Nike is doubling down on the Chinese market by teaming up with designers with strong local resonance. The brand’s latest collaborator is Susan Fang, a Shanghai-based Canadian Chinese emerging designer known for her deeply romantic yet refreshing take on femininity.
A graduate from Central Saint Martins and shortlisted for the 2019 edition of the LVMH Prize, Fang has been showing both in London and Shanghai for years.
Last year, she was supported by Dolce & Gabbana to stage her first real solo show in Milan, after having taken part in a group showcase organized by Italy’s fashion chamber in the past.
Campaign for the Nike x Susan Fang women’s artist collection.
Courtesy of Susan Fang
Nike has been a supporter of Fang since 2023, providing footwear support for her runway shows. The designer would play with these shoes, adding her own touch of beaded details, floral and bubble motifs to them.
The designer has also designed four looks for Nike’s Victory Lap show in Shanghai earlier this year, and collaborated with the Nike Boundless Girl initiative in rural Yunnan, where she created a colorful, nature-inspired playground for local girls to play freely.
The designer’s first official range with Nike, billed as women’s artist collection, is inspired by a dive.
“I wanted to capture that fleeting yet powerful moment when sunlight cut through the water and met the bubbles rising to the surface,” said Fang, who has produced high-profile collaborations with a wide array of brands, including & Other Stories, Victoria’s Secret, Zara, Ugg and Swarovski.
The Nike capsule features a Dunk model with jacquard uppers and embroidered florals, a V2K iteration with screen-printed ripple details, as well as sport bras, jackets, shorts, T-shirts, socks and bags.
“The Dunk has always been a classic and important shoe in the sneaker culture, but maybe more focused on male consumers. So I really wanted to take a more feminine exploration on this silhouette with the theme of bliss, the importance of warm memories in our lives in the current fast-paced world. The V2K is really futuristic with a nostalgic touch, which was perfect for the theme and play with our recent surreal 3D accessories and a lot of our handcrafted bubble beads,” Fang said.
Campaign for the Nike x Susan Fang women’s artist collection.
Courtesy of Susan Fang
Nike said the collaboration with Susan Fang is built on “a shared belief in reimagining the future of sport, and in exploring the natural power and beauty of movement.”
The designer said the Nike team was amazing at pushing new crafts and possibilities into the shoes, from jacquard embroidery on the Dunk inspired by paintings from Fang’s mother, creating touches of prismatic colors on the shoe’s surface, to replicating the hand-bead bubble elements into the swoosh and embellishments.
The Susan Fang x Nike collection will launch on Sept. 12 at select offline stores in China, such as Nike House of Innovation in Shanghai, Nike Style Huaihai and Nike Lab X158. It will also be available through the Snkrs China app and Nike’s official Tmall flagship.