Nike Adorns the LeBron 18 “Gong Xi Fa Cai” With Symbols of Good Luck
The Chinese New Year-themed hoops rendition comes prepared with bold uppers and graffiti graphics designed by 400ml.
It’s tradition for Nike to commemorate Chinese New Year with festive footwear, and after unveiling firecracker-inspired Dunk Lows and Dunk Low Disrupts, the Swoosh is summoning the King to join in on the annual celebration. Engineered with the help of 400ml — a graffiti collective based in China — whom helped draw out its heritage-inspired graphics is the Nike LeBron 18 “Gong Xi Fa Cai” which has just been uncovered via detailed photographs.
Arguably the boldest LeBron 18 that we’ve seen to-date, the hardwood-ready offering begins with a full Knitposite 2.0 upper which is given a daring red paint job and mixed in with splattered accents sparingly sprawled across its side paneling in black. A crisp blue offsets through the laces and rear molds, the former of which is styled with the red polka dot patterns while the latter is complemented by tonal water droplet textures and an etched-out Swoosh on the medial wall. Cultural phrases and Chinese characters are laid across the throat’s exposed Air bubbles as well as in a slightly tucked-in manner by the ankle collars in the form of graffiti by 400ml, all of which are symbolic of good luck.
Segway-ing down to the bottoms, the white midsoles are decorated with blue speckled patterns throughout and met with a golden mid-foot mold, while a bold red Air unit is surrounded by a translucent case and angelic treading.
These are launching on February 6 for $200 USD via Nike China.
For more sneaker news, official photos of the Stüssy x Nike Air Huarache LE “Desert Oak” have surfaced.
