Zirui Yang has been obsessed with shopping since junior high. “Clothes, shoes and accessories — and they always had to be branded,” said the 22-year-old student. “It started with Nike and Adidas, then moved on to Gucci and Balenciaga.”
But since starting college in 2022, his retail therapy has been less about big brands and more about purchases with “emotional value, like small accessories, plush toys, fragrances and travel,” said Yang, who lives in Nanjing, eastern China. “I like ritual, novelty and things that have a unique identity.”
So much for the logo-mania that, for years, defined China’s Gen Z and millennial shoppers. Yet, against a backdrop of…