One of the biggest trends in the contemporary consumer culture in China is the rise of "Guochao" (China Chic)

where domestic brands have taken advantage of cultural aspects to reshape brand identities and product designs. This research brings together the concepts from design theory

cultural studies

brand management

and consumer psychology in order to develop a multidimensional framework analyzing how the national brands take advantage of cultural assets in designing products and building strong brand power. Based on the success stories of Guochao brands

we argue that the mechanism of cultural empowerment is made up of three main aspects: (1) symbolic re-appropriation

which involves the process of picking up cultural symbols and giving them new meanings; (2) narrative reconstruction

which means the creation of powerful brand narratives that connect the past with the present; and (3) aesthetic innovation

which entails integrating traditional design aspects into contemporary styles to create culturally significant products. We find out that the successful Guochao brands go beyond simply adding cultural decorations to their products and manage to integrate cultural values and crafts and help the consumers to express their identity through them. At the same time

the process of cultural empowerment is full of challenges such as cultural appropriation issues

design superficiality issues

and difficulty of maintaining cultural significance. This research presents a theoretical framework that integrates cultural assets and brand strategies.