How a School-Issued Coat Became Beijing's Hottest Winter Trend

Celebrities will often serve as trendsetters simply due to the high amount of attention they are given. So when celebrities all attend the same school, like they do in China, it's the school that sets the trend.

And that's the uncomfortable truth facing Beijing's Central Academy of Drama after having "inadvertently" caused this season's hottest trend.

Long winter coats branded with the school's name have become incredibly popular this winter, inspiring school students to resell them at marked up prices, reported China Daily.

The Central Academy of Drama has spoken out against the scalping of the school attire, claiming that they are for school use only. School authorities vow to punish any student caught exploiting the coats for financial gain. And yet, this hasn't deterred the school's students from queuing for hours just to buy a single coat that can be resold online for prices up to RMB 1,000.

Consumer trends flare up suddenly in China when something achieves mass appeal, such as Hey Tea and Dailin Ice Cream. It seems strange that a privately-sold product with no marketing behind it should achieve such a widespread popularity, but we have to remember: this is the Central Academy of Drama, the school from which many of China's top actors have graduated.

For this reason, this simple black coat has appeared in numerous paparazzi photographs because it's being worn by the school's famous alumni. Instantly recognizable from the white embroidered crest, the Central Academy of Drama's winter coat has become the need-to-buy item this winter.

Although not as star-studded as the Beijing Film Academy, the Central Academy of Drama has had many famous students who keep their alma mater close to heart.

Here's fresh meat Liu Haoran sporting a school-issued winter coat:

Dong Sicheng:

Wei Daxun:

You might not know them, but all these people are famous Chinese celebrities who happen to be wearing the same black coat.

One way to look at this is to see that famous celebrities are just like you and me: When it gets cold, they wear warm clothing. Another way to look at it is to see that China's centralized method of doing everything implies that all things Chinese are homogeneous, including its celebrities.

But hey, school is important in China, where even millionaire pop idols like TFBoys' Wang Junkai have to get an education – at the properly ordained school.

Images: Sohu Media (sohu.com), Weibo.com, Global Times (via weibo.com)

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