On Feb.12, 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 a new breakthrough by combining modern sports with street fashion. This time, 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 comment 2015 LOL World Championships.
At present, Han is a full-time streamer and established her own studio for her commercial promotion. Han is considered as 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 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 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 believed that the development of China’s esports will continue to become more and more international.