Selling power of retro style

Mention the year 1984 and it triggers some intriguing mental images of iconic symbols. For some people, 1984 was about the theme music to the movie Ghostbusters. For others, it was about  colourful TV character Mr T’s flashy jewellery or about a Wham-era George Michael looking fresh-faced - long before he was caught with his trousers down. For many Chinese, however, 1984 will always be remembered for the Los Angeles Olympics and Li Ning. Li was the Chinese gymnast who won six gold medals at the Games, the first to feature a Chinese team under communist rule.

Riding this collective memory, Nike’s 1984 range, launched in February this year, celebrates the look of these first Chinese communist Olympians. Earlier this year, adidas also introduced an Olympic-themed look, including a line of shoes and clothing that pays homage to the Chinese women’s volleyball team that picked up a gold medal in 1984.

But while it makes perfect sense that the world’s two biggest sportswear brands should be marketing the Olympics in China as the Beijing Games draw nearer, why are they specifically looking back in time to 1984 and peddling China’s proud sporting heritage?

One answer could be that China, like many other countries across Asia, is in the grip of retro frenzy. In addition to its Olympics line, adidas Originals stores can be found in countries across the region, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. Likewise, Puma is selling a vintage ‘Veteran’ line, while Nike’s 2007 Spring collection in Asia has a distinct retro feel.

Even Li Ning is now the head of his own eponymously named sportswear label, which is Asia’s largest sportswear brand, challenging Nike and adidas in China.  And if Li Ning didn’t think to go retro itself this summer, it is mainly because the company is still a follower in global markets. 

“Li Ning has the same factories, the same designers, but what is different is the brand,” says the company’s chief designer Max Zago, an Italian who used to work at Nike’s head office in Oregon. Even so, Li Ning is planning to  launch its own vintage range in time for the Beijing Games, although its references only go back to 1992, the year when the company first began  dressing Olympic athletes.

With all this brand activity built around the recent past, do marketers believe that Asian consumers are any different to their Western counterparts when it comes to retro?

“Selling retro to Asia is no different to selling it to the West,” says Cristoph Peter-Isenbuerger, head of marketing for Puma Asia-Pacific. “Our events in Berlin, Japan or China celebrating the Rudolf Dassler [retro] range are all equally successful.”

The secret, says Peter-Isenbuerger, is that modern communications allow the whole world to access the same content, so while some in Asia may not have experienced the trends first time around, they have equal access to them now thanks to the internet. Others, however, argue that for some countries in Asia the  marketing apporach needs to be modified to reflect a lack of shared cultural memories.

“China simply  does not have a long enough history of popular culture to ‘throw back’ to,” says Johnny Tan, creative director at BBH Shanghai.

“What they see as ‘retro’ is very much perceived as something stylistically different and cool. Simple adidas sneakers might be something worn by one of their favourite idols, without making any reference to [hip-hop group] Run-DMC who made that look cool. And no one really thinks about how Lomo cameras are decades old but rather that they are fun and take funky pictures.”

That is not to say that China does not have its own points of reference for the growing  retro  trend. Ironically, it is the only iconic Chinese contribution to global fashion in the 20th century - the Mao suit - and the era that spawned it, which now accounts for most of the country’s retro fixation.

From low-cost Feiyue brand tennis shoes, to expensive silk versions of communist fashion styles, China’s retro is looking  to the 1960s and 1970s for inspiration. This might seem strange to those who have grown up believing the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward were horrific events best consigned to the memory of history. But the fact is that fashion trends in China, as elsewhere, are driven by the young, most of whom were not around  when the Cultural Revolution was taking place.

Retro fashions are,  after all,  often harking back to simpler times - regardless of how politically complicated the years were. “Lots of [Chinese] artists and designers were born in the 1960s and 1970s but did not experience [the Cultural Revolution],” says Angelica Cheong, editor of the Chinese edition of Vogue. “For them it’s a novelty.”

In Korea too, most retro trends focus on a specific period, says Soo Yeon Nam, head of planning at Leo Burnett Korea.  “In our case, between the 1970s and 1980s: the economy was booming and Western culture spread to Korean society. This was a kind of transitional time, a mix of Western and Korean style. Today people feel a great nostalgia for this unique period.”

Retro  marketing may rely on history for its references, but these are only touch points. More important, says Soo, is how this history is reinterpreted for modern consumers.

In China, however, this reinterpretation is compounded by the fact that many people are often looking back not merely through rose-tinted spectacles, but through ones that come with a bi-focal provided by a Government-controlled media. So while Nike’s 1984 line represents  a bit of old-school kitsch to a Westerner, could it be interpreted by Chinese consumers as an outlet for patriotism, even nationalism?

“People can separate the political from the aesthetic,” says Ji Ji, founder of Shanghai-based fashion label Shirtflag, which specialises in Cultural Revolution retro. “But in some ways, people use these kind of clothes to resist Western fashion and support Chinese style as well as contemporary Chinese values.”

These are lessons that marketers in the region  should certainly take notice of.  But  away from social and political considerations, what lies at the heart of retro’s appeal is  a simple longing for the past. “We like retro because we like reflections of ourselves,” says Andi Iskandar, creative head for Leo Design/ Leo Burnett/ Arc Worldwide Indonesia. “Without nostalgia, there is no closure and no way to look and move forward.”

 Nike bringing retro East

Nike’s 1984 collection was never about simply selling retro to the Chinese. It was a celebration of the fact that Nike has supported Chinese sport for the past 24 years. Los Angeles 1984 was China’s first Olympics under communism and Nike sponsored the country’s track and field team and helped it prepare for the games.

In retrospect, this was a farsighted move. If retro is a reinterpretation of past trends, with 1984 Nike is reinterpreting its own athletic wear. Today’s line therefore is pushing a retro look, but one with a deep relevance to the target market.

“All of our efforts behind the collection were targeted to Chinese youth to inspire their participation in sport by enhancing their understanding of the past,” says Shannon Ellis at Nike.

Looking back at China’s Olympic history, Nike felt the achievements of the ’84 Chinese team - being pioneers, coming to a strange and unfamiliar country, winning Asia’s first medals for track and field - were in keeping with the ‘Just do it’ ethos of today’s stars.

The 1984 product line was therefore launched with an accompanying documentary titled Dare (or Chong in Chinese) which placed 1984 athletes, such as Zhu Jianhua (China’s world record breaking high jumper) alongside Beijing 2008 hopefuls, such as Liu Xiang and Li Na.

In telling the story of Nike’s history alongside China’s Olympians, Nike wanted to be sure the message would resonate with youths born after 1984 — hence the link to today’s athletes, as well as some sportspeople involved in less traditional disciplines, such as BMX and skateboarding.

But it was also seen as important that Nike’s level of involvement was highlighted. Nike did more than just provide tracksuits and spikes in 1984. They organised a one-month ‘acclimatisation stay’ for the Chinese athletes in LA before the games. They also funded participation in international competitions and coaching, says Ellis.

During the games, Nike staff on the ground helped provide custom equipment for the team - from practical adjustments to stitching Zhu Jianhua’s name in pinyin onto the heels of his shoes - a touch that has been recreated in the new retro reinterpretation, at Zhu’s request.

Nike is no newcomer to Chinese sport and retro is a great way of reminding a nation’s consumers that since Red China first walked onto the world athletics stage, Nike has been there every step of the way.