As Eleanor Lee generates more headlines than she usually does, many questions are posed online except one: What happened to her fashion label?

Eleanor Lee modelled a T-shirt from her own No Labels in 2022. Photo: nolabelsofficialx/Instagram

The only daughter of TV personality Quan Yifeng (权怡凤) has been in the news lately. You have probably heard that Eleanor Lee (or 李凯馨, Li Kaixin, as she is known in China) has upset mainland Chinese by allegedly saying something not particularly nice about them. A recording of her supposed insult went viral after it was shared on 微博 (Weibo) by someone claiming to be her former assistant. In the 30-second clip, a woman was heard saying: “中国人大部分是傻逼 or most people in China are idiots”, using a Chinese word that’s considered very rude. Unsurprisingly, Ms Lee denied that the irate voice was hers. She was adamant that she would never be so unkind, insisting that she loves China. Her purported vocal indiscretion promoted a Beijing Daily editorial to describe her action as “吃中国饭砸中国锅”, eating Chinese rice and smashing Chinese pots.

Then, yesterday, the one-time celebrity hairstylist and alum of the doomed Mdada live-streaming sale site, Addy Lee (李荣达)—also Ms Lee’s estranged “godfather”—posted on line that “karma 终于到了 (has arrived)”. In addition, he informed that he would be conducting a live chat in which he will explain “什么叫报应 (what retribution is)”. Although he did not mention the names of those he was referring to, netizens and the media have pointed to the mother and daughter in question. Apparently, a representative of Ms Lee’s management company has contacted Mr Lee with regards to his approaching livestream and told him to not “火上浇油 (huoshang jiaoyou)”— pour oil on fire or aggravate the situation. Mr Lee did not appear willing to heed that advice.

After introducing one more product category—T-shirts, No Labels appeared to be no more. Photo: nolabelsofficial/Instagram

While the scandal unfolded (and there is, no doubt, more to come), what aroused our interest was not the situation that Eleanor Lee was embroiled in. Back in 2022, she debuted a fashion label: No Labels (yes, that was the name). It launched with only one product: a knit beanie, available in four colours. The headwear was sold on Taobao. At the time, it was only available in China. It is not clear why she launched her label with only one product. Three months later another was introduced: a T-shirt, available in five colours, and a long-sleeved version, with a label that looked like a Post-It stitched to the left side of the chest that read: “I have no labels”. The text was declared to be “written by Eleanor Lee”. Inane and egotistical seemed to be the brand USP.

No Label’s current status is unclear. Their Instagram account appears to be inactive. The brand’s last post was on 25 April 2022. Ms Lee, who is known to have designed her mother’s Star Awards outfits, served as a solo model in one post, under which was the comment: “Something casual and nude”. There have been only 19 entries on IG so far. All the photographs appear to have been shot in one studio sitting, with the same backdrop and the same lighting, which suggest to us that she only had the one beanie and the two T-shirt in her merchandise plan. Eleanor Lee told the media back then that she designed everything herself. Presently, we are unable to find either product on Taobao although there are many others that look like what the brand offered. After three years since they appeared to have sold anything, it is safe to say No Labels was a self-fulfilling prophecy.