Red Envelopes filled with money. Noodles. Lion Dances. Dim Sum. These are all staples of Lunar New Year that I and so many others have grown to cherish about the holiday. However, a somewhat unexpected addition can be made to this list: Nike shoes?
Apparently, Nike has been in collaboration with the holiday since 2002, but it was only within the last several years that news sites have begun covering the trend. But why?
As detailed in a 2024 ABC news article, over 2 billion people worldwide celebrated Lunar New Year this year. As I’ve grown older, I have also noticed this growth, especially after moving to California where large communities of Chinese immigrants reside. My neighborhood streets were filled with people dancing and cheering at parades, watching the booming fireworks in the night, and having giant feasts for dinner. But all this is not contained within the Golden State. It serves a lot of cultural importance as demonstrated in other states too, like Colorado.
Lunar New Year was officially made a state holiday in Colorado this year. Colorado is the second state to do so after California. In his bill instating Lunar New Year as an official holiday, California Governor Gavin Newsom stated:
Lunar New Year celebrates a chance to leave behind the troubles of the past year and invite prosperity and good luck moving forward. Recognizing this day as a state holiday acknowledges the diversity and cultural significance Asian Americans bring to California and provides an opportunity for all Californians to participate in the significance of the Lunar New Year. I am immensely proud of the richness of diversity and backgrounds represented in our state and understand the importance of wanting to see one’s own experience reflected in state holidays.
This monumental decision, as symbolic as it is, can perhaps be the first step for many Asian American representatives’ bigger goal: to make Lunar New Year a federally-recognized holiday.
Lunar New Year celebrates a chance to leave behind the troubles of the past year and invite prosperity and good luck moving forward. Recognizing this day as a state holiday acknowledges the diversity and cultural significance Asian Americans bring to California and provides an opportunity for all Californians to participate in the significance of the Lunar New Year. I am immensely proud of the richness of diversity and backgrounds represented in our state and understand the importance of wanting to see one’s own experience reflected in state holidays.
This goal is in large part due to the millions of Asian Americans outside of California and Colorado who celebrate the holiday. In the United States, many households have private gatherings with traditions such as eating fish, watching parades, or even going to the few shrines in the country.
It is incredibly important to honor our Asian American community as more and more new immigrants move to the United States. A 2020 Pew Research Center article demonstrated that over 1 million immigrants came to the United States in 2018, with about 149,000 descending from China.
So with more and more people immigrating, more non-Asian US citizens are becoming exposed to these unfamiliar traditions and rituals. As a result, more diversification occurs which leads to ingraining outside cultures as a part of the nation’s evergrowing history, fascinating non-Asian ethnicities to take part in Lunar New Year.
Hence, the Nike shoes. While the shoes are a way that people can see Lunar New Year on the go, the commercialization of the holiday perhaps has a chance of depleting its meaning. The shoes are made of a silk material reminiscent of the traditional Chinese wardrobe with symbols such as dragons and phoenixes as well as the symbol for harmony. But does that truly have that much value with Nike swooshes littered throughout? The shoes are very beautiful and a fun switch to the everyday sneaker, however, some may not see it that way. While it may be liberation in expressing identity, others may perceive a Western caricature of what Lunar New Year means.
Perhaps this growth can also be attributed to the increase in Asian representation in the media. The rise in popularity from Asian skincare methods such as gua sha, to K-pop groups like Blackpink and BTS has increased the exposure of Asian culture to non-Asian ethnicities. Asian stories have even made their way to Hollywood with movies and tv shows such as “Beef”, “Parasite”, and “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”, which swept the awards scene. Fashion constantly takes inspiration from the cheongsam and kimonos, and now Nike shoes. Even the Sephora kids spend their extra money going out for boba instead of ice cream. While the increase could also be seen negatively, with Asian culture being reduced to trends, one must admit the good created by easing other demographics into the value and stories that are shared. Ultimately, with the growth of Asian representation, we can begin to normalize the less trendy but equally important aspects of Asian culture, including Lunar New Year.
However, these issues seem to be the least of the worries that the Chinese American population has faced in regard to the holiday. The Asian American population has gone through a lot as the country has grown from the Chinese Exclusion Act to last year’s Lunar New Year shooting in Monterey Park, California which left 11 dead. This isn’t how the holiday should be remembered. Rather it is about community and unity, not about separation or heartache. Celebrating and exposing the holiday to others provides not only a reminder of home but also a chance to grow and freely express cultural identity.
Lunar New Year is a holiday that resonates with many people, young and old. It’s a chance to celebrate their identity and share a piece of themselves with friends and neighbors who might not know the holiday. By finding the balance between the traditional and modern interpretations, people can honor the meaning of the dragon this year. As the Smithsonian Magazine describes, the 2024 Lunar New Year, the year of the Dragon, is especially significant as the beast symbolizes prosperity, luck, power, and unity. Perhaps this is the year the rest of the United States and the world begin to recognize the importance of the holiday and can embody it in their everyday lives, maybe even in the shoes they wear.
Visual Credit: Jacob Buchhave
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