Ferragamo Taps Chinese ‘Heroines’ for Latest Localized Campaign
In a move to spark discussion around female empowerment for its Chinese audience, Salvatore Ferragamo has decided to spotlight five Chinese “heroines” in its latest local campaign.
The campaign, titled “Ferragamo Women Leading Their Own Ways,” features five Chinese creatives from various backgrounds, including Chinese fashion photographer Chen Man; Shen Li, cofounder of the L’Oréal-backed Chinese fragrance label To Summer; Taiwanese actresses Ariel Lin and Cheryl Yang, and Jike Junyi, or Summer Wang, a Yi minority singer.
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Sharing their thoughts and perspectives on female personal growth and style evolution, the “heroines” were captured in interview-style videos against the backdrop of tasteful architecture that echoed creative director Maximilian Davis’ sharp aesthetic.
The campaign, filled with quote-worthy snippets, also tackles issues facing the stressed-out modern woman. “When I’m on set, I turn into human AI, scanning my subject matters intensely,” said Chen, the photographer.
“Confident women are carefree — I guess I’m getting there,” said Li, the beauty entrepreneur.
“You will have different problems at every age, the only thing you can do is to stand unafraid,” said Yang, the model-turned-actress.
“I don’t like how our culture defines beauty, I want to feel special,” said Wang, the singer, who rose to fame via the singing competition “Sing! China.”
Anxiety is inevitable…but you can step outside of yourself and watch yourself; this is my actor’s instinct at work,” said Lin, the “idol drama queen” and actress.
The female characters, styled in tank tops, jeans, the brand’s Vara ballet flats and carrying the trending Hug bag or the star-shaped Handbag, have helped create awareness around the minimally chic outfit, which was dubbed “Ferra-chic” on Xiaohongshu, the popular Chinese social commerce platform.
The campaign, promoted on all major Chinese social media channels, including Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Douyin and the e-commerce platform Tmall, has helped the brand garner more than 170 million views online. The adjacent topic, “a kind of beauty called diva heroine,” also made it to the Weibo trending charts.
The video series was produced by Bay Picture, the production branch of Huasheng Media, which publishes the Chinese edition of glossy magazines such as T Magazine, Wallpaper, Nylon, AnOther Man and, most recently, Fast Company.
The localized campaign is one of the first for Ferragamo in the market, where the brand is experiencing sluggish sales against a weak backdrop.
In the three-month period ended March 31, Ferragamo said the Asia Pacific region registered a 19.3 percent decrease in revenues to 73.3 million euros. Greater China and South Korea, impacted by weak consumer sentiment, reported a negative performance both at retail and wholesale, while the rest of Asia Pacific was positive, also benefiting from an increase in traveling.
Company chief executive officer and general manager Marco Gobbetti said in April that business was “still volatile” in China, while showing “a slight improvement.”
In the first quarter, overall revenues of the Florence-based luxury company were down 18.3 percent to 227 million euros compared with 278 million euros in the same period last year.
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