Sole trader's time-worn path to success

"We aim to meet a customer's specific demands, and that's not a privilege limited to political leaders. But a pair of customized shoes is usually three to four times the price of a pair of ready-to-wear shoes."

Neiliansheng's best-selling design have always been ones with multi-layered soles, each layer made of 100 percent sweat-absorbent cotton cloth. Each shoe usually has 30 layers, stitched with thin linen threads.

The pieces of cloth sole are rinsed and starched, and then the shoe is assembled in a process that includes steaming, hammering and using moulds.

A master shoemaker at Neiliansheng, demonstrates his expertise in stitching soles. [Zou Weilin / Asianewsphoto]

"Making a pair of soles requires about 5,000 stitches to ensure it will not deform or crack," said He Kaiying, a master shoemaker at Neiliansheng.

"The most expert shoemaker can make only two pairs a day, but we cannot blindly expand our capacity at the price of sacrificing quality," he said.

The founder, Zhao Ting, first set up the brand after he had finished an apprenticeship at a local shoe shop.

To fill what he realized was gap in the market, he decided to make court boots for top officials, and his business acumen helped him win venture capital.

In the brand name, nei means the royal court and liansheng means successive promotions, indicating the courtiers wearing his shoes were those who were being constantly promoted.

Each pair cost the same as 1.5 kilograms of silver at the time, or the equivalent of an ordinary person's living costs for five years.

With such a high price tag, and the exquisite craftsmanship involved, Neiliansheng shoes soon became recognized as the choice of the wealthy.

A year after Zhao set up shop in Beijing, Louis Vuitton established a fine luggage store in Paris.

While LV remains one of the world's most famous luxury fashion brands, these days Neiliansheng shoes are not restricted to the well-off.

A pair of handmade Neiliansheng cloth shoes can cost little more than 300 yuan ($47).

"But it has always been considered a blue-blooded brand," Cheng says.

"Handmade products, a long brand history and limited numbers are the three key ingredients of most luxury brands. And Neiliansheng has all of them.

"For historical reasons, such as wars and the 'cultural revolution', the brand failed to develop, and in fact almost died, in the last century.

"But the current social environment has made it a prime time for retail choice, and our target is to reshape Neiliansheng as a high-end brand, despite its very affordable price."

Neiliansheng shoes are regarded by many people as a symbol of Beijing, a must-buy souvenir for tourists.

The company's revenue was 70 million yuan ($11 million) in 2010, and more than 80 million yuan last year. The figure is expected to exceed 100 million yuan this year, Cheng said.

But the company is certainly not standing still and is busy renovating its product line.

For example, chic cloth shoes for women now account for 20 percent of its sales, altering a balance that had traditionally heavily favored men's shoes.

The change has been largely credited by the wearing of Neiliansheng silk shoes by female event hostesses at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

"Now we also make comfortable slippers, though not as many customers as we would like know that yet," Cheng said.

Realizing that it has to keep up with the times, despite its 159-year history, Neiliansheng is adopting the very latest marketing techniques to ensure its future continues for many more years to come.

"We are planning to use all the most modern ways of telling people they should enjoy our shoes.

"That will include micro-blogging, and other marketing methods," added Cheng.

"We have been officially designated a 'time-honored brand', and that makes us very proud. We certainly plan to continue to perform as impressively in the future."

xiaoxiangyi@chinadaily.com.cn