Photo: VCG

Fans of popular Chinese fantasy period drama Love and Redemption have rescued a garment company from bankruptcy in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, after snapping up 20,000 sets of the company's traditional Chinese Hanfu clothing within a single week. A majority of the customers who purchased the outfits because of the garment is very similar to the costume worn by the drama's heroine Xuanji. 

Love and Redemption, the black horse became an unexpected summer hit after debuting on Chinese streaming platforms Mango TV and Youku on August 6. It has more than 900,000 followers on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, and the show belongs to the popular Xianxia genre, which depicts fantastical fairy stories heavily influenced by Chinese mythology and often adapted from Chinese web novels. 

Hanfu, the traditional Chinese Han clothing, has seen resurgence in recent years. It is no longer uncommon to see young people dress up in these garments and head out with friends to take pictures during their time off. 

Due to the impact of COVID-19, many clothing companies in China have become overstocked and are on the brink of shutting down. The garment company in Guangzhou was one such example, the owner of the company told media that their total sales for the first six months of 2020 had reached only 10 percent of total sales for 2019, as such the 20,000 sales came as a complete surprise. 

News of the sales also ignited discussion on Chinese social media. 

"Love and Redemption can make a contribution to the economy after the pandemic, this is a valuable thing to our society," wrote one netizen on Sina Weibo.  

"I want to walk around in Hanfu, even though I'm 40,"posted another.  

The show and its fans have encouraged the company to add more detail to the garment's sleeves, waist and shoulders to further accentuate the beauty of Chinese traditional clothing.