Innovative Application of New Chinese Aesthetics in Haute Couture under the New Media Environment: A Case Study of Gaia Legend ()
1. Introduction
Since the beginning of the new century, the extensive penetration of new media technology, especially the vigorous development of social media and the continuous innovation of digital display methods, has significantly strengthened the social influence of fashion communication. These changes have not only completely changed the design, manufacturing and distribution process of the fashion industry, but also reshaped consumers’ participation and experience models for fashion design. In the in-depth study of the “Media Function in the Discussing Fashion Communication—Taking the Internet Fashion Communication under New Media Technology” (Jiang & Yang, 2024) in the in-depth study of new media technology”, network fashion communication has now become the main channel for fashion trend communication, and to China-Fashion Media, the maturity, the spread of fashion culture, and the prosperity of the fashion industry have had a profound impact. In the context of the continuous expansion of China’s economic growth and international influence, the global radiation power of Chinese culture is increasing. New Chinese aesthetics, an art genre that integrates traditional Chinese aesthetic elements and modern design concepts, is gradually attracting the attention of the international fashion industry. In this context, the legend of Gaia is the benchmark of China’s advanced custom fashion. The successful case of its brand practice provides valuable reference for exploring the application of new Chinese aesthetics in the application of high-level custom fashion fields.
This study is committed to in-depth analysis of the practical application of the new Chinese aesthetics in the high-level custom fashion field in the new media environment, and through a detailed study of Gaia’s legendary brand management strategy, it reveals how it cleverly integrates new Chinese aesthetics into the full custom fashion. Industrial chain provides innovative brand management insights and strategic suggestions for high-level custom fashion brands.
In foreign countries, many scholars have made exploratory research on basic principles and breaking boundaries.
2. Literature Review
2.1. The Concept and Development of New Chinese Aesthetics
In the profound insights of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Liu Yuedi “Reading” New Chinese aesthetic value and cultural significance (Chen, 2024), the new Chinese aesthetics is explained as a phenomenon of cultural and artistic integration. The “aesthetics of life” of the background re-interprets. This aesthetic “new” represents the fit with the rhythm of contemporary life, and “China” reflects the inheritance of the essence of Chinese traditional traditions, and “style” is a style pattern formed in contemporary context. The popularity of new Chinese aesthetics marks the rejuvenation of life aesthetics. It not only revives Chinese-style lifestyle, but also revives Chinese aesthetic concepts.
As Chen Han pointed out in “China Hemei” (Chen, 2023): The Aesthetic Photo of the New Chinese Design Style, from the beginning of the modern design education of China in the early 20th century to the booming development of China’s economy and the rise of cultural self-confidence in the 21st century, as shown in the statistical chart of the new Chinese style e-commerce market in Figure 1 of the Economic Daily, the market size of the new Chinese style in China increased by 259% year-on-year in 2022 and 591% in 2023. The new Chinese style aesthetics has penetrated into multiple fields such as fashion, architecture, and home furnishings, becoming a key driving force for the rise of Chinese design power.
Figure 1. Economic Daily and TikTok jointly released data—the scale of e-commerce market with new Chinese style.
2.2. Senior Custom Clothing Brand Management Theory
In depth analysis of the philosophy of high-level custom clothing brand management, we realize that brand management has surpassed simple business operations, and it is a manifestation of culture and philosophy. This sentence is proposed in “Brand Fashion Marketing and Management in the Intelligent Era” (Zhao, 2024), that the brand is not just a logo or name, it is a complex system containing brand identity, value, culture and personality. This concept is particularly significant in the field of advanced custom clothing, and the value of brand value is directly related to customers’ awareness and loyalty to the brand. Hu Yaping emphasized in the “Research on Customer Classification Management Model of Customer Relationship Management in Enterprise Marketing” (Hu, 2020) that effective customer relationship management strategies are very important for understanding and satisfying customer needs, which is particularly critical in the advanced customized clothing industry. Customers are pursuing a personalized and exclusive service experience, which requires the brand to accurately meet the customer’s personalized needs in every link designed to produce.
While maintaining tradition and craftsmanship, high-level custom brands must continue to innovate to adapt to market changes. In the context of mechanized large-scale production, high-level custom brands insist on handmade production, and each detail shows the spirit of craftsmanship and artistic pursuit. This is not only a guarantee of quality, but also the ultimate pursuit of craftsmanship aesthetics. For example, NORDICA LORENCIA LUCKMAN shown in “Modernization of Sustainable Supply Chain Management on the Emerging Luxury Fashion Brand by Integrating Blockchain Technology” (LUCKMAN, 2024) advanced custom clothing brand management is a multi-dimensional process that covers cultural heritage, personalized services, handicraft protection and market adaptation. At the same time, constantly adapting and leading the market changes.
3. The Practice of New Chinese Aesthetics in High-Definition Clothing
The practice of new Chinese aesthetics is not only the repetition of traditional elements, but also a deep understanding of contemporary design innovation based on traditional Chinese culture. It represents a concept of advancing with the times, an emerging attitude that conforms to contemporary lifestyle and aesthetic concepts. At the same time, it is rooted in traditional culture, showing a long-lasting cultural self-confidence.
According to the research report of “Under 2024 Cultural Consumption Trends, how new Chinese aesthetics builds a contemporary value for Chinese fashion industry”, new Chinese aesthetics is gradually becoming the core trend of China’s fashion industry. According to the statistics of the Tmall platform in Figure 2, the number of new Chinese aesthetics related search volume has increased significantly in recent years, and the market size has increased by 100%year-on-year. This trend not only reflects the popularity of new Chinese aesthetics, but also highlights the promotion of new media in promoting Chinese-style Chinese style Aesthetics of aesthetics. In the wave of new media, new Chinese clothing is favored by more and more young groups, especially on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Instagram. This generation of young people has a deep sense of recognition and pride in traditional culture. Through the new Chinese aesthetic clothing, they cleverly integrate the expression of personal style and cultural identity. Just as Li Shiman’s “The Rise of the National Trend: Observation on New Chinese Lifestyle” (Li & Wang, 2024): When traditional culture becomes a trend and fashion, this style not only inherits the classic beauty of the East, but also shows the modern atmosphere of fashion, so it is loved by many consumers who pursue the national tide. They long for new Chinese aesthetics to profoundly reflect the essence of Chinese culture and integrate with modern design innovation concepts. The legend of Guofeng brand Gaia is the best evidence of this two-way travel between consumers and industries that continues to inspire new Chinese aesthetics in the field of high-definition clothing fields and cultural heritage.
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Figure 2. Search trends and scale changes of new Chinese clothing on Tmall platform.
In Gaia’s legendary design concept, the integration of oriental aesthetics and western-style tailoring reached the peak of art. The brand cleverly combines traditional elements such as Chinese-style stand-up collar, pipa profile, and plate buckle with Western three-dimensional cutting technology, so that clothing has the restrained beauty of the East and the trend of modern fashion. In terms of fabric selection, the brand tends to use traditional fabrics such as silk and brocade, and presents Chinese traditional aesthetics to the world in modern ways through superb embroidery and handicraft skills. Inspired by the profound artistic conception of ink painting in the “Not Dyeing·Clearance” series, the lotus pattern is cleverly combined with the outline of clothing. Through the exquisite embroidery process and three-dimensional fleece, the shape of the lotus flowers is outlined, creating a kind of “Taoist nature” The beauty of flow. The “Song Ying·Qiu Ming” series is inspired by the toughness of Qingsong, and the use of some ink-white drawing methods to sketch the pine branches and mountain stones vividly, and show the charm of the bone structure through the unique embroidery line. At the Beijing Fashion Week in 2024, the “Huaxia Bihua” series released by the legend of Gaia is an exploration of re-collision of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary aesthetics. It is full of spring and vibrant visual effects. The success of Gaia is that it can accurately grasp the connotation of new Chinese aesthetics and transform it into high-level custom fashion with international influence.
The legend of Gaia, as an outstanding representative of the national style brand, not only shows excellence in design concepts and manufacturing technology, but also highlights its uniqueness and innovation spirit in the management strategy and practical method of integrating new Chinese aesthetic elements. For example, Li Ning, as a well-known sports brand in China, combines the Chinese kung fu culture with the modern trend design with the Kung Fu series launched with Jackie Chan’s name in the new Chinese aesthetics, reflecting the integration of sports fashion and Chinese aesthetics. Especially in the 2018 New York Fashion Week, the “Wu Dao” series and the performance in Paris Fashion Week are the practice of combining Chinese traditional cultural elements with modern sports style. However, in the integration of new Chinese aesthetics, Li Ning may sometimes focus more on marketing concepts, not deep-level cultural value mining. Li Ning adopted multi-brand strategy to expand market influence through acquisitions and agents, and enhance brand awareness through sports market marketing. This strategy has made Li Ning’s “national tide” marketing concept have achieved significant results in the short term, but it may also be regarded as a market strategy, not the result of the deep research and practice of the new Chinese aesthetics.
In contrast, the legend of Gaia is more prominent in concentration and deep cultivation in the new Chinese field. Through accurate market positioning and cultural marketing, Gaia legend successfully incorporated new Chinese aesthetics into the brand DNA, attracting a group of loyal consumers. The legendary strategy of Gaia is more concentrated on the in-depth excavation and transmission of brand culture, and builds brand advantages through refined management and cultural value transmission.
4. Analysis of the Problem of the Use of New Chinese Aesthetics
4.1. The Lack of Design and Fashion Interpretation
4.1.1. Design Element Surfaceization
The application of new Chinese aesthetics in the field of design is gradually becoming a hot topic. It is not just a simple replication of traditional Chinese elements, but a reinterpretation and innovation of these elements in the context of modern design. However, during this process, Gaia Legend also encountered some problems, especially in the surface application of design elements. Some designs may only focus on using obvious symbols such as Chinese red, blue and white porcelain patterns or traditional calligraphy fonts, without further exploring the philosophical ideas and aesthetic tastes behind these elements.
4.1.2. Misunderstanding and Expression Errors of Traditional Cultural Connotation
The application of new Chinese aesthetics in the wave of commercialization may sometimes come at the cost of sacrificing the purity of traditional culture. Driven by marketization, in order to quickly obtain returns and cater to common aesthetics, some designs may excessively pursue a retro style in form, and tend to simplify or even distort traditional cultural elements.
4.2. Vague Market Positioning and the Target Consumer Group Is Not Clear
The legend of Gaia strives to combine classical elements with the spirit of the times in design philosophy. However, this fusion of design concepts has not been effectively conveyed to consumers, and may have overlooked modern consumers’ expectations for practicality and comfort in clothing. This compromise in design philosophy may result in products not fully catering to the tastes of specific consumer groups. On the other hand, broad market positioning strategies may sometimes make it difficult for brands to meet the specific needs of different consumers in a meticulous manner. According to the “Market Size Analysis and Development Trend Prediction Report of China’s New Chinese Clothing Industry” (Zhou & Gu, 2024), young consumers tend to choose new Chinese clothing that combines innovative design and modernity, while middle-aged and elderly consumers may place more emphasis on the inheritance of traditional elements and craftsmanship. In the pursuit of universal market appeal, it is possible to inadvertently overlook these differences in demand, resulting in unclear positioning of potential consumer groups.
4.3. Insufficient Brand Communication and the Lack of Innovation Mechanism
Although the new Chinese style clothing has accumulated a certain popularity on social media platforms, the strategic application and user interaction of Gaia Legend in the field of social media urgently need to be strengthened. In addition, there are obvious shortcomings in cross-border cooperation, which limits its potential to stimulate brand vitality and expand market influence. According to the 2023 “New Chinese Style” Trendy Lifestyle Data Report, the new Chinese style has become popular in various fields such as food and nutrition, beauty and skincare, and home decoration, while its innovation pace in the clothing industry is relatively lagging behind.
Secondly, in the field of design, new Chinese clothing brands often fail to demonstrate sufficient innovation, and the problem of clothing homogenization is particularly prominent in the market. The repeated use of traditional patterns and styles makes consumers feel visual fatigue. As a trendsetter in the fashion industry, it failed to keenly capture market trends, lacked in-depth research and analysis of consumer demand, and failed to adjust and update its product strategy in a timely manner according to changes in the market and consumers.
5. Strategic Suggestions and Improvement Measures for the
Application of New Chinese Aesthetics
5.1. Design Innovation and Cultural Depth Strengthening
5.1.1. Strengthening Cultural Research and Art Excavation
In the creative journey of new Chinese haute couture clothing, designers should delve into the profound heritage of traditional Chinese culture, extract inspiration from the language of classical literature, the context of historical stories, and the essence of traditional art, and skillfully weave these cultural genes into the texture of modern clothing design. Drawing on the design language of classical clothing such as “cloud shoulders” and “leaning”, designers are able to integrate the exquisite craftsmanship of traditional embroidery with modern aesthetic concepts, creating fashionable masterpieces that embody both Eastern aesthetics and contemporary trends.
5.1.2. Enhancing the Brand Story and Cultural Resonance
Brands need to use the power of narrative to talk about brand stories and design concepts to deepen consumers’ perception and recognition of the brand’s cultural value. Taking Lafaveur as an example, its brand story is deeply inspired by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai’s “Qing Ping Tune”. The image of “Yunsai wants clothes and flowers” symbolizes the brand’s commitment to show the beauty of the East through fashion art. In every contact of design and marketing, the brand should be committed to establishing a deep cultural resonance with consumers. By highlighting the innovation of its cultural essence and the integration of traditional handicrafts with modern aesthetics, consumers deeply experience the brand’s brand The unique charm and deep cultural heritage.
5.2. Clarifying Market Positioning and Consumer Insights
According to the in-depth research of Tmall Hualiu Fashion consumers in Figure 3, market data shows that consumers have a clear preference for exquisite handmade details of clothing, such as embroidery and buckle design, and have raised higher standards for fabric quality. Therefore, Gaia Legend must conduct detailed market research to accurately grasp the specific needs and preferences of the target customer group. Based on consumer expectations, the clothing design is carefully improved to enhance the comfort of the fabric, and traditional cultural elements are cleverly combined with modern cutting techniques, making the clothing practical for daily wear while retaining the charm of Eastern aesthetics.
Figure 3. Tmall hualiu clothing consumer survey.
5.3. Improving Brand Management Efficiency and Building an
Effective Innovation Mechanism
Firstly, brands must cleverly utilize diverse marketing strategies, actively establish deep interactive relationships with consumers on social platforms, and enhance brand awareness and market influence through creating and sharing original content, collaborating with fashion industry opinion leaders, and planning online interactive activities. At the same time, brands should seize opportunities for cross-border cooperation and collaborate with other industries or brands to launch exclusive limited editions or joint products. This not only expands the product line but also attracts a wider consumer base, effectively conveying the unique cultural essence of the brand. In addition, designers should work together with artists and designers from different fields to introduce diverse design concepts and elements into the creation of new Chinese haute couture clothing, in order to create a unique design style and let new Chinese haute couture clothing shine in the interweaving of inheritance and innovation.
In its innovative practice, designers should not stop at their innovative practice in their innovative practice. Instead, they should conduct bold and innovative design on the basis of deep understanding of the tradition. From Figure 4 2022, Chinese consumers do not buy new Chinese clothing considerations, which means that not only requires the preciseness of modern tailoring technology with the charm of traditional cultural elements to create a classic and modern clothing. On the basis of maintaining the fineness and uniqueness of the traditional handicraft, we actively adopt modern technology and new materials to improve the texture and comfort of traditional fabrics. Simplify the tediousness of new Chinese clothing, improve the quality of clothing fabrics, and use modern weaving CAD software to design light and durable wearing materials. As a result, find a balance between inheritance and innovation to meet consumers’ expectations and needs for new Chinese clothing (Wang, 2024).
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Figure 4. Factors considered for Chinese consumers not to purchase new Chinese style clothing in 2022.
6. Conclusion and Outlook
6.1. Research Conclusion
The new media environment provides a new platform and opportunity for the dissemination and practice of New Chinese Aesthetics, enabling it to quickly reach a wider audience. The legend of Gaia cleverly balances the relationship between tradition and modernity, art and commerce in its design, providing a feasible path for the sustainable development of New Chinese haute couture. The development of new Chinese high-end clothing in the future requires brands to further explore the integration with international fashion trends, continuously optimize their management mechanisms, and use new media technology for brand communication and marketing innovation, while adhering to cultural confidence, in order to achieve long-term development and internationalization strategy of the brand.
6.2. Future Research Directions
Future research directions could include: the application of new Chinese aesthetics in different clothing fields, as well as its impact on brand management strategies; in depth analysis of consumer behavior and psychology, exploring the market demand and consumer preferences of new Chinese aesthetics. By exploring the above future research directions, more comprehensive theoretical support and practical guidance can be provided for the management research of new Chinese aesthetics in the field of high-end clothing.