When Spanish influencer Helena Cuesta posted a photo of herself wearing a pink silk jacket with blue jeans, it quickly caught her followers' attention. The stylish jacket, with a straight-button front, drew many compliments, with people curious about the brand and size. This chic piece, incorporating Chinese design elements, is from the Spanish brand Amlul.
Amlul's jacket reflects a rising trend in Western fashion, as many brands have begun incorporating Chinese features, including Mandarin collar, frog buttons and symmetrical fronts, into their 2026 collections.
This trend traces its origins back to October 2025, when Adidas Originals launched its "Chinese Track Top" featuring these iconic elements in the Shanghai Fashion Week. Initially sold exclusively in China, the track top quickly gained popularity on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
The tracksuit jacket became part of a viral "three-piece set of New Chinese Style" on social media, alongside Labubu dolls and the hit hip-hop/rap song Da Zhan Hong Tu by Guangdong-based artists Lan Lao and AR. This song is a bold fusion of traditional Cantonese Opera Di Nyu Hua, trap music and local dialects, including Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka.
By the 2026 Spring Festival, the most sought-after Adidas faux-suede CTT, priced at around 1,000 yuan ($146), had sold out in major Chinese cities. People from overseas flocked to purchase it, not only for themselves but also for friends and family. Online resellers like StockX offered the purple piece for up to $488. A viral TikTok video titled POV: your dad just came back from China showed a man distributing Adidas CTTs to his family, garnering over 9.5 million views. The video, like many others, featured people posing in their new tops with Da Zhan Hong Tu playing in the background.
This trend quickly spread worldwide, with fashion-forward brands like Ralph Lauren, Kenzo and Lemarie incorporating similar frog-button designs in their Fall/Winter 2026 shows. Fashion influencers began posting pictures wearing jackets with these Chinese elements, conveying auspicious meanings. Notable appearances included US actress Kelly Rutherford in Laganini's Shanghai Ivory Jacket, Spanish influencer Helena Cuesta in a pink button-front jacket from Amlul, and influencers Adrian Colourist and Sirin U Haban in Rohe's cream pankou closure jacket.
Chinese-style jackets pair effortlessly with jeans, satin trousers, or puffy skirts. Vogue's WeChat account praised the style as "incredibly versatile", seamlessly transitioning from casual to streetwear to elegant, blending traditional elements with modern design language.
This "New Chinese Style" is not new in China, where it emerged at the start of the 21st century, gained momentum from 2015, and went viral in 2021.
Layering a satin vest over a hoodie, pairing a traditional brocade jacket with jeans, or matching an embroidered shirt with a mamianqun(horse-face skirt), "New Chinese Style" clothing has no precise definition but can be seen combining traditional Chinese elements with modern aesthetics.
Featuring frog buttons, Mandarin collars and puffed shoulders, and using fabrics like brocade and Xiangyun silk, this style carries forward traditional Chinese culture while introducing innovations.
Historically, the stand-up collar emerged in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and peaked during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), while the open-front style originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century BC) and flourished in the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties.
Compared to traditional clothing, which is often formal and ornate, the New Chinese Style emphasizes simplicity and practicality for everyday wear. It opts for regenerated fibers like acetate, preserving quality while being easier for everyday wear, and features loose-fitting designs, that adapt form-fitting garments like the qipao into more relaxed silhouettes.
Traditionally, formal attire had few buttons, often just one or a hidden placket. Today, frog buttons are popular in casual wear and can be added to any garment, even with tassels, without needing to be in odd numbers.
Chinese elements are not strangers to the West. Over the past decades, Western luxury brands have often incorporated these elements, says Yang Jie from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology.
In 1993, John Galliano introduced qipao-style clothing inspired by Chinese American star Anna May Wong. At the Dior Fall/Winter 1997 Haute Couture show, he drew inspiration from 1930s Chinese poster girls, using luxurious fabrics and incorporating elements such as frog buttons and qipao. Jean Paul Gaultier, Prada and Armani have also featured Mandarin collars, asymmetrical closures, or both, in their collections.
Other Chinese-inspired designs include Dior's 1998 silver jewelry collection, which was inspired by intricate handmade silver jewelry worn by Miao women from Southwest China. In 2015, Giorgio Armani's designs featured bamboo motifs and calligraphy.
Roberto Cavalli's "Ming Vase" collection in 2005 was also inspired by "Chinoiserie" and Ming Dynasty porcelain.
In 2015, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's China: Through the Looking Glass exhibition showcased garments inspired by Chinese elements, attracting over 810,000 visitors, and ranking as the sixth most attended exhibition in the museum's history.
Compared to luxury brands, Adidas' Chinese Track Top reaches a wider audience. Yang Jie appreciates the global incorporation of Chinese elements, despite online debates labeling such designs as "shallow".
Yang explains that the popularity of Adidas' Chinese Track Top stems from its incorporation of one of the most recognizable Chinese cultural symbols: the frog buttons. He recalls a story from years ago when a friend from Italy, after visiting the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan province, asked where he could buy a Chinese coat featuring these distinctive buttons.
Unlike "Chinoiserie", which is based on the West's perception of China, the "New Chinese Style" signifies a shift in mindset among Chinese people. They are moving from being seen merely as subjects of aesthetic appreciation to becoming creators of their own aesthetic.
"It's not simply about fashion trends, but about shifts in the global landscape, where, as China's influence continues to grow, Chinese culture becomes more visible and recognized around the world," Yang says.
