| China has become the world’s largest luxury goods consumer. In recent years, international luxury brands originally limited to adult market have been exploring market of children’s wear in China, targeting on the high-end market in particular. Through technique like advertising, multinational corporations try to construct myth of "luxury life style" and "children’s fashion" of upper class in the West, convey symbolic value of their brand, so as to promote sales and accomplish capital expansion in China.This paper studies dozens of well-designed commercial films and print ads of luxury children’s wear, windows and counters, as well as advertising copies. It turns out that in commercial films and print ads, a large number of symbolic codes are found, surreal and postmodern artistic technique are frequently used, nostalgia is applied to showcase classic, and adult-like scenes are noticed. Windows and counters of children’s luxury wear shop are designed to build consumption space filled with ritual experience. In addition, fracture between commodity and meaning, signifier and the signified can be seen in ads copies.Considering China’s context and based on theories of consumer society and gender study, this paper argues that hidden behind the "spectacle" built by multinational corporations, is the global capitalist system of tool rationality and business logic; innocent children models become subjects who are being watched; consumption on children’s luxury wear is more a conspicuous consumption to meet the vanity of parents, consequently strengthening the differentiation of consumption and class.; adult-like, gendered and consumerism-oriented childhood is unhealthy to children’s growth; prosperity of luxury children’s wear in China actually reflects weak position of China’s domestic industry and people’s anxiety in globalization.Therefore, we should be aware of the myth constructed by ads of luxury children’s wear, and remain rational on consuming. |
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