30 Year of the Tiger sneakers: from Nike and Adidas to Dior and Gucci, the best buys to look out
- We bring you the ultimate guide to Lunar New Year-inspired sneakers – 30 of the most desirable pairs, listed in alphabetical order by brand
- Some of these are only released in Greater China and others are limited edition, so act fast or prepare to track them down on resale sites
The Year of the Tiger kicks off on February 1, and one way to ensure you put your best foot forward is a new pair of kicks.
As has become tradition over the last decade or so, the biggest shoe brands and fashion houses are marking the festivities with footwear – and more than ever have joined in the fun this year.
Here is a round-up of the Lunar New Year-inspired and Year of the Tiger sneakers that have been released for the shoe game’s annual celebration of the Chinese zodiac.
1. Adidas Superstar Year of the Tiger Edition
“Unleash your inner beast” is what the brand with the three stripes says. We say it earns its Year of the Tiger stripes with a wild “safari” shoe that features zebra print insoles and leopard print laces.
2. Adidas Superstar Spring Classic
Another Adidas Superstar for the Lunar New Year, though a more understated affair that downplays tiger aspects for traditional Chinese motifs on the classic silhouette. This black version claims an understated Lunar New Year graphic on the leather upper and a festive feel for the insole and outsole.
3. Adidas Superstar New Year’s Classic
These white Year of the Tiger limited editions opt for a festive pattern on the red stripes alongside Lunar New Year motifs placed on the upper. Again the insole takes on much of the thematic heavy lifting with its design.
4. Adidas Forum Low Chinese New Year
Another understated celebration comes in the form of the 1980s basketball staple, which sees Lunar New Year patterns embossed onto the upper and the lace tab along the tongue. It also features a “preppy colour scheme”, along with a rejigged non-Velcro strap and alternate laces to flex your own way.
5. Adidas Drop Step XL Chinese New Year
This hybrid ’80s/’90s high-top shoe takes much of the Forum’s festive feel and goes bigger, with an even larger lace tab and large print Lunar New Year graphics. Another graphic runs across the three stripes on the side of the shoes, along with oversized trefoil branding. It’s available in men’s and women’s versions.
6. Adidas Jelly Boost Spring
These Greater China-release running shoes claim to be “inspired by the Chinese New Year”. The detailing is focused on the heel of the sole and the tongue tab, with an extra flourish coming from the “sparkling bubble” keychain that drips from the laces.
7. Adidas Ultraboost 21 CNY
The brand’s popular running shoe gets its annual makeover with understated design patterning nodding to the Lunar New Year across the black Primeknit+ upper. The white sole is offset with flashes of scarlet.
8. Adidas Ozweego CNY Year of the Tiger
The chunky retro Originals model wears its Lunar New Year credentials in details such as the lace guide on the tongue and the two-tone laces. They also feature a textured upper and embroidery on the heel.
9. Adidas Dame 8 CNY
The signature shoe of NBA star Dame Lillard might get a run out on the court during the Lunar New Year. Traditional imagery adorns the tongue loop along with flashes of red and a patterned toebox, while orange steps in for gold to add a festive feel.
10. Alexander McQueen Oversized Sneaker
The fashion house steps into the Lunar New Year with its iconic – and often imitated – silhouette. This year’s celebrations take in two versions that put the colour red and crystals to the fore. One is white with a contrast heel tab while the other is ruby red throughout.
11. Anta KT7 Twelve Images of Water
The Chinese brand puts the water element of the Water Tiger at the forefront for these Klay Thompson signature limited editions. The “Twelve Images of Water” sneaker is inspired by Chinese paintings and colours, and feature new technology such as the 3D Flow system and Nitroedge X Smart SAM elements.
Thompson might be back on the basketball court for the Golden State Warriors, but his Anta shoes are almost impossible to get hold of in the US.
12. Balenciaga Year of the Tiger Runner
One of the pioneers of the oversized chunky trainers, Balenciaga pays tribute to the zodiac animal with orange accents all over the statement futuristic design and contrasting black laces evoking the tiger.
The Paris-based fashion house also has Year of the Tiger Triple S Allover Logo shoes that have less obvious design inspiration from the big cat, with safari-style tones.
13. Burberry Tiger Print Cotton High-Top
Known for its bold checks, Burberry has gone even bolder with these high-tops from its Lunar New Year capsule release. Pretty self-explanatory as design inspirations go, and perhaps the most tigerish of all this year’s celebratory editions.
14. Converse Water Tiger Collection
The one-star brand leaps into the Year of the Tiger with a Greater China capsule that incudes Run Star Hike, Chuck 70 and Chuck Taylor All Star CX releases, each of which feature a water tiger element throughout their red or blue uppers and a tiger label on the tongue. Other details include water patterns on the insoles.
15. Dior B27
Part of the Kim Jones-led fashion house’s collaboration with artist Kenny Scharf for the Lunar New Year, these grey calfskin lowtops feature Dior branding and a stand-out tiger print from the pop artist in blue to the heel.
16. Fendi Match
These lowtops offer a contrast to the black and gold stripes elsewhere in the Lunar New Year capsule by opting to take inspiration from the Siberian tiger endemic to Northeastern China. A black and white tiger stripe dominates the uppers of the otherwise white shoe.
17. Gucci Tiger Ace
Big prints are the order of the day at Gucci, which has released two versions of its Ace tennis shoe. One features the words “Gucci Tiger” emblazoned on the side of a monogrammed pattern and the other has a stylised tiger, from its 1960 archives, over the iconic stripe. The Rhyton model combines both designs on the modern chunky silhouette.
18. Hogan Interaction Chinese New Year Black White
Hogan’s Interaction model gets a tigerish makeover with an image of a cub adorning the side of the shoe over the brand’s H logo. The shoe is all white but for flashes of black and red to keep things simple.
19. Air Jordan 1 Low OG
The lowtop version of the original Jordan design gets a tiger pattern in the style of brush calligraphy along a translucent orange sole and orange accents. Limited to 5,000 pairs worldwide, each one is numbered on the tongue.
20. Air Jordan VI Low
The Jumpman brand has been releasing Lunar New Year editions since 2011 and this is the first time it has got to the king of the beasts, but not all of the Jordan capsule is tiger-inspired.
This low-profile VI, inspired by the greenware Ge porcelain of the Song dynasty’s “Five Great Kilns”, features grey-blue and gold uppers specially treated to mimic the “ice crack” treatment of the famed earthenware, which is also echoed in the inner lining.
21. Air Jordan Legacy 312
Also inspired by Ge porcelain makers, this 312 silhouette features jade on the swoosh and heel cuff along with gold accents around the visible air bubble and for the Nike, Air Jordan Wings and Jumpman logos.
22. Koio Capri Lunar New Year
An even more understated red and white leather design marks its festive credentials with a custom tiger illustration created by New York-based designer Dahan Chung. The brand says that the tiger is “a symbol of strength and courage”.
23. New Balance 237
The normcore favourite has done exactly what was expected of them for the Lunar New Year and partnered with Italian soccer club AS Roma to celebrate.
That means the club’s wolf logo is on the shoe but the insoles feature a golden tiger face to mark the new year. The brand has also released a tiger print edition of the XC-72 running shoe in the China market.
24. Nike Air Force One Year of the Tiger
The AF1 steps into its 40th birthday year with a celebration of the Lunar New Year. The swoosh gets a yellow and black paint job while there is a tiger graphic embroidered on the heel and orange on the sole.
25. Nike Blazer Mid
A slightly more left field Lunar New Year offering explores Nike’s “Shapeless, Formless, Limitless” theme. That manifests as splashes of jade with bright red swooshes and an extra lace to tie around your ankles.
26. Nike Dunk Low Year of the Tiger
If you’re a kid or have small feet then you are in luck this Lunar New Year as these dunks are only confirmed for a grade school run. Tiger stripes at the heel spice up a grey/black base combo as does the semitranslucent blotched outsole and logo detailing.
27. Nike Dunk High “Year of the Tiger”
Like an unreliable uncle, the Swoosh came through with the goods right at the last minute in the form of the Nike Dunk High “Year of the Tiger” – and it was worth the wait.
Taking many of the design elements of the grade school Dunk low, it features details such as floral embroidery to the swooshes and collar overlays, along with a flippable tongue and Chinese characters on the toe boxes to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune.
28. Nike Kyrie Infinity CNY
Also known as the Kyrie 8, this is another model that may see life on the court as the NBA marks the celebration. These feature jade accents and a traditional Chinese wave pattern on the swoosh as a nod to the water dragon.
29. Onitsuka Tiger
The brand is going all out to celebrate with a full “Year of Onitsuka Tiger” of releases planned, including collaborations with artists such as Japan’s Yasushi Nirasawa. The first shoe up is the Serrano, which gets a full all-over tiger print overhaul and is set for an April release.
30. Vans x HuaTunun
The California skatewear pioneers have teamed up with Chinese artist Chen Yingjie aka HuaTunun for a three-shoe collection featuring the Authentic, Old Skool and SK8 Hi. The pick of them is the tigertastic Old Skool, which features a subtle tiger print graphic on the suede upper and striking tiger laces, plus a translucent tiger print sole.
