Young sailors posing on the deck as photographers snapped pictures Photo: Courtsey of Glory Made

As China's cultural and creative industry continues to boom, the country's navy has also decided to join in on the trend as a way to showcase the fighting force's uplifting spirit and push navy culture among young Chinese.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, recently had its own fashion show with young sailors posing on the deck as photographers snapped pictures. The photos from the shoot were published on Wednesday.

The fresh set of photos shows young sailors dressed in dark blue jackets that echo the sea over T-shirts decorated with pandas wearing flight helmets standing in different corners of the carrier.

The newly out robot panda T-shirt is very popular on its sales website on Taobao, which is currently ranks number one among all of its products. And the dark blue jacket sold out on Taobao on Sunday.

The inspiration of both the panda-printed T-shirt and the jacket comes from the aircraft pilots. 

The jackets' dark blue on the outside matches with the life-jacket orange color inside, which achieves a trendy effect of contrasting colors, according to the introduction on the website. 

The motto of the aircraft carrier - named after the Chinese province of Shandong - is also printed inside the newly designed clothes: loyalty, courage, accomplishment and victory.

Young sailors posing on the deck as photographers snapped pictures Photo: Courtsey of Glory Made

The company that designed the clothing is Glory Made, which has cooperated with the PLA Navy for years and once designed the logo for the carrier as well as a string of other naval creative products including caps, sunglasses, computer mice and keyboards featuring the Shandong aircraft carrier.

After the Shandong's commissioning ceremony in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, in December 2019, the country's first domestic-made aircraft carrier launched a premiere ceremony for related merchandise at The Military Museum in Beijing on January 1, 2020, marking the PLA Navy's first step into the cultural and creative industry.

Young sailors posing on the deck as photographers snapped pictures Photo: Courtsey of Glory Made

The company designed products with a more youthful feel to attract the public's interest in naval culture and to allow them to feel the positive energy the aircraft carrier has brought to the country.

After its commissioning ceremony, the Shandong returned to the Dalian Shipyard where it was constructed, conducting three training voyages throughout 2020. The first was held in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea from May 25 to June 17, the second in the Bohai Sea from September 1 to 22, and the third in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea from November 21 to December 13.

Global Times