Head over heels for underwear

Models wear the autumn collection of Imi's, domestic lingerie brand Aimer's secondary line. Photos provided to China Daily

The era when Chinese women undervalued underwear is over.

That's largely thanks to the younger generation.

This was especially clear at the 10th-anniversary celebration of domestic lingerie brand Aimer's secondary line, Imi's, which targets young consumers.

The event, themed "be brave, be yourself", showcased the autumn collection that highlights innovative fabrics, leopard prints, and stars-and-stripes motifs.

It featured an exhibition of dolls created by emerging artist Sun Dongxu, in which four life-sized and 30 smaller dolls appear clad in Imi's lingerie. They'll tour nationwide over the coming year.

"Girls dream about dolls when they're young," Imi's CEO Sun Wei says.

"They make clothes for them and style them. This exhibition makes that dream come true."

The line positions itself as a metropolitan, cheerful and affordable brand. It's available in major department stores throughout the country, and has nearly 800 stores in China and Singapore, plus its online stores.

"With Imi's, we sell not only lingerie but also a youthful spirit," Aimer's founder and CEO Zhang Rongming, says.

Imi's is developing new online-marketing channels to tap into young customers' growing consumption capacity. It has also expanded its offerings from lingerie to outerwear.

"The brand was initially like Aimer's younger sister. Now it has grown up to walk on its own," Zhang says.

A few years ago, China's youth were influenced by Japanese and Korean styles. Today, waves of popularity are determined by the currents of what's trending on the Internet. And Imi's is dashing forward to stay ahead, he says.

Aimer was an early mover among China's first few upmarket domestic lingerie brands.