REBIRTH of COOL

By Xu Haoyu | China Daily | Updated: 2018-02-24 07:48

Domestic sportswear brand Li-Ning is looking to revive its fortunes and take on global players with its new street-savvy collection

Chinese sports brand Li-Ning impressed fashionistas with its innovative and cutting-edge designs at its debut at the New York Fashion Week earlier this month.

Inspired by Taoism, the brands' Wu Dao collection draws on the principles of the ancient Chinese philosophy to carry the spirit of self-examination, self-enlightenment and creativity.

By mixing its sports origins with a strong sense of Chinese culture and trending contemporary fashion, the 28-year-old brand is attempting to revitalize its image and demonstrate its ambitions to compete on the world stage.

The collection is made up of two ranges - one that celebrates the past, and one that explores the future.

For the first range, the craftsmanship of Suzhou embroidery was applied to innovative fabrics. "It was our original intention to carry forward our culture to New York," says designer Chen Lijie.

Images of Li Ning's winning gymnastics performances at the 1984 Olympics have been printed onto hoodies and T-shirts, while the Victor 001 motif has been reproduced with minor changes to its silhouette. The range also includes an update on the company's first range of sportswear worn by Chinese athletes and Li himself at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, a reappearance which has caused quite a stir. The red-and-yellow color scheme, which was once compared to scrambled egg and tomato, shows new possibilities when its matched with black cigarette pants or a pair of well-designed white sneakers.

The future section focuses on street fashion, the philosophy of mix-and-match and futurism. It blends the past with the future by juxtaposing historical Chinese detailing with Western silhouettes to create an individual modern style and function.

With this range, much visual stimuli comes to the fore. On some products, the original Li-Ning logo has been rendered much less eye-catching or has been totally replaced by the Chinese letters of the brand name with the prefix "China".

Square in shape, the new logos have been printed on the chest of hoodies or expanded to cover the entire back section. Reflective ripstop fabrics shine in silver and light up the darkness of black. Long red puffer jackets are swathed in transparent plastic to help keep out the wind and the cold. Work clothes with multiple pockets offer additional storage while buckles come in unique shapes.

Shoe designer Zhou Shijie says that creativity should follow industry developments and innovation at the same time.

With Chinese letters on the upper, ran ("burn" in English) sneakers are chunky and oversized and offer the option of non-matching shoes.

While Essence sock shoes provide comfort with knitted textiles and a toe-line in contrasting colors to the uppers, the Essence Ace shoes mix quilted suede, knits and polished leather to create a patchwork of textures, combined with a "Designed in Beijing" or a "Made in China" logo printed on the flank.

Li-Ning's iconic Butterfly trainers for 2018 carry on with the color-block motifs first seen in the early 1990s and applied to their Butterfly shoes in 2000. The new collection has attracted a lot of attention with its wider choice of color schemes. The Mix 2 shoe comprises four separate sections that can be taken apart and reassembled, revealing the brand's innovative approach to mix-and-match sportswear.

And to back up its global outlook, Li-Ning seem to have taken a fresh look at their pricing, offering T-shirts for 299 yuan ($47), Essence sock shoes for 699 yuan and sports pants for 599 yuan.

Five ranges of shoes sold out at Li-Ning's online stores shortly after making their runway debut, and only one range of T-shirts currently remains available.

Some critics have described the New York show as nothing short of a rebirth for the Li's brand which the Olympian set up in 1990 to support Chinese athletes with a national brand.

"Our brand carries the genes of an athlete," Li says.

Throughout its 28-year history, the company found it difficult to adapt to changing tastes and establish a niche market.

According to a report from Money.163.com, when the company shifted its focus away from mature customers to the post-90s generation in 2010 it targeted the wrong audience group.

It failed to transform itself into a high-end brand and lost its core customer base looking for value for money as Li-Ning raised its prices without refreshing its designs.

From 2012 to 2014, the brand suffered sustained losses totaling 3.1 billion yuan.

Back then, Li-Ning failed to win over the post-90s generation, but the designs of this latest collection have successfully attracted everyone's attention with their youthful and cool styling.

Talking about Li-Ning's future development, vice president Hong Yuru says the company aims to conduct more analysis and react to consumer consumption habits and shifting demands - down to their experience of product and how and where they purchase them - in order to enhance the value and influence of the brand.

As he says the brand is determined to supply fashionable products that continue to demonstrate China's national sports culture and spirit.