Amid a global uptick in digital-first subcultures that channel Y2K aesthetics, Chinese youth are embracing the ‘bad’ taste associated with older, rural, and working-class people in the country. Beyond simply serving as a form of self-expression, what’s behind this tacky nostalgia trip?
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- Generation
Yi Jing Fly is the author of ‘China Too Cool: Vernacular Innovations and Aesthetic Discontinuity of China’. With a background in fashion design and critical and visual studies, her interest lies in understanding society through aesthetic and consumer trends. She currently works in brand strategy at Design Bridge in Singapore.
Yaling Jiang is a translator-turned-business reporter based in Shanghai. She has covered industries including fashion, beauty, art, and food, with a focus on China, and has written and worked for publications including Vogue Business, WWD, Jing Daily, Glossy, CNN Style, Caixin Global, Sixth Tone, and South China Morning Post. With her professional journalistic and language training, she is driven to translate the complex Chinese market through factorial analysis and consumer insights. She is a graduate of Brunel University, the University of Bath, and Columbia Journalism School.
Moya Crockett is a writer, journalist, and editor based in London. A former women’s editor, she’s particularly interested in the cultural, social, and political forces that shape people’s lives.
