Fendi X Heytea brand collab sparks craze among Gen Z consumers

Fendi has teamed up with Chinese tea chain Heytea to launch a co-branded drink as part of the brand’s month-long "Hand in hand" exhibition.  

During 19 May to 16 June, Fendi will be hosting a limited-time pop up in Beijing, tucked away in the Hutong alleys behind the Forbidden City. The outdoor tea room is housed in the art space Temple Donjingyuan and is lined with marigold-yellow cushions to pay homage to Fendi's signature colourway.

A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw over 2.06 views to the hashtag (#喜茶FENDI), with netizens posting photos of the drinks and the limited merchandises, other remarked that they were surprised Fendi would team up with a down-to-earth brand that is relatively affordable to the public. Hey Tea’s official Weibo and Xiaohongshu account profile picture have also been replaced with Fendi’s iconic colour scheme, with double Hey Tea logos.

In China, Heytea is well-liked by Gen Z consumers. It has over 417,000 followers on Xiaohongshu. The teaser photo for the collaboration has received over 2,000 likes, which compares favourably to the average post's 100 to 1,000 likes.

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The offline activation is a part of Fendi’s “Hand in Hand” exhibition, which aims at showcasing its Peekaboo handbag range. Over the years, Fendi has invited international celebrities, artists and designers to explore the possibilities of the Peekaboo handbag to create their own version for special occasions of the brand.

This time, Fendi invited three Chinese contemporary artists Ni Youyu, Chen Fenwan and Lu Pingyuan to create three Peekaboo handbags specially for this exhibition, presenting constellation paintings, Chinese folk paper-cuts, and three-dimensional wood carvings.

Fendi also collaborated with ethnic group Yi people, the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, to create the Baguette handbag. The velvety black fabric symbolises the earth, and the blue, green and water green silk threads represent the lush vegetation around the mountains and rivers.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Fendi for more information.

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