NIO Life Unveils Automotive Circular Fashion Icon, Blue Sky Lab

SHANGHAI, CHINA, April 19, 2021, Today, NIO Life officially announced the first batch of over 80 designers collaborating on its sustainable project, Blue Sky Lab, at Auto Shanghai 2021. The first collaborating designers include students and faculty from the world-leading Parsons School of Design at The New School, Shuhei Aoyama, a creative pioneer in the architecture industry, and designers from the NIO user community and NIO's global offices. Partner brands include Li Ning, China's premiere sports brand, and Allbirds, an innovative sustainable fashion brand. 

NIO Life also unveiled its automotive circular fashion icon, representing the concept of sustainability enabled by recycled materials. The Blue Sky Lab collections will be officially released this fall. They will be a long-term pursuit, highlighting NIO Life's commitment to collaborating with global designers and brands on new products in the future.  

Globally, the circular economy has become an important part of sustainable development. NIO Life took the initiative in launching Blue Sky Lab to reuse leftover materials from car manufacturing, such as airbags, seat belts, microfiber, leather, and aluminum, to create a sustainable fashion collection.

Parsons School of Design is one of the top three art and design schools globally. Parsons graduates are leaders in their respective fields, demonstrating a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the complexities of life in the 21st century. Student designers are from the Product Design and Interior Design programs at Parsons' School of Constructed Environments. They are tomorrow's leaders in socially and environmentally sustainable, technologically innovative buildings, interiors, lighting, and products. 

Shuhei Aoyama is a world-renowned Japanese architect whose work can be found all over the world and is deeply favored by professionals worldwide. He was awarded an Architizer A+Awards, a global architectural counterpart of the Academy Awards, in 2020. In this cross-border collaboration, he hopes to recycle leftover materials from cars to showcase the future of home living.

The brand Li Ning will again collaborate with NIO Life to bring sustainable fashion collections with its unique design approach under the concept of New Life.

The innovative, sustainable fashion brand, Allbirds, will also join the project. Allbirds is loved in Silicon Valley among tech industry executives and fashionistas, and the Academy Awards-winner Leonardo DiCaprio also investing in the brand. It is also the first brand to label its entire product line with a carbon footprint.

Additionally, ten professional designers from fields including jewelry, architecture, and products among NIO users will join in co-creation. Finally, designers from the NIO Design Center in Munich and NIO global offices will be actively involved.

About NIO Life
NIO Life is NIO's original design lifestyle brand, integrating global design resources and collaborating with independent designers and top design schools in the U.K., Italy, Scandinavia, and Asia to create a joyful lifestyle with products that represent progressive attitudes, good stories, and quality designs.

About Blue Sky Lab
On January 9, 2021, NIO Life announced to launch the sustainable project, Blue Sky Lab, on NIO Day 2021. Globally, the circular economy has become an essential part of sustainable development. NIO Life took the initiative in launching Blue Sky Lab to reuse leftover materials from car manufacturing, such as airbags, seat belts, microfiber, leather, and aluminum, to create a fashion collection that represents a long-term pursuit, highlighting NIO Life's commitment in collaborating with global designers and brands on new products in the future. NIO Life also unveiled the Blue Sky Lab logo, representing the concept of sustainability enabled by recycled materials.

The first batch of 80 collaborating designers includes students and faculty from the world-leading Parsons School of Design, Shuhei Aoyama, a creative pioneer in the architecture industry, designers from the NIO user community, and designers from NIO's global offices. Partner brands include Li Ning, China's premiere sports brand, and Allbirds, an innovative sustainable fashion brand.

The Blue Sky Lab collections will be officially released this fall.

About Parsons School of Design and The New School
Parsons School of Design is the #1 art and design school in the United States and is regularly listed among the top three art and design schools worldwide. Based in New York but active worldwide, the school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the full spectrum of art and design disciplines. Critical thinking and collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. Our approach is characterized by a passionate commitment to improving all aspects of society through inquiry, iterative experimentation, and creative exploration. For more information, please visit www.newschool.edu/parsons.

Located in the heart of New York City, The New School is a world-class university with a long history of global engagement, an exceptionally diverse and international university community, leading-edge faculty, and renowned alumni. The New School houses five colleges, including Parsons School of Design, along with Parsons Paris. 

Since our founding in 1919, The New School has redrawn and redefined the boundaries of intellectual and creative thought as a preeminent academic center, built on the principles of challenging convention and creating positive change. The New School is committed to developing students who will impact the world and solve the most pressing social problems of our time.

About Shumei Aoyama
Shuhei Aoyama is the founder and principal architect of B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio, which he created in 2014 in Beijing. In 2016, he was named as one of the top ten emerging figures of the year in China's interior design by the China Building Decoration Association (C.B.D.A.), and one of the 40 UNDER 40 (2016-2017), a list of individuals the publication considers to be the most influential young leaders for the year. In 2017, he was named one of China's best international entrepreneurs by China Business News (CBN) and Youth Designer Role Model of the Year by Beijing Youth Weekly.

His primary design works include Nanluoguxiang Compound Renovation (winner of the 2016 silver prize for architectural creation by Architectural Society of China), L-Shaped Home in Dengshikou (winner of Jintang Prize for the best residential design of the year), House Vision of Explorers in the Community City of 400 Boxes, Suzhou Youxiong Cultural & Travel Apartment, Renovation of the Compound and Hutong Around the White Pagoda Temple, Chengde Forest Valley Hot Spring Center, Beijing Mumu Art Museum Renovation, and %Arabica Coffee at West Jianguo Road, Shanghai.

About Li Ning Design
Li Ning Design focuses on fashion trends, sports, and life, street culture, etc. The brand strives to modernize the traditional Chinese culture and deliver its charm to China and the rest of the world by expressing multi-cultural styles. Li Ning's unique design philosophy relies on its robust design resource network. Building upon its high-end sports D.N.A., Li Ning Design combines original Chinese elements and world-class design, applying them to more customized sports shoes and apparel products, as well as industrial design, application, and manufacturing.

About Allbirds
Started from a pair of wool shoes, Allbirds continues to source natural materials such as eucalyptus, sugar cane, and crab shells to create ideal products without compromising comfort, design, and sustainability.

The company is the first fashion brand to label its entire product series with a carbon footprint by measuring the actual carbon footprint of each product from its material source to its design, production, care, and even recycling process.