Background

Stylites documents the blossoming of self-expression in contemporary China, providing a pictorial record of the most fascinating pedestrians in Beijing at the start of the 21st century, the moment when China had risen with its new greatness apparent to all.

Walking down Changan Avenue one night in 2007, I saw an unusual hobo whose face and manner somehow reminded me of Christ. He had a mustache, a staff, Adidas-like trainers, and a checked wool coat. I took a snap of this odd fellow and put it on Stylites, then my blog for random, often morbid, reflections.

Gradually, I started taking more photos of unusual types. Local magazines noticed and began carrying the pictures. Stylites quickly moved in the direction of street fashion.

Not long after that, I became Marketing Director for Senli and Frye, a menswear and tailoring boutique here in Beijing.

Stylites is named after the Christian ascetic, St. Simeon Stylites (390-459), an Assyrian monk who sat on top of a column outside of Antioch for over fifty years. He may have only worn a loin cloth, but a fellow who sat on a pillar for all to see for five decades had to be nearly as vain as anyone appearing on this site. I mean no disrespect toward the saint, and believe that his message of asceticism is one that all of those so interested in their appearance and generally temporal matters should bear in mind.

Photographs from Stylites have appeared in exhibits from Arles to Harvard University, in books, and on other websites and countless print media. I have monthly columns in China’s National Geographic Traveler (《时尚旅游》– in Chinese) and China International Business and a weekly column in Modern Weekly (《周末画报》– in Chinese). Photographs from Stylites.net have appeared in these and Chinese Vogue (《VOGUE服饰与美容》), Grazia (《红秀GRAZIA》), Beijing Walk （《北京漫步》 – yes, it’s the magazine in every taxi), The Beijinger, and many other publications. I have also traveled to Paris to advise Lacoste on style, art and the China fashion scene and to Berlin to work with ESMOD Deutschland on opportunities for European fashion design students in China.

– Nels Frye
Creative Director
Stylites

The first Stylite.

Media Coverage of Stylites

Note: This is a very incomplete list that will be updated as soon as possible.

English

The Huffington Post
H&M Magazine (flip to page 18) – Stylites is included in the “World’s 5 Best Street Blogs”
CScout
China Daily
People’s Daily Online
Double-King: Online Magazine for Fashion and Marketing
Interview on 360fashion.net

Chinese

周末画报 (print edition only)

1626 (print edition only)

三联生活周刊 (print edition, and story also at rayli.com.cn, 中国经济网, sina.com.cn and 网易女人)

fashiontrenddigest.com (story also at 中国服装鞋帽网 and Yoka.com)
douban.com (about Stylites’ secondhand market)
全球街拍博客百强大名单
Nels Frye catches Street Style and China Fashion News
STREET and STYLE

German

CScout
Spiegel

 

Stylites is China’s Premier English-Language Fashion Blog

• Stylites attracts between 35,000 to 85,000 unique views every month.
• Stylites viewers are in fashion, journalism, media and publishing, PR and marketing, and academia.
• Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, New York City, Hong Kong, and London are the top cities of origin for our viewers.
• Just over half of our viewers are in Greater China. The rest are from the US, the UK and other European countries.
• Stylites receives frequent in local and international media. Chinese Vogue, GQ, Grazia, and Elle as well as fully local titles are regular readers of this site (and Stylites photos feature in these magazines). Stylites viewers from media are likely to be interested in covering your products and in their own publications.
• This is your window into China’s fashion circle and their chance to learn about your brand!

Banner Advertisements

For a three month promotion, we offer reduced rates on vertical banner advertisement on the right and horizontal advertisements that can go above the Stylites Beijing heading.

Text Links

Text links are on the left or right columns of the website.

Stylitems

Stylitems is a more commercially-oriented section, where the focus is exciting, new, products. The key benefit for featured brands is the image and link on the right side of the main page of the site. Send a product (with its photo) and we review it and link to your site. The link remains on the front page of Stylites for a minimum of five days.

Full Sponsorship

Make your brand more visible to Chinese trendsetters, hipsters and fashion media! Full sponsorship can involve exclusive advertising rights and support on content including product promotion, tailored street style photoshoots, and support on market entry to China.

This includes (1) a stylitems post, (2) a horizontal banner on top of the site, (3) monthly posts on the main page, (4) weekly postings on weibo, (5) support in LifeStyle Magazine with, potentially, inclusion of your products in the Desirables section of the magazine with the website address included.