Warrior sneakers

Ye Shumeng, a Chinese born graphic designer now living in Helsinki, has produced a book of photographs of Chinese people wearing the old Chinese brand 'Warrior' sneakers. This is how she introduces the book, titled Book of Warriors.

In the 1970s, Warrior basketball sneakers were a much sought after status symbol in China. Many Chinese teenagers dreamed of a pair of white Warrior sneakers.

Road Warrior

Three decades later, these sneakers are still well known among the Chinese people but they are no longer objects of desire. They are used by the elderly and by poor villagers doing physical labour at construction sites and pulling rickshaws. They are used by Chinese working class heroes. Today’s Chinese youngsters dream of Nike or Converse.

Inspired by their unique and classic style, I took pictures of people wearing Warriors in various areas of China in 2007. Now these pictures have been released as the Book of Warriors and each copy is accompanied by a pair of Warrior sneakers. Through my book, I hope to tell the story behind the shoes and I would like 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.

Orlando Bloom in Feiyue sneakers

You can buy the Book of Warriors online, and at trendy stores like Colette in Paris (there is a list of stores that stock the book on the book's website). Every Book of Warriors comes with a pair of original Warrior sneakers.

Old Chinese sneaker brands have been getting a lot of attention these days. Chinese media has been talking recently about the reinvention in the west of the old Chinese brand Feiyue (Flying Forward). Not long ago, Feiyue was one of the cheapest brands of sneakers in China, selling for 25 to 35 yuan.

In 2006 a French company bought the label and began selling them in London and Paris for 40 to 50 Euro. A photo of Orlando Bloom wearing Feiyue recently made the rounds on Chinese web forums.