Li-Ning brand celebrated its 30th anniversary during Paris Fashion Week with a highly anticipated show following the debut of the Neil Barrett collaboration at Milan Men’s Fashion Week. The galleries of the Pompidou were illuminated in a matrix-like grid made up of pixelated LED screens and monitors reminiscent of ‘80s video games with Mr.Li and Dwyane Wade in attendance. While Li-ning is a household name in China, Wade really helped to raise its profile on the court since first forging their partnership back in 2012. Since Li-Ning first debuted in Paris, their focus has increasingly been growing beyond performance wear and into new fashion stakes with hybrid collections of sportswear and tailoring.
Opening the show tonight was a 10 look collection with martial arts icon Jackie Chan combining Kung-Fi- inspired designed elements furthering the sports that encompass the sportswear brand with select pieces from the collection will drop Sunday in China.
For Fall/Winter 2020, the brand looks at the past and future, with the image of Founder Mr.Li as an athletics icon as a reference point. There are the color schemes of the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics with oranges and browns alongside the LED neons of today. Fits are tailored with movement. Seeing the collection made me think of the past and future of Li-Ning himself, there is the Olympic Gold Medallist as his backstory and then there is the present and as a Chinese business icon. We can only imagine what the future will be, but the request to define the wardrobe of tomorrow will continue to make the brand evolve.
