From traditional Chinese footwear to an uber cool sneaker brand, Feiyue is establishing itself as a key player in the sporty, footwear market.

The Feiyue (pronounced Feî-ué which means flying forward) story started in Shanghai in the 1920s when it became the shoes of choice among all Chinese social categories from the countryman to the politician. Forgotten for decades and brought back to life by a French team, the brand is now very sought-after.

It can be worn casually with jeans or paired with a dress for a touch of whimsical chic.

"I fell in love with Feiyue shoes when I was living in China," says Patrice Bastian, co-founder of Feiyue. "I used to always wear these shoes and was sad to see that the brand, once iconic, was left aside, forgotten by everyone in China. We decided to bring the brand back to life and had to engage in quite an intense negotiation process to take over the brand. We also did a lot of work to increase the quality, create an identity and a logo. The brand new Feiyue was born in 2006 with the launch of the first collection."

The Feiyue founding team comprises Bastian, Nicolas Seguy and Clement Fauth, three globetrotters and sneaker lovers with strong personalities. The friendship, combined with their different and complementary backgrounds ranging from event production to F&B in France and China, is one of the strengths of the company. "We were thrilled by the challenge, the product, the vision and the opportunity to work together on Feiyue," notes Seguy.

What makes Feiyue standout? "The product was revived and adapted to Western tastes with new shapes and styles, blending a unique Asian heritage with European and American influences. Each season sees the launch of new designs inspired by our interests such as the 10N 28E, which looks back at 90's classic sneakers. What makes Feiyue so exciting is also its numerous collaborations with like-minded international artists that the brand believes in," explains Fauth.

The success of Feiyue wasn't a given. No brand of Chinese origin - except a few selected high fashion designers - has successfully made it through to Western markets while safeguarding its ethnic origins, and blending with Western culture and style. "What we are mostly proud of is this achievement of a breach in cultural gap through fashion, and recognition for this," says Bastian. Working in China is culturally very challenging, he adds. In Asia, vulcanised shoes have a historical reputation for being low-end products. The simple fact of coming up with a marketing plan and ideas for producing quality products wasn't accepted that easily. "It was a challenge for us to explain the vision behind Feiyue and the message we wanted to communicate to our target markets in the West".

Now, the sole's vintage verve is  coveted by fashion followers as well as those who simply want to walk in  comfort.