This summer’s unlikeliest fashion trend? A purple sweater vest modeled after the fashion stylings of Chinese literary giant Lu Xun (1881-1936).
The vest, selling for 166 yuan (US$23), flew off the shelves faster than any novel at the 2025 Shanghai Book Fair, held from August 13-19 and attended by more than 400,000 visitors.
Launched by a cultural brand under the People’s Literature Publishing House, the design was inspired by the vest Lu Xun’s wife, Xu Guangping, knitted for him in 1926. He wore it so often that it became part of his iconic image.
On RedNote and Douyin, posts hashtagged “Lu Xun sweater vest” have racked up more than 200 million views. The trend has spread beyond young people to well-known authors and scholars on social media, such as Mo Yan, Jia Pingwa, Ma Weidu and Zhao Dongmei. Commentators note that the trend reflects not only enduring admiration for Lu Xun but also young people’s creative ways of engaging with literary classics.
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