Abstract
As a representative brand of French fashion, Chanel not only facilitates the transformation between objects and signs in the production of fashion value, but also contributes to the construction of fashion consensus by offering rich interpretations and representations. In this process, female brand ambassadors play a pivotal role, serving as a crucial bridge between the brand and its consumers, while also functioning as key agents in the external communication of brand culture. This study takes Chanel’s female brand ambassadors in the Chinese market as a case, employing a semiotic analytical approach to examine how these ambassadors contribute to the construction of contemporary femininity marked by diversity and uniqueness. It further analyzes the Western brand’s imagined representations of Eastern women within a cross-cultural context, uncovering how Chanel utilizes Chinese female brand ambassadors to convey distinctive images of femininity, and explores the communicative pathways through which emotional resonance is established with Chinese consumers. This paper offers a new perspective on understanding the significance of women in the fashion industry and their cultural implications, while also providing theoretical support for the construction of female representations by brands across diverse cultural markets.
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Keywords: Chanel, sign, female image, consumer culture
1. Introduction
In the context of globalization, the fashion industry functions not merely as a site of commodity exchange, but as a space for cultural dialogue and contestation. As one of the world’s leading luxury brands, Chanel has emerged as a benchmark in the global fashion arena, distinguished by its unique embodiment of French brand aesthetics and profound cultural legacy. With the rapid development of China’s economy and the rising purchasing power of its consumers, an increasing number of international brands have begun to prioritize the Chinese market, particularly its vast female consumer base. Following Chanel’s first major show in China in 2009, the brand’s return after fifteen years with the 2024 Métiers d’Art collection in Hangzhou has once again drawn significant attention from the global fashion industry. The decision to stage this high-profile luxury show in Hangzhou, China, signifies Chanel’s further strategic engagement with the Chinese market and offers new insights into the brand’s approach to globalization.
Fashion shows are not only platforms for brands to showcase their profound creative concepts and design styles but also provide an irreplaceable space for cultural exchange and communication. However, in the process of brand communication in the fashion industry, brand ambassadors play an equally crucial role alongside fashion shows as essential elements in the overall branding strategy. Therefore, the image, temperament, and cultural background of brand ambassadors not only influence the effectiveness of brand communication but also reflect, to some extent, the brand’s understanding and adaptation to its target market. The selection of brand ambassadors often involves complex cultural symbols and social identities. The fashion messages conveyed to audiences through these ambassadors are imbued with rich cultural meanings and social values.
Since its founding in 1910, the French brand Chanel’s history and development have not only reflected the evolution of the fashion industry but also embodied broader social and cultural changes. The brand has long been renowned for its innovative design philosophy and its advocacy for the liberation of women’s thoughts and identities. Chanel’s iconic elements—such as the No. 5 perfume, the tweed jacket, and the double-C logo—have evolved into enduring symbols within the fashion industry. In response to shifting times and increasingly diversified markets, Chanel has continuously adapted its branding strategies to meet the needs of consumers across varied cultural contexts. This study focuses on the female brand ambassadors selected by Chanel in the Chinese market, exploring their roles in fashion communication. By analyzing how Chanel leverages these ambassadors to construct representations of femininity, shape brand memory, and convey fashion ideologies, the research reveals the significance of brand ambassadors in cross-cultural communication and examines their influence on Chinese consumers’ fashion perceptions.
By selecting specific Chinese female brand ambassadors, Chanel seeks to build a bridge between its brand image and Chinese cultural contexts. This phenomenon not only reflects the brand’s acute sensitivity to market demands but also highlights the challenges and opportunities that Western brands encounter within the framework of Chinese cultural dynamics. This study offers a new perspective for understanding cultural translation in fashion communication and provides theoretical support for the strategic development of fashion brands in the Chinese market in the future.
2. Literature Review: The semiotic construction of Chanel’s connation within the perspective of fashion communication
In the early 20th century, the European fashion scene remained immersed in the ornate traditions of Victorian-era attire. Against this backdrop, Madame Chanel pioneered a new design aesthetic that marked a significant departure from convention, initiating a transformative movement toward the liberation of women's clothing (
Guo,2020).
Sveva Marcangeli (2015) critically analyzes the pivotal role that Chanel’s designs have played in challenging gender hierarchies from a multidimensional perspective.
Jean-Marie Floch (2011), adopting a semiotic framework, interprets the meaning embedded in the
total look of Chanel. Beatriz (2022) emphasizes the essential function of storytelling in the construction and evolution of the Chanel brand identity.
Scholars from both Eastern and Western academic contexts have recognized that Coco Chanel regarded fashion design as an externalized expression of self-awareness, skillfully embedding elements of social interaction into the processes of product presentation and marketing, thereby facilitating the broad dissemination of meaning. This mode of interaction aligns closely with
Goffman’s (2002) dramaturgical theory, which posits that individuals perform roles in social settings to shape others’ perceptions of them. Throughout the development of the Chanel brand, various elements of its fashion design have gradually been transformed into symbolic signifiers, conveying the brand’s distinctive aesthetic and value orientation. These signs collectively construct an imaginative fashion universe, offering a robust foundation for expanding the semantic framework of the phenomenology of dress (
Sharov, 2019).
In fact, the characteristics of taste often intertwine organically with collectivity, with fashion serving as the result of collective choice (
Blumer, 2017). As a brand icon, Chanel’s symbols continuously inspire individuals to integrate into the brand’s myth through the act of purchasing Chanel products (
Duarte, 2012). In this process, the connotation of fashion communication ultimately aligns with the construction of cultural identity, which emerges as a dynamic process shaped by the tension between the desire for collective affiliation and the imperative of social differentiation. On the other hand, it is reconstructed through the tension between taste distinctions and class stratification, forming a structure that is at once fixed and fluid. Through the interplay of these two dimensions, the cultural significance of identity in fashion communication is gradually articulated (
Guo, 2020).
A wide range of scholars have examined Chanel’s fashion communication and its cultural connotations from multiple perspectives, revealing how the brand constructs its image and achieves cultural identification through design aesthetics, social interaction, and symbolic representation. However, most existing studies concentrate on the brand’s communication and impact within Western contexts, while comparatively little attention has been given to its processes of cultural translation and localization in Eastern markets such as China. In addition, the role of Chanel’s brand ambassadors in cross-cultural communication and the mechanisms by which they contribute to the construction of cultural identity remain insufficiently explored. This study aims to address these gaps by analyzing Chanel´s female brand ambassadors in China, uncovering the fashion communication strategies and cultural meanings behind their selection and representation. Under the circumstances, it offers new perspectives and theoretical support for understanding the cross-cultural practices of global fashion brands.
3. Research Approach and Design
3.1 Sample Selection
In 1993, Chanel opened its first boutique counter in Shanghai, marking the brand’s official entry into the Chinese market. After the turn of the millennium, Chanel gradually recognized the enormous potential of the Chinese market and began to intentionally select brand ambassadors whose images were consistent with the brand’s culture. In this context, the present study systematically reviews the female ambassadors selected by Chanel since its entry into China, including those appointed at the global level, within the Chinese market, and across different product categories. By examining the changes in these female representations from the beginning of their collaborations with Chanel, this research aims to interpret the cultural scope and influence of the Chanel brand in the Chinese market.
Xun Zhou represents one of Chanel’s most significant milestones in the Chinese market. In 2006, she officially became a spokesperson for Chanel, and in 2011, she was appointed as a brand ambassador. Her distinctive charisma and substantial cultural influence have contributed to wider recognition and acceptance of the Chanel brand among Chinese consumers. Subsequently, Chanel selected Wen Liu, who walked in Chanel’s runway shows as early as 2008 and officially became a brand ambassador in 2017. As an international supermodel, Wen Liu not only enjoys high visibility within the fashion industry, but her confident and elegant image also resonates with Chinese consumers’ pursuit of fashion and beauty. In recent years, Chanel has further expanded its roster of brand ambassadors by selecting influential Chinese women such as Lun-Mei Gwei, Zhilei Xin, Zifeng Zhang, and Jingtong Dou. Each ambassador has achieved distinction in fields such as film, television, or fashion, thereby further enhancing Chanel’s cultural presence and influence in the Chinese market.
3.2 Text Analysis
This paper employs a semiotic analysis approach, starting from the unique perspective of the relationship between female images and branding. It provides an in-depth analysis of the complex and intricate network of brand meanings constructed by Chanel in the Chinese market through the depiction of female imagery. The female brand ambassadors chosen by Chanel China serve not only as promoters of the product but also as messengers and embodiments of the brand’s values, cultural connotations, and idealized female images.
There is a carefully constructed congruence between the personal traits of female brand ambassadors and the brand’s attributes. Together, they form a highly recognizable and appealing brand symbol that enables consumers to readily associate these female representatives with the lifestyle and values embodied by Chanel. However, this image is not static; it evolves in response to changing social aesthetics, leading to shifts in the selection of brand ambassadors. Accordingly, this study examines the Chinese brand ambassadors from the early 21st century to the present, analyzing the temporal evolution of female brand images in China. The findings reveal how Chanel skillfully utilizes female brand ambassadors as key symbols to showcase a feminine outlook that integrates Western fashion elements with Chinese cultural characteristics. This strategic framing constructs a communication bridge between the brand and consumers, facilitating the reinterpretation and development of fashion discourse within China’s social and cultural context. Additionally, it promotes the dissemination of brand culture and the generation of brand meanings. These insights offer a deep understanding of the symbolic operational mechanisms of fashion brands in cross-cultural contexts and contribute to theoretical discussions in the field of communication studies.
4. Finding
The development and transformation of Chanel’s female brand ambassador images in the Chinese market not only reflect the company’s marketing strategies but also serve as a mirror for the exchange and collision of Eastern and Western cultures. The study finds that the image of female brand ambassadors’ functions as a visual symbol that plays a crucial role in the generation and dissemination of brand meaning. As aesthetic consciousness continues to evolve, the representation of female brand ambassadors has shown a trend toward greater diversity and richness.
4.1 Analysis of Visual Symbols in the Brand Image of Early Brand Ambassadors.
In 1982, Karl Lagerfeld officially took over the management of Chanel at a time when the brand was experiencing a period of decline following the death of its founder, Coco Chanel. Lagerfeld recognized that to revitalize and re-energize Chanel, it was essential to reinterpret and develop the brand’s identity. He keenly perceived contemporary women’s desire for clothing that is comfortable, feminine, yet still elegant and noble, which aligned with Chanel’s intrinsic design principles. Consequently, he reassembled the brand’s iconic elements and emphasized the use of key symbols such as pearls, chains, and the double
C logo (
Chen, 2019).
During Karl Lagerfeld’s tenure at Chanel, he frequently drew inspiration from other cultures, integrating elements from different civilizations into Chanel’s designs and creating a form of cultural imagination. Similar to Gabrielle Chanel, who despite never having visited China incorporated Chinese elements into her fashion brand with notable aesthetic expression (Mauriès and Sabatini, 2016), Lagerfeld also designed the Paris-Shanghai collection (2009–2010 Handcraft Workshop Series) without direct knowledge of Chinese culture. The incorporation of cultural elements into brand design not only facilitates the expansion of the global market but also attracts and maintains a loyal customer base. In the series inspired by Chinese motifs, the elements imbued with meaning are not directly related to the original symbols; they are reinterpreted and transformed into a illusion of Chinese visual culture. These symbols serve as visual markers that identify the design as representing China, functioning as a symbolic signifier of cultural identity.
However, gaining access to the Chinese market relies not only on the accumulation of Chinese elements but also significantly depends on the selection and cultivation of brand ambassadors. Xun Zhou, as the first Chinese brand ambassador for Chanel, possesses a distinctive combination of artistic and feminine qualities, along with extensive influence within China and internationally. These attributes have positioned her as an effective bridge for communication between the Chanel brand and Chinese consumers.
Xun Zhou, as a renowned Chinese actress, possesses innate facial features that contribute to her distinctive style and demeanor. She has a cute and delicate physique, with a finely crafted face and large, enchanting eyes. Her gaze often conveys a complex mixture of innocence and purity alongside seductive allure, radiating an unmistakable, captivating aura (
Wang, 2010).
This distinctive physical appearance signally constructs a unique female aura. Through repeated portrayal in her works, Xun Zhou’s corporeal representation has ultimately been elevated to a level approaching mythic status. In fact, this transformation represents a powerful affirmation and reconstruction of contemporary Chinese women’s self-imagination and subjective identity. It is a response to social progress and ideological liberation, embodying the maximum expression of bodily freedom after half a century of social and cultural change. In early works such as
Temptress Moon (1996),
Beijing Bicycle (2001),
Hollywood Hong Kong (2005), and
Perhaps Love (2005), Xun Zhou played a variety of roles including prostitutes, dancers, actresses, underground party members, and eccentric women. These on-screen characters appear elegant, beautiful, and sometimes sensuous or seductive, while simultaneously being highly versatile. They understand how to use sexuality as a weapon to dominate and seduce men, possessing a destructive power over men’s morality, will, strength, bodies, and judgment.
Under the influence of socialization processes, these narratives gradually evolved into cultural phenomena, with their impact extending beyond the realm of film and television into various layers of society and culture. Xun Zhou’s on-screen persona consequently became a widely influential cultural sign. The complex, multifaceted female images she portrayed, characterized by resistance to fate and opposition to male-dominated social norms, exemplify a strong sense of female agency and a pursuit of self-worth.
This overlapping of meanings reinforces the values of female independence, confidence, and freedom promoted by the Chanel brand, making Xun Zhou an ideal brand ambassador for conveying women’s cultural ideals in the Chinese market. She not only represents Chanel’s fashion style but also embodies a positive and empowering female spirit that inspires Chinese women to pursue self-worth and personal liberation.
As a brand ambassador for Chanel, Xun Zhou has achieved a transformation and elevation from her personal sign to a representation of the brand’s own textual symbol. In reality, she has created a diverse range of on-screen personas through numerous film and television works, which have become her unique cultural signs with high recognition and influence. When she became the brand ambassador for Chanel, these personal signs merged with the brand’s symbols, forming a new system of sign. In Chanel’s advertisements and fashion shows, Xun Zhou’s personal signs were reinterpreted to embody the cultural connotations and values of the Chanel brand; she no longer represents only herself but has become a signed figure in the Chinese cultural context of the brand. This process of sign transformation and elevation not only enhanced Chanel’s cultural recognition in the Chinese market but also enriched Xun Zhou’s personal signified, establishing her as a dual sign in the fields of fashion and culture.
4.2 The evolution of Chanel’s fashion value in China.
Chanel’s clothing continually advances fashion within each seasonal update by employing a chronological framework to renew aesthetic expressions. Through the representation of different brand ambassadors, the brand continuously reinforces the audience’s shared understanding and belief in fashion change as a core value, providing the public with embodied visual appearances and spatial scene experiences. Consequently, when female brand ambassadors wear Chanel, the interplay of discourse and narrative constructed through these associations creates various visually appealing appearances. The ongoing evolution of female imagery inevitably drives the continual redefinition of the brand’s meaning.
The fashion ideology constructed by Chanel constitutes a highly structured system of symbolic representation, which from the combination of individual experiential narratives with societal constructs, and its meanings are not fixed; rather, they are continually evolving. Fashion explicitly articulates a myth of change, serving as a game of constant transformation (
Baudriltard, 1993). Since Xun Zhou became the first Chinese brand ambassador for Chanel, the company has appointed over ten Chinese ambassadors over the past two decades, with women constituting the majority. Through the annual release of nine series of products, Chanel perpetually innovates, forming interconnected, embedded, and aggregated symbolic significations that uphold and reinforce the values of fashion. This process facilitates a direct dialogue between individuals and fashion, shaping the ongoing negotiation of brand meanings within the cultural context.
Since Xun Zhou’s first collaboration with Chanel in 2006, the brand has provided her with a greater number of haute couture garments than many other celebrities, with her collection totaling over 112 pieces. During the early years of the partnership, from 2006 to 2011, numerous visual records captured Xun Zhou wearing Chanel haute couture. At that time, the designs primarily reflected traditional male gazes’ imaginings of women, featuring elements such as transparency, lace, and short skirts. The use of transparency and lace created a romantic yet slightly erotic atmosphere, while the short skirt designs emphasized the length of the female legs, aligning with conventional male aesthetic ideals of female attractiveness. In this phase, Chanel’s designs appeared to primarily cater to a male perspective, emphasizing female body contours and vulnerability to construct a specific female image. Xun Zhou’s appearance in these garments thus reflects the limitations imposed by Western fashion industries’ representation of Chinese women.
However, in September 2012, Xun Zhou appeared on the cover of magazine
时装L’OFFICIEL1 wearing a jacket that incorporated design elements of a men’s shirt collar. This choice of attire marked a significant turning point. Although the overall design remained centered on female characteristics, the jacket’s structured material and sharp tailoring moderated the femininity, creating a balance between softness and toughness that exemplified a style of gender ambiguity. This shift signaled a transformation in Xun Zhou’s fashion expression toward a more gender-neutral aesthetic. During this period from 2012 to 2019, Chanel implemented a diversification strategy in China by appointing a variety of brand ambassadors, including Wen Liu and Lun-mei Gwei, as representatives of the brand’s evolving female image. Wen Liu, as an international supermodel, presented a different external image compared to Xun Zhou; her tall stature, striking features, and commanding presence challenged traditional Western aesthetic perceptions of Eastern women. Lun-mei Gwei, on the other hand, became known for her long-standing short hairstyle, which became one of her signature features. Her distinctive facial features combined with minimalist black-and-white outfits effectively embodied Chanel’s gender-neutral style. These representations not only cultivated her unique modern femininity but also contributed to the gradual evolution of the Chanel brand from a symbol of French high fashion to an icon representing a new conception of femininity.
Analysis of the garments worn by Wen Liu and Lun-mei Gwei reveals a significant aesthetic shift in Chanel haute couture styles from 2012 to 2019. As the first Asian model to walk in the Victoria’s Secret annual fashion show, Wen Liu’s fashion image challenges traditional Western perceptions of Chinese women. During the Spring/Summer 2017 Chanel haute couture show, Wen Liu wore a light beige tailored jacket paired with classic denim jeans and a black top. The jacket featured structural shoulder tailoring that emphasized shoulder lines and utilized a straight cut and narrow sleeves inspired by men’s suits, creating a gender-neutral silhouette. The rough texture of the soft tweed fabric combined with jeans effectively concealed the female form. Similarly, Lun-mei Gwei frequently appeared in public wearing gender-neutral clothing characterized by long, trousers, and tailored designs. At the 2019 Chanel Fall/Winter show held at the Grand Palace in Paris, Lun-mei Gwei wore a Paris-États series dress paired with a folded-sleeve coat from the Paris-Hamburg atelier collection. This ensemble incorporated elements of suit construction, such as a contrasting collar and button closures, which conveyed strength from menswear while also hinting at femininity. The integration of masculine elements into women’s fashion is a primary visual feature of the Chanel haute couture worn by both Wen Liu and Lun-mei Gwei. Compared to Xun Zhou’s earlier designs, their use of gender-neutral styling marked a notable departure from the previously predominant emphasis on emphasizing femininity. During this period, these female brand ambassadors broke away from traditional high fashion constraints on women’s bodies. The gender-neutral approach not only enhanced practicality but also transformed conventional notions of female body image and temperament. Through clothing, new female archetypes were constructed, enabling women to challenge traditional corporeal discipline within visual regimes. Chanel’s experimentation with de-gendered design language in representing female images has enhanced the functional value of clothing, expanded diverse styles for women, and conveyed a confident attitude emphasizing that women need not seek to please others.
Since 2020, the Chanel brand has continuously expanded its roster of brand ambassadors, with numerous celebrities increasingly representing its brand image. During this period, Chanel further deepened its strategy of diversifying its brand ambassador portfolio by introducing a range of female artists with varied styles, including Zhilei Xin, Shishi Liu, Zifeng Zhang, and Jingtong Dou. The inclusion of these individuals not only enriched Chanel’s fashion expression but also extended its cultural influence within the Chinese market. Spanning from elegance to individuality and from freshness to avant-garde, these women showcase the brand’s diversity and inclusivity through their unique feminine images and fashion styles.
In 2017, Chinese mainland actress Zhilei Xin began collaborating with Chanel and has served as a brand ambassador since 2020. Her image combines maturity, seductive allure, and elegance, resonating deeply with Chanel’s contemporary brand strategy centered on reshaping female empowerment. Over the years, Zhilei Xin has embodied Chanel’s haute couture collections by narrating a story centered on confidence and independence, constructing a visual matrix that transitions from traditional professional attire to deep V evening gowns. Her styling reflects a progression from conventional knee-length business dresses to daring new cuts that expose leg lines, as well as from provocative strapless designs to confident transparent fabrics. Through Zhilei Xin’s fashion language, Chanel has embarked on a nearly decade-long fashion revolution that challenges traditional perceptions of women under the male gaze, shifting towards a celebration of female agency. This design approach organically integrates gender-neutral aesthetics with body-focused narratives, thereby redefining the fashion subjectivity of contemporary women.
The collaboration between Zhilei Xin and Chanel surpasses mere celebrity endorsement logic and serves as a practical example of how Western luxury brands are reconstructing the image of Chinese women. Under Chanel’s styling, the stereotype of women as submissive and dependent has gradually dissipated, shifting the focus toward the internal resilience and self-defined fashion perspectives of Chinese women. In December 2024, Chanel’s 2024/25 Métiers d’Art haute couture show launched in Hangzhou, featuring Zhilei Xin wearing a textured tweed fringed jacket and matching trousers from the Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 ready-to-wear collection. This ensemble exemplifies a deep integration of traditional Chinese culture, with the use of heritage craft techniques such as Su embroidery and button knots incorporated into the design, reaffirming Chinese stylistic elements as central. The outfit employs ink wash painting-inspired brushstrokes to evoke Chinese cultural aesthetics, skillfully blending the traditional water ink artistic conception with Chanel’s Western fashion signs. This serves as a landmark example of Chanel’s localization strategy, representing not an appropriation of Eastern aesthetics nor a unidirectional export of Western aesthetics but rather a cultural integration that fosters equitable dialogue among different cultures in the context of globalization. It thus leaves a distinctive mark of the Orient within the global fashion landscape.
Within the mechanisms of production of symbolization in luxury branding, the selection of brand ambassadors consistently functions to convey specific cultural memories and plays a role in encoding and decoding fashion, thereby highlighting the evolution of female representations. Since 2020, Chanel has appointed Shishi Liu, Zifeng Zhang, and Dou Jingdong as brand ambassadors in the Chinese market, and the choices of these emerging female figures reflect the dynamic shifts in how luxury brands engage in cultural translation within this context.
In the process of constructing Shishi Liu’s image, Chanel consistently integrates elements of Eastern aesthetics with French elegance in its styling. As her debut role in the television series
Scarlet Heart (2011) Shishi Liu portrayed the character of Maertai Ruo Xi, establishing a visual image of classical Eastern beauty. Moreover, at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, Shishi Liu wore a modified cheongsam top and styled her hair in a traditional Chinese side bun, showcasing her unique Oriental charisma to the global audience. This typical oriental aesthetic is once again displayed in her Chanel clothing. In July 2023, at Chanel haute couture fall/winter collection show, she was dressed in the newest 2023 fall/winter tailored dress. The ensemble, crafted from black woolen fabric with sequins and a cinched waist, embodied elegance while also incorporating Shishi Liu’s distinctive Chinese aesthetic, thereby illustrating the beauty of Eastern women. Chanel’s design for Shishi Liu’s attire both continues the brand’s signature style of simplicity and elegance and, through the posture and image of an Oriental performer, presents a French sophistication rooted in Eastern features to the fashion industry and broader audiences. This cultural collision between East and West reflects Chanel’s historical transition from the concept of freeing the body to redefining elegance in women’s fashion. Under the influence of Chinese female ambassadors, Chanel creates narratives of Eastern classicism through Western designer perspectives, thus fostering a dialogue that combines Western fashion ideals with Eastern cultural identity.
Zifeng Zhang’s participation signifies Chanel’s in-depth exploration of the empowerment of Generation Z women. Due to her frequent portrayal of young chil characters on screen, she has been consistently associated with the girl image. At the 2025
China’s Huabiao Film Awards2 ceremony, Zifeng Zhang appeared on the red carpet wearing a black haute couture gown made of chiffon from the 2024 Autumn/Winter collection. The color black often symbolizes mystery and elegance, while the flowing nature of the chiffon gown conveys maturity. The semi-transparent fabric adds an element of allure and sensuality, creating a visual contrast with her youthful appearance. The gown is embellished with sequins, which enhance its visual appeal and draw attention. As the first Chinese actress born in the 2000s to unveil Chanel’s haute couture, the 23-year-old Zifeng Zhang still possesses a youthful innocence and shyness. Chanel integrated her image with this black chiffon haute couture gown, blending the dichotomy of youth and maturity, thereby breaking the stereotypical on-screen image and providing a paradigm for diverse representations of young women. This also metaphorically suggests that Generation Z women should dare to break free from conventional images and redefine their self-identity beyond existing labels.
JingTong Dou’s Chanel fashion styling carries a sense of rebellion. As the daughter of Faye Wong and Wei Dou
3, and thus a second-generation celebrity, she chose a de-idealized style that transformed clothing into a weapon of resistance against normative discipline. At the 2024 Hangzhou fashion show, her outfit, which combined lingerie with a suit and jeans, contrasted sharply with traditional clothing styles that concealed lingerie. This outward display of lingerie symbolizes a shift of intimate apparel from privacy to public visibility, representing a transformation of women’s bodies from objects of gaze to active performers. Chanel boldly integrated women’s suits with masculine design elements and lingerie, traditionally associated with privacy, presenting what was once considered private openly in the public domain. This approach exemplifies a degendering and descenicization of fashion styling, extending Chanel’s traditional androgynous style into an avant-garde realm, and redefines the boundaries of lingerie concealment, emphasizing the reshaping of privacy through fashion. By presenting clothing that promotes the public display of private elements, Chanel communicates a new fashion ethos centered on the profound liberation of women from the constraints of traditional privacy norms, signaling an evolving understanding of self-expression that transcends conventional boundaries of gender and scene.
From Xun Zhou to today’s brand ambassadors, Chanel has continuously explored and transformed its image concerning gender aesthetics and cultural expression. In the early period, Xun Zhou utilized fashion to align with traditional male aesthetics, emphasizing femininity and sensuality. During the 2nd stage, Chanel adopted a diversified strategy for its brand ambassadors, jointly promoting the blurring of gender boundaries. Since 2017, the inclusion of various artists has made the brand ambassador images more diverse, encompassing styles such as elegance, individuality, freshness, and avant-garde, which reflect the brand’s respect for and support of female diversity. This developmental process not only demonstrates Chanel’s ongoing efforts to reshape the image of Chinese women but also constructs a unique Chinese female myth. Through a rich array of Chinese female images conveyed via different garments, Chanel expresses a distinct understanding of Chinese femininity in its communication.
5. Result
Since its inception, the Chanel brand has consistently emphasized simplicity and comfort in women’s apparel. Chanel did not introduce a different aesthetic or feminine image into fashion; rather, her designs were grounded in a new ethic articulated as follows: I design for a new society. Until now, clothes were designed for idle women; I design for the active woman, a woman who feels comfortable in her dress (
Teunissen and Brand, 2009: 15). Chanel’s original design philosophy focused on women’s independence and freedom, aiming to liberate women from traditional constraints and shape a completely new image of femininity.
As a French Western brand, Chanel’s entry into the Chinese market depended not only on its distinctive production and sales model and commercial motivation but also on the role of brand ambassadors in producing and mediating the perceived value of the products as well as constructing actions that reinforce the brand image. These female ambassadors, as brand disseminators, exemplify Chanel's fashion legitimacy through their event attire, fashion visuals, and everyday shares. These elements act as agents of legitimization and instances of consecration for the brand (
Bourdieu,1993). By carefully selecting Chinese brand ambassadors, Chanel has been able to shape new brand meanings and values, thereby facilitating the reproduction of these meanings within the Chinese cultural context.
From actress Xun Zhou to Jingtong Dou and others, many individuals over the past two decades have significantly influenced the construction of Chinese female imagery through their personal charisma and versatile styles. During this process, the meaning of the Chanel has been reshaped with the help of these brand ambassadors. Their active participation in the fashion industry not only reflects the evolution of Chinese female images but also leverages their influence to promote cultural adaptation and innovation of Chanel within the Chinese market. However, as a Western brand interacts with Eastern culture, the perceptions of the East inevitably influence the construction of female images. Western cultural narratives have long depicted Eastern women as fragile, mysterious, and obedient, which imposes stereotypical limitations that restrict the diversity of expression for Eastern women on the international fashion stage and constrains their understanding and shaping of their own images. Particularly during Chanel’s early development in China, Xun Zhou’s clothing emphasized elements of feminine elegance, yet during the same period, Chanel’s designs often incorporated masculine styles, such as jackets, trousers, and suits, reflecting the creative use of menswear-inspired elements across different seasons by the brand’s designer.
Therefore, within the contrasting cultural frameworks of the East and the West, the asymmetry between these cultures has led to the phenomenon of
cultural markedness. In cross-cultural communication, one culture often perceives itself as the
unmarked category, while viewing the heterogenous other culture as the
marked category distinguished by its difference (
Zhao, 2012). According to this tendency reflects the tendency of dominant cultures to consider their own traits as standard, whereas other cultures are marked by their differences. However, over time, cultures continually evolve and diversify, resulting in a trend toward multiple aesthetic standards. This diversification of aesthetic preferences has provided a broader space for the construction of Chinese female images, allowing for the integration of both Eastern and Western cultural elements and leading to unique and rich expressions in fashion. Chanel has capitalized on these Chinese female brand ambassadors to successfully achieve cultural adaptation and innovation within the Chinese market, thereby further strengthening its influence in the Chinese and global fashion industries.
The development of Chanel’s Chinese female brand ambassadors has become a mechanism composed of shared memory, associations, and imaginative creation. The brand leverages the performances of women’s bodies to showcase products, which goes beyond their immediate physical presence to embed and unfold these images within cultural and historical contexts. This network of meanings transcends boundaries of time and space, combining the brand’s historical legacy and cultural connotations with contemporary aesthetic trends, thereby reflecting the negotiations and exchanges between Eastern and Western cultures
6. Conclusion
Chanel, as a representative of French aesthetic values, has historically held a significant position in the global fashion industry. The addition of Chinese female brand ambassadors has further exemplified the Western brand’s efforts to demonstrate an understanding of and actively integrate into Eastern culture and markets. However, fashion is inherently dynamic, with aesthetic standards evolving across different eras, and varying cultural backgrounds across different regions influencing the dissemination of fashion and the reception of aesthetic ideals.
This study reveals three distinct female images that have emerged over time through an analysis of Chanel’s Chinese female brand ambassadors in the past two decades. From Xun Zhou’s early presentation of a traditional elegant female image to a gender-neutral transformation and subsequently to a diverse and individualistic female image, the brand ambassadors’ styles have showcased a variety of fashion expressions, reflecting Chanel’s ongoing exploration and innovation in gender aesthetics and cultural representation. Clothing, as a non-verbal sign, is not merely a material decoration of the body but also a bearer of cultural connotations. The research finds that through the evolution of clothing among Chanel’s Chinese female brand ambassadors, the brand has successfully constructed a symbolic system that bridges Eastern and Western cultures, integrates traditional and modern elements, and demonstrates the multifaceted charming of women. Additionally, Chanel has utilized these images to redefine the traditional connotations associated with the Chanel brand symbols, showcasing the brand’s pioneering role in cultural innovation.
However, the emergence and popularity of the Chanel brand in China are not merely a subversion of traditional Western aesthetic forms and connotations. At its core, it directly stimulates the consumer society of fashion. The most prominent feature of consumer society is its symbolization. Chanel garments, through their unique designs and brand philosophy, transform into symbols of identity, status, and taste when associated with Chinese female brand ambassadors. Consumers purchase and wear Chanel clothing not only to satisfy material needs but also to express themselves, showcase individuality, and construct specific images. This phenomenon of symbolic consumption drives the development of the fashion industry and reflects modern society’s pursuit of symbols and meanings. The successful presence of the Chanel brand in China is primarily due to its effective utilization of symbolic features to meet consumers’ material and spiritual needs, thereby securing an important position within the consumer society.
Notes
Figure 1.Scene from the Love Story in Shanghai (2000).
Figure 2.Selected photographs from Xun Zhou’s representative works between 1996 and 2005. (2a: Scene from the movie Temptress Moon. 2b: Scene from the Beijing Bicycle. 2c: Scene from the Hollywood Hong Kong. 2d: Scene from the Perhaps Love.)
Figure 3.Xun Zhou served as a representative figure for Chanel Haute Couture styles. (3a: Xun Zhou’s Chanel Fall Haute Couture look in 2009. 3b: Xun Zhou’s Chanel Spring Haute Couture look in 2010. 3c: Xun Zhou’s Chanel Fall Haute Couture look in 2010.)
Figure 4.The Chanel haute couture worn by Wen Liu and Lun-mei Gwei (4a: Wen Liu’s participation in the 2017 Chanel Spring/Summer haute couture show. 4b: Lun-mei Gwei’s appearance at the 2019 Chanel Fall/Winter runway show.)
Figure 5.
Zhilei Xin is wearing haute couture apparel from Chanel.
(5a: Zhilei Xin appeared wearing a blue ensemble from the 2023 Spring/Summer haute couture collection.5b: Zhilei Xin attended the backstage event dressed in a gown from the Chanel 2024 early spring series.)
Figure 6.Chanel Spring/Summer 2025 collection
Figure 7.Shishi Liu’s debut work and an image of Shishi Liu dressed in Chanel haute couture. (7a: Scene from the Scarlet Heart. 7b: Chanel Haute Couture fall/winter at 2023)
Figure 8.Chanel 2024 Autumn/Winter collection
Figure 9.Chanel 2024/25 Métiers d’Art high craftsmanship collection show in Hangzhou
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