Blokette (a portmanteau of Blokecore and Coquette), known as Shaonüyundongfeng (少女运动风) in Chinese, is the combination of hyper-feminine clothing with more typically masculine pieces that often find their origins in British lad culture and American streetwear. A classic example of the style would be the combination of a football shirt with a mini-skirt. Coined as a term by the podcast Nymphet Alumni in 2022, blokette has been celebrated in the West as a style that encourages an open approach towards gender identity. And since the beginning of this year, the trend has been attracting attention in the Chinese mainland, with fashion aficionados embracing its casualness and potential for self-expression.

In China, blokette has found unexpected synergy with the ACG (Animation, Comics, and Games) subculture, which is local to Greater China but rooted in fandom for Japanese cultural production. ACG-inspired clothing such as the “JK uniform” (JK制服), a pastiche of Japanese high school uniforms for girls, is a massive hit with Chinese Gen Zers. A typical ACG outfit would feature high socks or stockings with a mini-skirt, paired with a traditionally more masculine blazer or sailor uniform on top.

In spite of emerging from different cultural contexts, blokette and ACG fashion share key similarities, both mixing feminine and masculine within women’s fashion. However, before blokette’s arrival in China, the two styles had not interacted extensively. There are obvious visual similarities between the two looks, and their collision could be an opportunity for China to create something even more aesthetically innovative. As China’s streetwear scene grows, this might be the beginning of a uniquely Chinese, yet global, urban fashion trend.

Banner image by Haedi Yue.