self-portrait's launch livestream collapsed — host mispronounced the brand's own name

On November 1, 2025, British affordable-luxury brand self-portrait — operated in mainland China by Ellassay Group — streamed a dialogue about its new collection. Actress Zhu Zhu joined as the guest; the host was KOL Weng Qingya, known from the dating show Heart Signal. On air Weng repeatedly mispronounced the brand name, sat down before the guest had settled, forgot her lines, kept the questions shallow, and left several long silences.

The stream was one step in a larger campaign: self-portrait had just released a global-ambassador film starring Zhao Liying and was seeding buzz with celebrity street-style photos. Instead the flop became the story. On November 2 the Baidu index for the brand ran about three times its usual level, and the incident surfaced repeatedly on Weibo's hot search.

Ellassay, as the brand's China operator, responded by admitting 'obvious deficiencies in event process management and execution details', saying it had begun a full review of its workflows and would accept criticism and supervision. The stakes were not small: self-portrait earned ¥285 million in the first half of 2025, the fastest-growing brand in Ellassay's portfolio, with 76 directly operated stores in China by the third quarter.