In the past, streetwear belonged to a relatively niche subculture. Today, it is moving into the mainstream consumer market, with international brands accelerating their expansion into China.
How did this happen?
Streetwear was originally tied to subcultures like skateboarding, hip-hop, and street dance. In China, 2017 marked a turning point. The reality TV show The Rap of China brought hip-hop into the mainstream, and dance and rap shows continued to expand street culture's influence. A study on Chinese youth street style from 2017 to 2021 also noted that hip-hop-related shows and celebrity effects drove the popularity of hip-hop elements in streetwear.
Consumer data confirms this shift. According to Nielsen and OFashion, China's streetwear spending grew nearly 4x faster than non-streetwear apparel from 2015 to 2020. Tmall data from the same period showed streetwear category growth was 60% above the average for other apparel, with sneakers and hoodies as the most popular items.
Source：Stüssy
On audience profile: Palace Skateboards' core buyers are men aged 18–28, with strong interest in skateboarding and football culture. UK buyers dominate, but Japan and South Korea are fast-growing markets. Today's Stüssy consumers are also mainly 18–28, but they are TikTok-native and more likely to discover brands through streaming content than traditional ads or stores. Streetwear is not just a clothing choice—a global survey shows 62% of consumers believe streetwear "never goes out of style," and 45% buy streetwear items monthly. For them, it is not about chasing a seasonal trend but expressing an everyday lifestyle and attitude. Once the audience reaches this scale, how brands are discovered, remembered, and chosen comes down to channels. Palace Skateboards and Stüssy offer two examples.
Palace Skateboards (PALACE): Online First, Then Offline
PALACE's China path reflects a digital-channel-first approach. In May 2020, the brand announced its official WeChat Store, launching simultaneously with the Summer 2020 collection in China through weekly drops.
This drop model is a core strategy that sets streetwear apart from traditional fashion. Traditional fashion releases full seasonal collections that consumers can buy at a steady pace; the drop model releases small quantities per drop, with no advance notice, creating scarcity and rush-buy psychology, and no restocks. PALACE brought this "drop culture" directly into China to cultivate local purchasing habits.
Source:PALACE “Shang-Hi”
On May 23th, 2026, PALACE further expanded its presence in mainland China with the opening of its first standalone store in Shanghai’s Zhangyuan, accompanied by a Shanghai-exclusive collection.The collection features local cultural elements including the “Shang-Hi” logo, the Chinese zodiac Rabbit, and the Oriental Pearl Tower, while the store’s interior draws design inspiration from traditional Chinese gardens.
On opening day, streetwear fans lined up in the rain at Zhangyuan, and the store used a lottery reservation system to manage traffic; within three days, some Shanghai-exclusive items sold out. From WeChat Store to standalone retail, PALACE's "test online, validate offline" approach generated real consumer response.
Source: RED KOL
Stüssy: Online and Offline in Parallel
Stüssy took a parallel online-offline approach. In 2020, the brand opened its first Chapter store in mainland China at Shanghai Xintiandi, alongside WeChat and Tmall digital operations. Since then, Stüssy has continued expanding its offline network, now with three Chapter stores in mainland China: Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu.
In 2024, the brand opened its third store in Chengdu's Cixi Street art community, launching Chengdu-exclusive products that drew queues on opening day. Cixi Street itself gathers fashion, art, and streetwear brands, aligning well with Stüssy's positioning.
Source: RED
Going Mainstream Also Means Embracing Local Storytelling
For brands, the growth space has changed: where they once sold mainly to skate and hip-hop circles, they can now sell to anyone who identifies with the design and pursues style. The market has shifted from a small circle to a mass consumer market, and growth depends on whether channels can reach people and whether content can be seen. For consumers, wearing streetwear no longer requires subcultural credentials—the circle barrier is gone.
PALACE and Stüssy have done well in China for two reasons: first, they let people who understand China make China decisions—PALACE's "Shang-Hi" collection was not a "China-style" idea cooked up at headquarters, but the result of local team involvement and market-specific integration; Secondly, they put stores in places with a story—Stüssy chose Xintiandi, Sanlitun, and Cixi Street, where the store itself becomes an entry point for dialogue between brand and city. Neither brand simply moved its global inventory to China; instead, they let products grow out of Chinese cities. This is exactly what RedderUp does—uncovering the growth potential of overseas brands in China and helping them translate their existing culture into expressions Chinese consumers can accept.
About RedderUp
RedderUp is a full-service, 360-degree China fashion marketing and PR agency specializing in helping global fashion and luxury brands successfully enter and win in the local Chinese market. We offer an integrated suite of services including strategic public relations, influencer marketing (KOL collaborations), social media management, and e-commerce operations. Our core expertise lies in driving brand visibility and engagement on China's most influential mainstream social platforms—particularly RedNote (Xiaohongshu), WeChat, and Douyin. Whether you need to build authentic connections with Chinese consumers, scale your influencer campaigns, or optimize your social commerce performance, RedderUp provides the localized insights and hands-on execution to make your brand thrive in China's fast-evolving digital landscape.
Contact us for more information or inquiries.
Source:
https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/sdmc-21/125968527?
https://jingdaily.com/posts/china-streetwear-collabs-yoho-nowre
https://heuritech.com/articles/streetwear-brand-china-market/
https://www.ellechina.com/fashion/news/a62014998/stussy-chengdu-chapter-opening/
https://strategyand.hypebeast.com/streetwear-report-market-statistics-global-trends
https://www.measureprotocol.com/insights/supreme-vs-PALACE-global-streetwear-market
https://www.measureprotocol.com/insights/stussy-four-decades-streetwear-credibility