If you haven’t already heard about the Adidas Tang jacket, it’s time to check your TikTok feed. In Toronto, buzz about this elusive, sporty-meets-traditional piece has hit a peak, and finding one has become something of a bragging right.
Why Everyone Wants the Tang Jacket
For Chinese families, wearing something new for Lunar New Year is thought to bring good luck. Each year, brands seize the moment with festive releases, but none have had quite the impact of the Adidas Tang jacket. First released in Asia in early 2025, the jacket quickly became an international “it” item. Its scarcity only fueled demand—style-savvy Toronto shoppers often shared stories of getting theirs in Hong Kong, China, or Taiwan, or sending family abroad to help track one down.
What sets it apart? The Tang jacket reimagines the classic track jacket with a traditional standing (Mandarin) collar and distinctive frog button closures, known as pan kou. It comes in burgundy, olive green, blue, and grey, taking its name from the prosperous Tang dynasty in China’s history.
From Scarcity to Status
Since its launch in Asia, the Tang jacket has appeared in more markets, making debuts in France and the UK. In Toronto, Michael Dall, manager of Adidas at The Well, said that store staff receive at least two requests daily from customers seeking the style. Adidas told The Star there are no plans to release the jacket in Canada.
The scarcity isn’t just a Canadian issue. Even in Asia, tracking one down isn’t easy. Toronto-born content creator Jules Fray, now in Tokyo, described her search in China: after hitting six Adidas stores and hearing about a new restock, she still found most colors sold out, and finally sourced one from Taobao, a major Chinese online retailer. Eunice Yeung, a Toronto content creator, first looked on eBay but found prices high, ultimately swapping a social media video with a reseller to get her jacket.
The Cultural Appeal
Why has the jacket struck such a chord? Yeung said the fusion of streetwear and Chinese heritage makes it feel both fashionable and personal. Amy Chen, a Toronto stylist and content creator, noted that the familiar silhouette—echoing past designs from high fashion houses like Dior and Prada—helps make the Tang jacket accessible to Western audiences. The subtle cultural references, she said, make it easy to wear without feeling overly traditional.
The jacket’s popularity has increased alongside a wave of young people sharing traditional Chinese activities online, from wearing slippers at home to drinking jujube and ginger tea or using gua sha stones. This ongoing trend is often dubbed “Chinamaxxing,” with many creators captioning their posts as “a very Chinese time in my life.”
Fray ties this trend to what she calls the “Red Note era”—when concerns about a TikTok ban led many US users to the Chinese app Red Note, opening them to new communities and cultural trends. Fray recalls, “When people went on to Red Note and saw how nice and welcoming Chinese people were, it became an easy step into these emerging trends about Chinese culture.” For Fray, the Tang jacket’s understated design makes it feel approachable and wearable in everyday life.
Heritage Goes Mainstream
The Tang jacket’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed by other brands, leading to a spike in “mandarin jacket” searches—though this is a misnomer, referring to just the style of collar. Canadian store Simons has released a “frog toggle buttons faux-suede jacket” with clear resemblance to the Adidas design. Canadian grocery chain T&T launched a Lunar New Year collaboration with Joe Fresh, featuring knot-button vests and printed sweatshirts for adults and kids. For those seeking authentic Chinese-influenced style, brands like Lingan at Toronto’s Kowli boutique are a good place to look.
This surge in interest is meaningful, but also complex. Fray calls the renewed celebration of Chinese culture “bittersweet,” recalling anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s one thing to enjoy a trend,” she told The Star, “but you should also take the opportunity to learn more about what you’re wearing and the culture behind it.” Yeung agreed that the current enthusiasm for Chinese fashion is exciting, but said it “invites you to have a deeper responsibility to understand the history behind what you’re wearing.”
If you’re still on the hunt for the Tang jacket, here’s wishing you some Lunar New Year luck. And for everyone else, now is as good a time as any to appreciate the cultural stories woven into what you wear.
