Bringing Out Your Animal Style: China’s Sporting Brands

Here it comes.

China’s economic growth will be bringing unique brands to the global market, enticing the eyes and wallets of people wanting something new.  We are still ahead of the curve, but trust me, they are on their way.

Sports in China are big. They have served China as a bridge to the outside world to showcase the country’s strength. Now that commercial sports marketing has edged it’s way in, sporting style is more popular than ever, and basketball leads the pack. Basketball’s got style. Nike has Yao Ming. And now, China’s got Shaq.

All things Western still maintain a certain cache, but, China has it’s own popular sporting brand directly competing with Nike…Meet Li-Ning.

Although the Li-Ning logo bears a striking resemblance to the Nike swoosh,  the company claims it represents the bounding energy exuded by brand founder and former gymnast, Mr. Li-Ning.

Li-Ning was a six time gold medal winning gymnast in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The company was formed under the guidance of the Chinese Olympic Committee in 1990, and has since skyrocketed to success within China in the past decade.

If you are a die hard basketball fan in the mood for something different, you could always make Li-Ning your thing.

If you are looking for something with a little more street cred from those in the “China know”,  go back several more decades to the 1930’s and pick up the choice shoe of the martial arts set, the Feiyue. So cool is this old school Shaolin Monk shoe, that a French company has bought the rights and upped the design, and the price. To remain true to Chinese sporting chic, best bet is to find a martial arts store, or go to amazon, where they sell the originals for a few bucks. Feiyues are surprising comfortable, if not exactly supportive.

So there you go – a few ways to embrace the China Chic before the curve sets in. It’s like shooting a three-pointer from the mountain top, crane style.