During the 1970s, Warrior (回力) brand sneakers were the hottest shoes in China — its bright, clean design a sharp contrast to the drab homogeneity of Communist China. Continuing into the 1980s, the shoe remained a status symbol for Chinese teenagers who were well-off enough to don a pair of famous Warriors.
But as China opened up economically, so did the marketplace for sneaker brands. While the 50 year-old Warrior name was still well-known in China, it was no longer well-known as one of the premier Chinese brands. Instead, Warrior shoes became the shoe of the working class — worn by poor construction workers, elderly women and rural citizens looking for a pair of cheap, durable shoes, not an expensive brand name (and mark-up).
Fascinated by this story, a graphic design student from China recently released a photography book which features people wearing Warriors in various areas of China. Each copy of “Book of Warriors” comes with a pair of Warriors. The author, Shumeng Ye, hopes to use the Warrior brand “to tell the story behind the shoes and show a different side of China. Not the industrial and economical power, but the daily life of a country with its own distinctive sneaker culture.”
Interestingly, Warrior-type shoes are making a comeback among the (ironically) hip set, who covet the relative obscurity of the Warrior in Western culture. In Europe, a similar shoe retails for EU 40-50, which is a significant markup over the China price (EU 2-3).
Below are a couple of Shumeng’s Warrior pictures along with the cool retro packaging that some Warrior shoes come in.
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Personally, I’m a big fan of the Fei Yue shoes.
June 13th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Actually i saw some fashion girls in beijing sometimes wearing such shoes :)
I love it too!
June 15th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
If you can read Chinese, there is a translation of this article and a good discussion of Warriors in Chinese: http://jandan.net/2008/06/16/warrior-story.html
June 16th, 2008 at 6:17 am
As a guy born in 1990, i have to say that i didn’t know this brand before. But i believe my parents must know something about it.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I have never heard of 回力 before, even though I have been living in Beijing for over a year now, but I must confess that I am crazy about another legendary Chinese sneakers brand, 双星 (shuang xing = double star), from Shangdong’s coastal city of Qingdao.
People from Qingdao are really proud of 双星 (shuang xing), as it’s one of the city’s triumvirate brands along with Tsingtao (the beer) and Haier (the home appliances manufacturer giant, and supposedly China’s greatest brand today).
Great post!
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Gustavo,
Thanks for the information on 双星 — will definitely have to check them out.
回力 is a strong Shanghai brand and I’m not sure how far they made it out of the region.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Sean, I was just talking to my Chinese colleagues today and they said that 回力 is “a classic brand”, everyone in China knows about it, I guess it just hasn’t reached me yet =)… I will go out for some 回力 soon!
June 25th, 2008 at 10:23 am
If you want to purchase classic air jordan shoes with the best price($60-$70), I will purchase it from bysneaker.com Their shipping is really fast, I just got a pair of sneakers faster than I expected.The site is: http://www.bysneaker.com
August 12th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Does anyone know where in Shanghai to buy warrior shoes? I looked around a bit, but could not find them neither in in cheap markets nor in hip stores.
January 19th, 2009 at 5:05 am
You can find them in Shanghai in the back small athletics store (called 东方体育, I think). It’s located on 陕西南路 in between 复兴路 and 南昌路.
January 19th, 2009 at 5:08 am
They can be purchased from sevenandsix.com. I got a pair the other week. Pretty awesome.
February 21st, 2009 at 8:08 pm