Close X

Global

China’s sportswear Giant Li-Ning expands into skateboarding with legend Erik Ellington

The debut skate shoe collection is inspired by retro basketball and running shoes

LiFTED | Elaine Chung | 20 Jul 2021


China’s sportswear giant Li-Ning has just announced its first-ever skateboarding line, a collaboration with skate legend Erik Ellington. The line will consist of the Ellington Signature Model sneaker and an apparel line.


Li-Ning has been rapidly growing in China ever since the brand was showcased in both the New York and Paris fashion weeks. Now tapping into the skateboarding market, the high-performance skate shoe will have the brand’s Boom midsole technology and is inspired by retro running and basketball shoes.

Aiming to make a functional and aesthetic skate shoe that will stand out from the other athletic brands, Ellington said in a press release, “The tongue flap is an homage to the double tongues we used to rock on our shoes in the mid-90s. With the design, we explored new material combinations that have never made their way onto a skate shoe before, like the ripstop-cage and sealed double tongue flap.”

The shoe will debut in three colorways that include Astro Pop, Polar Night ,and Tropicana. Ellington adds, “I had been looking for a new story to tell through performance design. When Li-Ning approached me about partnering to launch their first skate collection, it felt like a good fit.”

Li-Ning’s Erik Ellington Signature Model will be out in the US on July 22 and the rest of the world on July 30.