First dropped in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year of 2024, the Adidas Tang jacket became popular for its contemporary style and culturally rooted construction. Available only in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Macau, and Taiwan. This viral jacket is a limited edition region-exclusive Chinese New Year release item that had crowds forming serpentine queues as long as the Great Wall of China outside multiple Adidas storefronts across the country.
Inspired by the classic Tang jacket (唐装)—a traditional Chinese outer garment—Adidas reimagined historical fashion through the lens of modern streetwear. Pairing the signature Adidas three-stripe look and tracksuit silhouette with hallmark details of traditional Chinese tailoring, such as a stand-up Mandarin collar, vibrant colours, and Chinese knot buttons (盘扣) or decorative “frog” toggle closures.
Photo credits @Chinese Culture
If you grew up celebrating Chinese New Year, you’ll probably recognise these intricate loops from the qipao/cheongsam (長衫) or changpao (長袍) that your parents forced you to wear to the annual family reunion dinner (團圓飯) as a child. Woven into many traditional Chinese garments, these handcrafted knot patterns symbolise unity, harmony, and good fortune—manifesting happiness and prosperity for the year to come.
The Adidas Tang jacket is not just a fashion statement—it’s a cultural statement
At the heart of this trending Tang jacket moment is the rise of Neo-Chinese fashion (新中式), which transforms clothing into a vessel for cultural heritage, memory and expression. Recent consumption trends such as the “national wave” (国潮) highlight how Chinese consumers have started to embrace and prioritise products that celebrate national identity, choosing to wear their culture rather than leaving it trapped behind museum glass.
Photo credits @Jasmin Sin
The Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) is widely regarded as China’s golden age—a period where artistry, culture, and cosmopolitan society flourished under the economic prosperity of the Silk Road. By developing a contemporary style Tang jacket, Adidas embodies its newest brand motto—“global brand, local mindset”—and learns to speak the language of other cultures.
Design choices like the knot pattern gesture towards an attention to detail that goes far beyond surface aesthetics, exhibiting how international players—like Adidas—have finally begun to slow down and take the time to understand cultural nuance as a part of the design process, as opposed to just a marketing afterthought. This shift away from the logic of a one-size-fits-all global drop reshapes how global name brands interact with local communities, blending lifestyle, fashion, and performance.
We need to talk about Adidas at Shanghai Fashion Week
Photo credits @Vogue
In October 2025, Adidas closed Shanghai Fashion Week SS26 with its own standalone show titled ‘POWER OF THREE’—a spectacle that paid tribute to the brand’s iconic three-stripe DNA and offered an exclusive sneak peek into its upcoming campaigns. Their ready-to-wear collection and “see now, buy now” sales tactics transformed the runway into an elaborate storefront with exclusive pieces made available for purchase immediately after the show.
Photo credits @hypebeast
Celebrating their 20th anniversary in China, Adidas’ high-profile Shanghai debut went beyond the usual collaborative capsules, fusing classical craftsmanship techniques with futuristic cut lines and contemporary performance materials.
Silk, mesh, and a five-metre-long train—Adidas may not be a designer brand, but their Shanghai roll-out definitely delivered the same theatrical energy as a luxury designer showcase. With looks that staged the Lion dance all over the borders of athleisure and haute couture, ‘POWER OF THREE’ brought “East meets West” onto the centre stage in one of the best possible ways. Supermodels carried the traditional Chinese birdcages that you’d spot on Yuen Po Street as props, futuristic footwear looked like it came straight out of the new Tron: Ares (2025) movie, and the iconic Adidas tracksuit was made renewed with a cultural twist.
Photo credits @Prophecy Brand
Photo credits @hypebeast
Adidas China: Local project, global impact
Despite their hyperlocalised strategy, Adidas China’s latest campaigns have garnered global attention by successfully merging the brand’s international identity with local culture. Tourists and fashion enthusiasts alike flock to China for a chance to get their hands on the exclusive wardrobe. Online trends show all the hottest fashion influencers styling the Lunar New Year collection into their daily fit checks.
The Adidas Tang jacket isn’t just a seasonal bestseller—it’s a piece that feels culturally familiar and carries the symbolic weight of living heritage. By bridging the past and present with traditional craftsmanship and dynastic aesthetics, the athleisure brand has curated an emotionally resonant, comfortable and wearable collection that embodies contemporary culture.
With the 2025 Year of the Snake Adidas jacket collection almost always sold out in stores, the message is clear—brands that respect local traditions rather than borrowing them as a decorative gimmick will gain social capital that outlives any seasonal hype. Repeated sellouts have turned the Adidas Tang jacket into a quasi-cult collectable item, with fans and resellers fighting for the newest stock and colourways.
Whether you see it as a cultural artefact or a consumer craze, the popularity of Adidas’ Tang jacket underscores a bigger truth—the consumers of today are no longer satisfied with products that simply look good, they want their stories braided into their apparel too.
