If you’ve swiped across TikTok, chances are you’ll have seen videos about the ABG aesthetic. From makeup and style tutorials to skits, the “Asian Baby Girl,” or ABG trend has been on the rise in recent years.
The ABG look, according to the internet, is a fashion and lifestyle trend embodied by Asian American women who often sport long, dyed hair, eyelash extensions, manicured nails, tattoos, and tanned skin.
While its beginnings are contested, some accounts assert that the term ABG first originated among the Asian diaspora in the 1990s, influenced by the rise of African-American hip-hop culture. Since then, the style has undergone several evolutions; today, it’s associated with the aforementioned tan, intense makeup, as well as street and clubbing-inspired outfits and hairstyles.
However, the ABG aesthetic is no longer geographically limited to Asians living overseas — in fact, it’s now a growing sub-trend in China.
China’s version of ABG
Since surfacing in 2020, the “ABG girl” (#ABG女孩) hashtag has accumulated over 9.8 million posts and counting on local lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu. According to Taobao, the turnover of ABG-related clothing and products increased 333 percent in 2021.
Chinese women make the ABG aesthetic their own. Photo: Xiaohongshu
“I’ve always wanted to try this type of look, but never found a good term for it. Now I know it’s called ABG,” Chinese influencer Chelle posted to her 287,000 followers on Bilibili before transforming herself into a tattooed, boba (bubble tea)-drinking ABG. She completes the look by sporting gray contact lenses, smoky eye makeup, and an animal print scarf tube top with jeans.
Across Chinese social media, a variety of beauty and style tutorials can be found on how to get the ABG look. Characterized by cropped graphic tees, baggy pants, pleated skirts, trucker hats, knee-high socks, and white sneakers — along with tattoos, piercings, fierce brows, and glowy highlighter — the ABG aesthetic…
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