Built from plain clothes
The stylist Ken Iijima kept posting outfits built only from vintage tees and plain jackets. No hero piece — the proportion carried it.
Style encyclopedia
Vibe 风Vibe
Origin/ChinaCountry
A varsity jacket leads, a hoodie sits under it, and the shoes answer its colour. Chinese everyday menswear decided by colour and length rather than by price.
Where it began
Around 2020 it started being called vibe on Chinese social media — the English word kept as-is. Early on the model was the stylist Ken Iijima, who built outfits from a vintage tee and a plain jacket and let proportion do the work.
How it spread
As short video carried it, the shape settled, and the version now dominant puts a varsity jacket at the centre. Same name, different weight than the early form.
How to recognise it
A black or navy varsity jacket worn open, a hooded sweatshirt under it with the hood out, the hem stopping at the waist, cargo trousers or denim below. High-top basketball shoes, in a colour that answers something in the jacket. Without that echo it is just layers.
What it costs
Jacket ¥8,000–25,000, hoodie ¥4,000–9,000, shoes ¥10,000 and up. Spend on the jacket and the shoes; the rest can be cheap.
Timeline
How it differs by place
China — the varsity jacket leads
A varsity jacket over a hoodie with the hood out, shoes echoing the jacket, the hem stopping at the waist. The dominant form now.
Japan — the earlier proportion play
Closer to the Japanese stylist who started it: a vintage tee and a plain jacket, carried by the ratio of length to width alone. No hero piece.
Era
early 2020s – now
Price range
¥4,000–25,000
Dominant
Rising
Key brands
WEGO · Champion · niko and · GLOBAL WORK · coen · XLARGE
Headings are written in the language of the style's place of origin.