Rising up the gross domestic cool rankings

It began with Blade Runner. Sitting in a cinema in Rio's Copacabana Beach, 14-year-old me was as fascinated by the film's references to Japanese techno-prowess as I was by its vision of Los Angeles, 2019.

Later, Akira's NeoTokyo, William Gibson and Aibos added to my suspicion that if the future－for which read the space bases, jetpacks, clones, and cyborgs my generation was promised as children－was ever to happen, it would happen in Japan.

Though still a contender for that crown, other Asian nations, among them India, Singapore, South Korea, and China, are too. It's hardly radical to believe that the future is Asian, but I tend to see that happening more in terms of science fiction technology and cultural hybridization.

Tim Coghlan knows what I mean. The long-term Beijing resident's Asian fascination dates to his discovery of kung fu in Canberra as a teen, and while he has dallied with Bangkok and Tokyo－the latter getting him onto the luxury retail ladder he climbed while helping some of the world's top brands find the right spot to set up shop-Beijing was his goal.

Chatting after a fascinating introduction to the retail secrets hiding in plain sight at the world's number one luxury shopping destination in terms of daily turnover, Jianguo Lu's SKP Mall, Coghlan mentions something he calls "gross domestic cool"－a country's global cultural pulling power. Japan's, he agrees, is very high and South Korea's, too.

"That's mostly for their TV series," he says. "You know, like Squid Game?"

I do. Unlike the rest of humanity, I haven't watched it, but I have watched Kingdom, Parasite and The Handmaiden, so I get his drift. But having already learned that Coghlan thinks of his life as a quest for cool－skateboards and sneakers led to an encyclopedic understanding of street culture, which in turn led to luxury brands, which have flirted with street culture for over a decade, now－how does he see China's?

"If you look at world trends, a lot is driven by technology. What's the biggest city for venture capital, with the most unicorns globally? Beijing. Tech is connected to semiconductors, which ties into geopolitics, and where are such decisions made in Asia? Beijing. Those things might not immediately be identifiable as 'cool', but they make Beijing the most interesting place in the world for me."

OK, but what about the GDC thing?

"Within the sphere of Southeast Asia, China has huge pop culture appeal because of the diaspora. It hasn't gone global yet, and I think about that a lot, why it hasn't, and how and when it will."

I note that's a "when", not an "if". So, "how" and "when"?

"There are impediments," he continues diplomatically, adding that China hasn't found the right vehicle to go global but several possibilities exist. I think of animated films, (Nezha) or apps (Tik-Tok), but Coghlan has other ideas.

"I'd say products. China already does world-class product development. Of course, there's still the issue of perception," he says, referring to the lingering taint of copycatting and quality, tags previously also slapped on the other Asian tigers, "but that's changing fast. I mean smartphones are made in China and the best drones in the world are also made here by DJI."

Don't get me wrong. Drones and smartphones are nifty, but are they cool? Anything else? Next 10 years? Fashion, maybe?

Coghlan pauses.

"Well, China is very strong on gaming, which is the footprint of the metaverse and it has the (software) engineering power, so if the metaverse, whatever that turns out to be, is to be built out, China will absolutely play a role."

My pulse quickens. Life 2.0, eh? Tim's will probably involve Shaolin monks, Che Lin (skateboarder) and virtual luxury brands. Mine? Shanghai, 2099, a "morphable" form and virtual astral tourism. It isn't Replicants or watching attack ships off the shoulder of Orion, but I'm so sold, I can already hear the theme song.

Would someone please tell Ms Ciccione to record a remix, for if we will (soon) be living in an immaterial world, will we not also be immaterial girls?

Contact the writer at warren@chinadaily.com.cn