'China chic' growing cooler by design

Formula One fan Carmen Pacios flew all the way from Spain to Shanghai to watch the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix earlier this month.

Apart from experiencing the thrilling speed and exciting atmosphere at the Shanghai International Circuit, she and her family members found time to tour the city's downtown area. At an Adidas store, she immediately spotted something she wanted to buy.

"There's so much cool Chinese stuff," Pacios said.

"I saw a lot of people wearing the Adidas Chinese-style red jackets. I think they only sell them in China and I really wanted to get one."

The popular jacket was launched by the German sportswear company in 2022 exclusively for the Chinese market. With distinctive knot buttons and an upright collar it went viral online, with many influencers and celebrities wearing it in public, including some of the visiting F1 drivers such as Mercedes' George Russell.

Guo Aijie, a senior sales manager at Adidas' brand center on Shanghai's East Nanjing Road, said the Chinese-style jacket was popular with consumers of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities.

On Jan 1, several hundred people lined up in front of the store to buy the latest version.

"Our store opens at 10 am, but on New Year's Day, I was truly shocked by the number of people, most of them foreigners, waiting outside for the doors to open," said Guo. "About 1,000 units of the product were sold that day, setting a single-day sales record for the special series at the store."

The jacket represents a growing trend of foreign brands shifting from "Made in China" to "Made for China". Multinational companies have been rolling out products and designs tailored specifically for the Chinese market. This move has not only helped secure their success in China, but also provided momentum for their global growth.

The Adidas' Creation Center Shanghai (CCS) is responsible for more than 60 percent of the company's products in the Chinese market, and its first version of the jacket was released in 2022.

In a written reply to China Daily, Adidas said the center's long-term focus is on Chinese culture and the rise of guochao or China-chic trends.

Their designers turned their attention to the traditional Chinese knot button, a distinctive cultural element, to give subsequent designs of the jacket — which has become one of the brand's outstanding products — a local twist.