Outdoor everything: China’s new sportswear playbook

Huawei unveiled a Descente co-branded edition of its Watch Ultimate 2 on September 7, one of two new versions of the flagship outdoor smartwatch shown at the company’s HarmonyOS 7 and Mate XT 2 launch event in China. Both new editions share the same case and bezel — amorphous zirconium alloy with a nano-crystalline ceramic ring — and ship on nylon woven loop straps with a fluoroelastomer strap in the box. What separates the Descente version is finish rather than function: a darker tone, the brand's V-shaped orange stitching worked into the strap, and two co-branded watch faces. Each sells for 6,999 RMB ($1,043), with presales opening on launch day and retail from September 17 through Huawei’s own stores, authorized retailers and e-commerce partners. Sports brands lending their names to consumer electronics is nothing new, and on the evidence available this is a licensing exercise rather than a joint engineering effort. The more interesting question is why Huawei wanted a ski brand on the box now. The watch’s winter capability was rebuilt for this release, and Descente — which counts skiing, golf and triathlon as its three strategic categories, and which Anta has operated in China since 2016 — gives that push a name recognized by exactly the consumers Huawei is chasing. Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 ski modes and resort maps explained The ski package itself is substantial, and it runs across both new editions rather than the Descente one alone. Six modes now cover outdoor and indoor alpine skiing and snowboarding, cross-country and — new to this release — ski mountaineering, which tracks the climb as well as the descent and accepts route files in GPX, KML and TCX formats. Maps for more than 3,000 outdoor ski resorts across 59 countries put trail names, difficulty grades and lift locations on the wrist. Turn detection logs long and short turn types, turn count and maximum G-force, a metric that until recently needed external sensors. Huawei’s own footnotes qualify some of this: ski mountaineering arrives by over-the-air update, and the resort maps need the same update, the Huawei Health app, HarmonyOS 7 or above, and are limited to certain countries and regions at launch. What Descente gets is narrower than a new product category. Its name now sits on a device its target consumers will wear on the mountain, in a market where Huawei holds a strong position in premium wearables and Descente is competing for the same high-spending winter sports customer. Whether that leads anywhere beyond a colorway is the open question. Huawei has not said whether either new edition will sell outside China. Maia Active and Pure open a fitness club at Anta’s Shanghai Fila hotel Anta Group’s Maia Active has partnered with Asian wellness operator Pure on Maia Active Fitness Club by Pure, a space of more than 2,000 sqm on the third floor of the Shanghai Fila Hotel in Xihongqiao, the first Fila-themed sports hotel globally and part of Anta’s Shanghai headquarters complex. It opens in November, offering strength and cardio training, yoga, Pilates and recovery facilities alongside classes and community events tied to Maia Fun Club. Maia Active and Pure have worked together before, on a co-branded product line, so the gym extends an existing relationship rather than opening one. What is new is the physical commitment, and it arrives at a point where the brand needs one. Anta bought a majority stake in October 2023 and Maia Active has since gone from 36 stores to 53, missing its own 50-to-60 target for the end of 2025 by finishing at 52. Anta does not disclose the brand’s revenue separately, folding it into an “all other brands” segment that turned over 10.69 billion RMB ($1.6 billion) in the first half of 2026, up 44.2%. Meanwhile Alo Yoga has taken its first China site at K11 Musea in Hong Kong and NikeSkims has opened at Taikoo Li in Shanghai. On releases a Hall of Fame Roger Centre Court for Federer Swiss sportswear brand On put a special International Tennis Hall of Fame edition of The Roger Centre Court on sale on August 25, four days ahead of Roger Federer’s induction in Newport, Rhode Island. Federer has been an investor and co-owner of On since 2019. Rendered in ivory and fern, the shoe pairs a white upper with gold accents and green detailing, with a gold International Tennis Hall of Fame racquet badge at the heel and a grass-colored sockliner Federer suggested himself. It draws on Wimbledon outfits he wore over his career, one of which is now displayed at the Hall of Fame. The edition is limited to 20,000 pairs worldwide at $200, sold exclusively through On.com. A campaign film, “The Boy from Basel,” ran alongside the launch. Shot in Basel, it retraces the bike route Federer rode from his childhood home to his local tennis club. Topsports becomes Sierra Designs’ exclusive China operator A strategic partnership signed in August makes Topsports the exclusive operator of outdoor label Sierra Designs across mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, covering brand communications, marketing, omnichannel sales and consumer operations. The agreement is with Hilight Brands, the South Korean fashion and lifestyle company that has run Sierra Designs in its home market since 2023. Sierra Designs was founded in Richmond, California, in 1965 by George Marks and Bob Swanson, and built its reputation on the mountain parka and the dome tent. Topsports said the brand holds hundreds of patents. The first China store is due to open before the end of the year, with more cities to follow and online channels built out in parallel.

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Outdoor everything: China’s new sportswear playbook

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag