Generation Z Artists

Chapter 172 You get used to it after licking it a few times.
To understand the arrogance of these high-end luxury brands, one must understand why they have suddenly stopped being arrogant.

In their previous life, around 2014, they began to smile at the top domestic celebrities, led by the four returned idols.

In 2016, LV bowed down to the man who signed the document.

Next up is a slide kneeling to a large group of top celebrities, including Duan Wang, Si Zi, Ji Ge, Bo Zi, and He Di.

By around 2023, Fei Xian and Xiao Zhan's treatment had quietly risen to the level of Hollywood stars.

The higher the card value, the better.

Many industry insiders understand that this is not only the result of individual hard work, but more importantly, the improvement of national strength.

When China became the world's largest single market for luxury goods, with its share of total sales increasing from 2% to 35%, so-called high-end luxury brands quickly realized who the real power was.

In this process, top domestic celebrities, with their unique influence, played a significant role in promoting and driving various brands.

The further along the journey, the greater the significance of this kind of live-streaming sales becomes.

Because the domestic middle class and white-collar workers have quickly gone through the process of going from obsession to demystification, the awesome brand stories have gradually become unconvincing, and fewer and fewer people believe in them. Only top brands can bring positive growth.

At that time, the roles of host and guest were reversed, and luxury goods groups began to fawn over the top sales influencer.

One of the most important tasks of a former online troll leader was to assess the structure and number of a celebrity's fanbase by examining the specific benefits that the brands they endorsed offered the celebrities.

Fat Immortal is a typical example where structural health outweighs absolute quantity.

She always graces the headlines and takes center stage at luxury brand events, and can choose any set of jewelry worth tens of millions of dollars she wants. This isn't because she has a large number of die-hard fans, but because she has accumulated a huge following of highly valued and favored individuals over the long term.

These wealthy women don't work on platform data, nor do they necessarily watch her movies, but they love consuming the products she endorses. Anything associated with her makes their financial reports look great.

However, Lili and Zizi, who later achieved higher ratings and had more hit dramas, lagged far behind in this aspect and were clearly not on the same level.

South Korea also has a similar special case: Kim Tae-hee, whose acting skills are mediocre and whose box office and TV ratings are average, but advertisers still love her.

Numerous examples demonstrate that boosting box office revenue, viewership ratings, and endorsement deals are not the same thing at all.

So, can celebrities with no box office success or low viewership become the object of luxury brands' fervent pursuit?

Absolutely, as long as it enhances brand power or generates tangible sales.

However, prior to 2014, Chinese celebrities could only bring a certain level of brand power, so major luxury brands only maintained good relationships with a few superstars such as Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, and Fiona Sit, and did not sign them as true spokespeople.

Judging from his status and achievements, Fang Xinghe is clearly still somewhat lacking compared to those who are currently at the peak of their careers.

However, he captured the two major luxury goods consumer markets in Japan and South Korea—Japan is the world's second largest and South Korea is the world's eighth largest. In addition, with Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Singapore, the whole of Asia is his coverage area.

Luxury brands operate on a different logic than fast-moving consumer goods brands. They don't value Fang Xinghe's short-term popularity, but rather the dual value of enhanced brand power and sales potential.

The latter still needs to be verified; no one knows exactly how much luxury goods spending power those young fans have. But the former is enough for them to make a bold attempt.

So when the news spread that Fang Xinghe was planning to shoot a set of photos, major luxury brands flocked to him, vying for sponsorship opportunities.

The so-called sponsorship means providing clothing and jewelry free of charge for use in the filming.

High-value items are borrowed, while ordinary clothing and accessories are given away directly.

Fang Xinghe saw through their plan at a glance—waiting for the results of the photo album.

High sales volume is equivalent to free promotion for their products, and it also allows for the observation of sales growth data for the products worn, thus confirming the effectiveness of the endorsement.

Even with low sales, we don't lose much money; it's just a few sets of clothes.

This is a standard practice for luxury brands. Before the era of indiscriminately posting titles to generate traffic, their arrogance was ingrained, and the process of evaluating celebrities usually took four to five years.

Celebrities must be licked, licked again, licked relentlessly, and served loyally for years to prove their potential and loyalty before they can be rewarded.

Fan Pingguo was the most zealous in flattering Cartier, frequently wearing LV on important occasions and actively courting Cartier. She started going through the formalities as early as 2010, but unfortunately, she never got the official endorsement status before the incident.

This kind of thing is disgusting, but at the time many female stars were vying for the title of the first high-end luxury brand's representative, just to gild their image. Being strung along was a matter of mutual consent, so there's nothing to criticize.

But Fang Xinghe wasn't going to let them get away with it—they wanted to play these tricks on me? They must be out of their minds.

They summoned Kadokawa and sent them all packing.

"My boss doesn't necessarily need to use luxury goods for his photoshoots. With his face already on the picture, who's really enhancing whose image?"

The foreign manager at LV frowned deeply: "But a photoshoot always requires clothes. If we provide them for free, how much cost can we save?"

Kadokawa's expression turned cold: "I care about costs, but do you think my boss cares?"

"So what does Mr. Fang Xinghe care about?"

"manner."

Kadokawa gave the CPU a good beating, and after the first round, the luxury brands were full of complaints.

"I have never seen such an arrogant celebrity."

"It's too difficult."

"They showed us absolutely no respect."

“Given his actions, I seriously doubt how far he can go.”

"You ungrateful animal!"

At this point in time, they are not looking down on Chinese stars, but on all non-Hollywood stars.

So, he was very polite to Fang Xinghe in person, but after returning home, he gave him a good scolding.

Rumors quickly spread in the fashion world that Fang Xinghe's arrogant attitude had angered many top luxury brands.

second round.

Fang Xinghe assembled his team and began filming.

Ms. Fukuda, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Japan, came uninvited and took the initiative to invite the chief photographer for him.

She sent invitations to all of Japan's top photographers, from Nobuyoshi Araki to Eikoh Hosoe, and then to Hiroshi Sugimoto and Rinko Kawauchi.

However, Fang Xinghe ultimately chose Mika Ninagawa, who was in the rising phase of her career and had not yet become fully famous.

The interview lasted less than three minutes, and I knew she was the one.

Because this woman is a huge fan of Fang Xinghe.

Looking through the panel, he was covered in blood, and his eyes burned with a fervent desire to devour Fang Xinghe alive.

The team members couldn't understand why the BOSS would choose such an ugly and unsophisticated newcomer, and even she herself found it hard to believe.

"Because she has enough passion, and you can help her control it."

Fang Xinghe explained it this way: "Once an artist has an extreme love for their work, they can unleash their deepest potential and create impossible miracles."

He then instructed Kadokawa, "I need her to remain highly sensitive, so I won't say a single word to her. You will be in charge of communication throughout the entire filming process."

After filming began, Fang Xinghe remained cold and unresponsive, never responding to Ms. Hua even once.

This intentional aloofness and unexplained isolation truly ignited Mika Ninagawa's passion; she poured her heart and soul into the filming, as if she wanted to melt into the process.

The first set of photos was taken on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo.

The theme is loneliness in a crowd, walking alone in a bustling city.

Mika Ninagawa turned Fang Xinghe's loneliness into art.

She could capture every subtle moment in Fang Xinghe's life. This wasn't due to technical skill, but rather a strange feeling stemming from her focused attention and keen sensitivity.

After seeing the finished product, all the team members were amazed.

“We can increase the stakes now.” Fang Xinghe smiled slightly. “Let’s reshoot.”

"what?!"

Completely bewildered, Kadokawa went to communicate with Ms. Hua, who, as expected, offered an even more outrageous filming idea based on Fang Xinghe's needs.

It's the same street, but the makeup and outfits are different.

The first set features a homeless, foolish man on the street.

Fang Xinghe, with his tangled, messy hair and wearing a dirty cotton-padded coat that was out of season, sat leaning against the street corner, looking up blankly.

His face was very dirty, with a messy stubble, chapped lips, and dark circles under his eyes. Because he was wearing a winter cotton-padded coat, he was so hot that he left it open, revealing a white vest that was soaked with sweat and filthy to the point of being grayish. Through the tear, a little bit of his chest muscle could be vaguely seen.

The man looked to be at least 30 years old, haggard and tired, but his heterochromatic eyes were clear and bright, radiating an extreme simplicity.

I don't know why I'm here.

I don't know why you came here.

I just looked up at you, that's all.

The next set of photos is still in the same location.

Fang Xinghe changed into teenage clothes, stood in front of the homeless man, and bowed his head to hand him a bottle of water.

This set of photos is called "The Boy from Before".

He was young and fresh-faced, but he wasn't without his worries—he had a large band-aid on his forehead.

Fang Xinghe personally requested and attached this thing.

When he handed out the water, his expression wasn't one of sympathy or pity, nor was it some kind of divine compassion.

On the contrary, the boy's eyes held a hint of envy.

Two sets of photos: one taken from above, looking at the homeless man through the eyes of the boy; the other taken from below, looking at the boy through the eyes of the homeless man.

This is a subjective perspective; the final cut is actually directed at the reader.

Mika Ninagawa also took a series of photos from an objective perspective, namely, side shots from a medium to long distance, capturing both the boy and the homeless man in the frame.

Capturing two different versions of the Milky Way on the same negative to achieve photo fusion was not difficult in the film era; it could be easily accomplished using a special lens hood.

The real challenge lies in the composition's artistic conception and the choice of light and shadow.

Mika Ninagawa did the best she could imagine.

In the same photo, the profiles of young Fang Xinghe and homeless Fang Xinghe are fixed at the center point of the cut, as harmonious as the yin and yang fish of a tai ji diagram.

The light came from behind, one bright and one dark, but the bright light was not pure, and the dark light was not decadent, forming an extremely ingenious and absurd opposition.

Fang Xinghe personally named this set of photos "Transformation".

On the first day of the photo album shoot, about 20 staff members were busy, but only three photos were taken.

However, after Kimmy Fukuda sent the three photos to major luxury brands, they surged back and began to show their attitude.

"Mr. Kadokawa, without absolute sincerity to become a long-term partner with Fang Xinghe, let's talk. What would it take for you to accept our sponsorship?"

Kadokawa smiled without any attempt to hide it, and said leisurely, "Since it's a sponsorship, then what about the cost of this filming..."

"We'll go!"

A total of eight high-end luxury brands agreed to share the costs.

Don't underestimate this small amount of money. The photography, lighting, makeup, props, and set management teams, plus the security team, totaled 30 people. The daily expenses for food, horses, transportation, venue fees, and props were all substantial.

The photo shoot for Kyoko Fukada's photobook cost nearly 300 million RMB, and given Fang Xinghe's penchant for making a fuss, it certainly wouldn't have cost less than 500 million.

But now, the number of sponsors isn't too few, it's actually too many...

This won't do; we need to continue screening.

Kadokawa then asked, "Last year, our boss couldn't appear on the cover of major Japanese and Korean magazines due to some unforeseen circumstances. What about this year...?"

"We'll sponsor it!"

LV, being the most financially powerful, immediately secured a continuous sponsorship of five Japanese magazines.

Versace's offer was that the recipient could choose any three publications, including the Italian edition of Vega and the French edition.

Cartier is in the most difficult position. They have plenty of money and resources, but since they don't have many men's products now, what should their sponsored covers feature?

Luxury brands sponsor celebrities to appear on the cover of fashion magazines, which is definitely to promote their own products. So it's easy for ready-to-wear lines to do this, as they can appear on the cover every year and have new styles every year.

The jewelry line is more difficult to handle, especially since Fang Xinghe is a minor male star.

Even so, Cartier did not give up and persevered.

"All of Cartier's products are open to Fang Xinghe, whether it's for a photoshoot or a cover shoot, he can choose whatever he wants!"

There is never love without a reason. This time, Fang Xinghe won again through his work.

The three sets of photos that have already been taken combine top-notch fashion expression, the most distinctive artistic style, and the most avant-garde design concepts.

This photo album is not a cheap, money-grabbing production that sells sex appeal, but rather a carefully selected work by Fang Xinghe, showcasing his ambition to shake up the fashion world.

Luxury brands absolutely love this style.

It's fair to say that even without wearing luxury brands, Fang Xinghe could still produce a high-quality photo album, turning it into a work of art that would shock the industry and drive fans crazy.

And if someone wears luxury goods... whoever is in the photo benefits!
Therefore, Kadokawa did not reject any of them, and is even in urgent communication with new brands.

That makes things easier. Keep knocking.

"As for the role of spokesperson, my boss does not accept regional titles."

"We can offer the same treatment as an Asian brand ambassador!"

"The endorsement fee must be the highest in Asia. My boss does not accept anyone being more important than him."

"hiss……"

"In terms of promotional resources, all stores in the Asia region must have high-standard billboards."

"Ah this?"

"My boss should be seated in the front row and receive the highest level of hospitality when it comes to invitations to big shows and exhibitions."

"..."

Kadokawa's outrageous demands nearly shattered their resolve.

To date, no Asian celebrity has received all of these privileges. Kadokawa, with its half-baked understanding, is just making exorbitant demands and is driving these Japanese regional managers crazy.

But they persevered and slowly wore down Kadokawa.

In particular, the fact that the president of LV Asia personally intervened demonstrated considerable sincerity.

"Kadokawa-san, I must explain to you clearly that currently, there are only three celebrities in all of Asia who have truly high-end endorsements."

Takuya Kimura has partnered with Bulgari, becoming Bulgari's first Asian brand ambassador.

Kim Sung-go was chosen by Prada as the global menswear ambassador, becoming the first Asian face in the brand's history.

Ms. Gong Li has just become L'Oréal's global brand ambassador.

As far as I know, Chanel is in contact with Princess Duchess, and Hermès is in contact with Maggie Cheung; both will require some time.

The three mentioned above each underwent a probationary period of at least two years. This caution was not decided by us regional directors, but rather stemmed from the deep-rooted historical inertia of headquarters.

We at LV are willing to give Mr. Fang Xinghe more trust; however, consolidating this trust requires repeated successful collaborations…

The foreign director's words made perfect sense, but Kadokawa remained unmoved.

His brows furrowed, and he grumbled, "So you just want my boss to work for free for two years? I have no problem with that! But go out and ask around, what kind of temper does our prince have? Will he serve you? Pass, pass, you wish!"

"..."

The LV president was stunned and rubbed his face vigorously, his anger rising.

Is Fang Xinghe toxic?

Wasn't Kadokawa Tsutohiko originally a rather well-mannered Japanese businessman?
In fact, Kadokawa is now a typical Japanese businessman. However, ever since he took over Fang Xinghe's Japanese brokerage contract, he has become increasingly assertive and is not easily backed down.

My boss is one of a kind in Asia, you disagree? If you disagree, let go of me and stop bothering me!

LV really wanted to let go, but a group of people were watching them like hawks. Fang Xinghe had taken a second set of amazing photos without using luxury goods. Kadokawa was getting harder and harder, and the more they licked him, the more comfortable they became, and they actually started to enjoy it...

The decisive moment happened on June 27th, the day of the draft.

(End of this chapter)