketing, and bullish expectations allowed Uniqlo's KAWS series of T-shirts to strike through the hoops, causing a wave of followers to rush to buy them, culminating in those unbelievable scenes.

02.IP added value is not measurable

It's common sense in economics that prices move up and down around value.The value of a Uniqlo T-shirt is how much, we probably have an idea, the pricing of 99 yuan is also in line with the laws of the market, but once the IP support, the price of this ordinary T-shirt will exceed its own "use value".

Crazy rush to buy T-shirts can be divided into three categories, first of all, KAWS fans, out of love and go to buy; second is to follow the trend of people, do not know who KAWS, do not understand his work and art style, but see a lot of people to grab think it is a popular trend, or in order to socialize for some talk, always blindly follow the crowd; the third category is to see a business opportunity for people who want to earn a wave.

All three categories have a common expectation: these UTs are worth more than $99 and prices are bullish, so whether you wear them yourself or resell them, grabbing them is a bonus.

Just by printing an extra image, sales of a regular T-shirt can multiply dozens or even hundreds of times.Consumers will think that the IP image adds some value to the item, but the price is not increased, as long as the consumer has the feeling of "it's worth it", the desire to buy will be greatly stimulated.

This is the first benefit of IP, the second benefit is that the value of IP is not easy to estimate, it is based on how much people like it, a t-shirt with IP added, 99 people buy it, 999 people buy it, 9999 people will still buy it, there will always be people who find it worthwhile, but in order to maximize the revenue, you need to find out that pricing node.

These days, no matter what industry, they're all going IP-based.IP symbols are simple and recognizable, and can directly refer to a certain spirit, aesthetics and values, and those who identify with them will have a very strong desire to consume them. "Commodity-IP-consumer" is a more stable arrival path than "commodity-consumer".Everyone from merchants to IP partners to consumers agrees with this path and it's tried and true.

Last year, Uniqlo and the Japanese manga magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump" cooperation launched anime co-branded T-shirts, instantly triggered the market, these T-shirts printed with the young people are familiar with immense love of the anime characters were crazy snatched empty, this time the main focus is not on the trend, but the sentiment, anyone who sees their favorite "Dragon Ball" "King of Thieves", "Silver Soul" characters printed on it, will not begrudge money, not to mention that it is not expensive.

Jump is one of the oldest and most influential anime magazines in Japan, launching the classic works and images to influence several generations of young people in Japan, the audience is extremely wide, the potential consumer group size is huge, it is very suitable to take the Uniqlo T-shirt such as the affordable route, and for some of the audience small IP, want to realize through this model, you need to increase the breadth of the audience, or to increase the unit price of the product.

KAWS chose the former, and has also reaped huge rewards through its relentless publicity campaign and fancy marketing tactics with Uniqlo to push a niche hip brand to the masses.

03.The Magic of IP

The added value of IP attached to goods is not measurable, but the value of the IP itself is measurable, and is generally assessed in China by specific data such as the number of fans and the number of clicks on the work, for example, if you are going to do a web novel adaptation, the better the data of the book, the higher the copyright can be sold.

Data is only an external presentation.IP is the power of belief. Belief has value, disbelief has no value.In the major media reports "the masses crazy rob Uniqlo T-shirt" in the report, the comments are almost a colorful mockery and disgust, some people think that this T-shirt is too ugly, some people do not understand why to rob, some people think that these people robbed the brain problem, eat and eat, comments on one side of the side and the video of the madness of the formation of a stark contrast, proving that "Thy honey, his arsenic".

Only if more people believe it's trendy will KAWS have a higher added value, speculators will speculate up the price of related products, and there will be this scene yesterday, and only if more people believe that Jump is a sentiment that grew up with them will Uniqlo's T-shirts sell better.

So trend culture or popular culture.Behind all is consumption in the lead, consumer culture alienated into different forms of cultural types, the most intuitive essence of the embodiment of one after another IP.Various forms of media in modern society are sparing no effort to deepen people's awareness of these IPs, especially the values and cultural identity that this IP represents, which is something more fundamental.

It's just like you don't need an expensive luxury item, but there are many people who tell you through storytelling that a luxury item is a symbol of self-independence and high-level aesthetics, so you buy this unwanted item to flaunt your attitude towards life.

Do you really need a KAWS t-shirt to prove that you can keep up with the trend? In fact, you don't need it, but you will need it psychologically. People are unknowingly kidnapped by the consumerist culture externalized into labels or symbols such as IPs, and willingly pay money for it. In the end, people are social animals, with the need to socialize and be recognized, and IPs can categorize people simply and roughly, making it easier for them to find their own kind, and to complete the orientation of the self.

Believing in an IP, believing in the values behind the IP, believing that you are such a person, and in order to corroborate this chain, it needs to be confirmed by an act of purchase, theMerchants know this and that's why they try to tell you that this is who you are and that's what you need, and of course, not just tell you, but influence countless others through IP.

That's the power of belief, but it's also the trap that consumerism sets for the average person, and the mad rush for T-shirts proves that most people can't avoid that trap.