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Blazing Wonder, BW Shoes, has been one of the main players in the new wave of Chinese makers of fine hand welted men’s shoes – yet very few have heard of them. They’ve had their focus on producing for various other brands and companies – but are also offering their shoes direct to customers as MTO, starting at only €450.
Hear Leon Fan, one of the founders of the famous Chinese shoe store Medallion Shoes, about how they have worked to become so successful, and about things like the Chinese classic quality shoe market in general and about the increasingly interesting field of quality shoe brands and shoemakers coming out of China.
The options, and with that the interest, of Chinese made hand welted shoe brands have taken a hike lately, and many great offerings can be found. It’s also getting easier for people in Europe and the US to order, where one of them taking the lead in this race is Belgian Sons of Henrey with their collaboration with Oct. Tenth / Xibao Shoemaker.
One of the most interesting new brands that’s been introduced lately is Acme Shoemaker. Based in Beijing, they are a serious contender to making the finest RTW shoes in the world, and also offer MTO, MTM and full bespoke, all at very competitive prices. Here’s a substantial buyer’s guide to the brand, with an MTM order I’ve done as base.
There’s a number of highly interesting Chinese quality shoe brands out there (more of that later this week), but most are quite inaccessible for international customers, with orders only through e-mail/Instagram etc. Now one of these, Jim & Jun Shoemaker, has launched a new website for international customers making it really easy to see and order their Goodyear welted and hand welted shoes as MTO or MTM.
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The Asian quality shoe industry, outside Japan, is much more evolved than what most Westerners tend to believe. And more is happening – fast. In this episode, we hear shoe expert Robin Chang, founder of the Taiwanese shoe store Oak Room, talk about Asian-made classic shoes.
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New technology is being used more and more also in the classic shoe sphere, that’s nothing new. Now the next step in this development is taken, with the (at least to my knowledge) first brand to offer a form of bespoke based service with a 3D scanning that customer makes of their feet with the help of their mobile phone. The brand is called MADE and the shoes are made in China, including test shoes they cost no more than about €335 ($380) with the Early Bird offer now available via Kickstarter.
The Spanish brand Meermin has been grown rapidly since they launched their brand in the European and US market a few years ago. They sell Asian manufactured shoes with great designs direct to customers, which means very affordable prices. Here’s a review of a model from their basic Classic collection.
