Li-Ning partners with ACU to premier a special collaboration sneaker, the ‘ACU x Li-Ning 50/50’, to commemorate ACU’s 15th anniversary. For the collaborative sneaker, ACU chose one of Li-Ning’s skate sneaker silhouettes to design on top of, which is coming from the newly established Skateboarding category.
Using two different layers, the overarching idea of the sneaker is to create your version from wear and tear or DIY. Inspired by the technique of how traditional herbal Chinese medicine is packaged in a piece of paper tied with a string, the shoe features a second layer that is made from paper. Underneath the second layer, the larger Li-Ning logo and parts of the shoe’s line paper pattern appear. Additionally, the shoe also features the brand’s iconic color of red and green, with traditional line paper used for writing Chinese characters. Carrying on this theme, the shoe comes with extra laces that mimic the string commonly used to tie the medicine pack together. The midsoles wooden pattern represents the root and as a metaphor hoping to plant street culture into daily life.
With its roots in sneaker culture, ACU focuses on unique boxing as the key elements of the packaging. Using the overall theme of the sneaker, together with Li-Ning, ACU designed a special wooden box that accompanies the sneaker and uses traditional Chinese elements in elevating the whole experience. Each box will be individually numbered.
Li-Ning continues to expand its Skateboarding category by collaboration with ACU following the debut of the brand’s first-ever skateboarding line in partnership with Erik Ellington in 2021.
You can expect the ACU x Li-Ning 50/50 to release via the ACU online raffle through the WeChat Mini program on January 8th. The retail price is ¥999, which comes out to be about $157 USD.
Release Date: January 8, 2022
Price: ¥999 – $157 USD
