Jeff Staple Brings His Iconic Pigeon to Li-Ning Collaboration
Jeff Staple has been delivering his vision of cool through his eponymous label since 1997. Over the last 28 years, the New Jersey-native has collaborated with handfuls of the footwear space's biggest brands, stamping popular and unsuspecting designs alike with his iconic Pigeon logo. As he and Brooks prepare to launch an Adrenaline GTS 4 collaboration, the 50-year-old has lined up a special project with Li-Ning.
Known stateside for its association to Dwayne Wade and Jimmy Butler, Li-Ning is amongst China's premier sportswear companies. Founded in 1990, the brand has made a name for itself at the highest level of athletics, with its basketball, running, and ping pong offerings enjoying a reliable reputation. Staple and the Chinese institution have come together for spring, with the former reimagining two sports-informed designs through a streetwear lens.
Li-Ning's Ping Pong Shoe and Shadow CRC 2.0 silhouettes appear with complete overhauls. The low-top sneaker features a New York City-appropriate grayscale medley across its mesh, leather, and suede upper construction. Call-outs to the Staple brand appear throughout the forefoot and heel, with the latter boasting an embroidered winged bird synonymous with both the American designer and NYC. Other notable details include indentations shaped like pigeon feet; pigeon-shaped hangtags; Chinese characters on the left shoe's Achilles' heel; and a playful graphic on the tongue's underside.
The Li-Ning Running offering couples Staple's signature touches with a fashion-forward boro stitch-reminiscent upper. Different shades of blue come together across distressed fabric panels, which feature fraying around the forefoot and at the tongue. The design choice could commemorate both collaborators' Asian heritage, or simply provide a glimpse of what the Reed Art Department-frontman is currently into. Pigeon logos throughout the sneaker give the Shadow CRC model a street co-sign, while the silhouette's robust foam and eye-catching hallowed tooling demonstrate Li-Ning's commitment to performance innovation.
Enjoy photos of the unreleased Staple x Li-Ning collection below – courtesy of @sneakersbar on Threads. Firm release details for the duo (and potential other items) has yet to be disclosed by either party, but a launch throughout summer is expected.
For more sneaker news, check out the Tom Sachs Mars Yard 3.0, the controversial artist's first collaboration with Nike since 2023.
