LI-NING SS20 Celebrates the Glory of Table Tennis
“On Ping Pong” introduces new footwear silhouettes and louche lounge gear.
LI-NING‘s style-conscious creations extend far beyond its imaginative sneaker offering, as the Chinese sportswear giant’s mainline offering now includes a bevy of fashion-forward wearables. A variety of these items are showcased in a new lookbook highlighting the latest seasonal drop, dubbed “On Ping Pong.”
Whether you call it ping pong or table tennis, the sport is hugely popular in LI-NING’s native China where the company endorses many top players, including the sport’s current Olympic and World Champion, Ma Long. LI-NING’s SS20 collection takes cues from the sport, tweaking styles as familiar to tennis masters as ping pong experts. These include “paperweight” anoraks and breathable polo shirts in various lengths, often emblazoned with table tennis-inspired graphics. One image, the number 11, draws from the company’s founder, Li Ning, who wore the number while performing gymnastics in the 1984 Olympics.
Perhaps the most crucial sportswear silhouette, the track suit, is arranged in sweat and sport styles, laden with LI-NING branding and technical textiles, appropriately accessorized with genderless headbands and shorts. Bold colors complement the striking footwear colorways, which include loud slide sandals and colorful Sun Chaser shoes, a new silhouette that hybridizes past LI-NING offerings. For a more traditional take, the company revives its signature 001 OG sneaker, which was originally designed back in 1990 and is returning in a new form for 2020, the brand’s 30th anniversary.
Stockists like SSENSE, Brown’s and KITH will offer the new LI-NING SS20 goods internationally, alongside domestic shops like Lane Crawford.
Most recently, LI-NING linked with Soulland for collaborative Fall/Winter 2020 sneakers.
