On February 12th, Chinese popular streamer Yiying “Miss” Han was invited by Chinese apparel brand Li-Ning to attend 2019 New York Fashion Week.
At the end of January, Li-Ning announced its New York Fashion Week’s theme: “行”(Xing), which means the company will keep exploring and moving forward in the fashion industry. In the fashion show, Li-Ning integrated Chinese popular elements into its fashion design and tried to achieve something of a new breakthrough by combining modern sports with street fashion. This time around, Li-Ning was endorsed by four Chinese young idols to show Chinese street fashion, including Chinese popular streamer Yiying “Miss” Han.
Han is a Chinese former Warcraft 3 and StarCraft 2 professional female player. She started her esports career in 2007 and she won her first world championship in 2010. After her retirement from being a professional esports player, she worked as a DOTA2 and LOL commentator and was invited to commentate on the 2015 League of Legends World Championships.
At present, Han is a full-time streamer and established her own studio for her commercial promotion. Han is widely considered one of the most talented and successful female esports players in China.
Li-Ning, the Chinese leader in athletic apparel and footwear, was founded by Chinese gymnast Mr Li Ning in 1990. As a world-class athlete with no less than 106 gold medals, Mr Li established this company with the simple goal of providing Chinese athletes with a national brand to wear on the world stage of the Olympics.
As time transpired, Li-Ning started to notice the potential in the apparel market for Chinese youth, and tried to establish a new global fashion brand for them. Due to the immense popularity and rapid development of esports in China, Li-Ning is developing its new market through esports. At present, Li-Ning has invited some Chinese esports celebrities to endorse the brand and signed with RNG club and EDG club for apparel sponsorships. Furthermore, Li-Ning group has also completed the acquisition of Snake esports club, which is a famous Chinese club that competes in China’s top-level LOL league LOL Pro League (LPL).
Esports Insider says: It is surprising to see this collaboration brought to an international stage although it is becoming more common to see non-endemic cooperation between the apparel industry and the esports industry in China. For the Chinese esports industry, it is a solid test of the water on the international stage. It is expected that the development of China’s esports scene at large, will continue to become more and more international and global.