1. Name

2. History

3. Intellectual property rights dispute

4. Distinctions between the Chinese and American versions

5. In popular culture

6. Chronology

7. References

8. External links

Feiyue is a fashion lifestyle sneaker brand based in New York, New York, owned by BBC International headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. BBC International is a full-service footwear company specializing in design, sourcing and technology with global distribution. The company sells licensed and in-house brands of footwear globally.

Feiyue means “Flying Forward”. They first produced in Shanghai during the 1920's. Since 2006 they are owned by a French company operating separately from the original Chinese company, Double Coin Holdings.

Feiyue China shoes were also worn by a number of performers during the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, showing that they are still in common use in China. This version is also popular worldwide amongst practitioners of parkour for their light weight, thin sole, and flexibility. Feiyue shoes returned to the spotlight after actor Orlando Bloom was spotted wearing the American version of the shoes, causing a resurgence in interest for the brand ^{[1] [2][3]}

Name

Feiyue ({{zh|s=飞跃|t=飛躍|p=fēi yuè}}) translates "to leap" or "to fly over." The translation and slogan for the American-based footwear brand is "Flying Forward'

History

Feiyue originated in Shanghai in the 1920s, manufactured by a company called Da Fu ({{zh|c=大孚|p=dà fú}}). They gained popularity during the '30s for their robustness, flexibility and comfort which were considered essential requirements for martial arts and various forms of athletics. The shoes are a staple for almost all wushu practitioners and athletes in China with the shoes even being used by numerous shaolin monks and Kung Fu masters. Feiyue continued to be popular for numerous decades, with hundreds of thousands of shoes sold by the original company over the course of its lifetime, continuing to the present day. The shoes are a popular export with numerous foreign martial arts clubs and schools importing them as the standard shoes for their students. With the opening up of China and the associated cultural and economic shifts, the sneaker began to lose prominence in China.

In 2005, Patrice Bastian, an entrepreneur living in Shanghai, decided to team up with a group of artists to recreate the brand name with the stated intention of improving the image and appearance of Feiyue. Nicolas Seguy and Clement Fauth were part of his team to redesign Feiyue for the contemporary Western consumer. In February 2006, they launched the first French-designed Feiyue Shoes collection.

In 2014, BBC International, the Boca Raton, Fla based footwear firm acquired Feiyue Shoes. Upon working with BBC, Feiyue's men's, women's and children's collections were updated and globally introduced in Spring 2015. "We've wanted to get into the better vulcanized business for some time, and this is a perfect match for us," BBC Chairman and CEO Bob Campbell said of the brand.

Building on the existing DNA of the brand, BBC has developed an extensive new collection featuring fashion-forward styling, updated silhouettes, and premium materials such as leather and skins. “We’ve elevated it, given it a fresh approach,” Campbell said. “We showed the line to European retailers for the first time [recently], and the reception was overwhelming. People are excited about the direction we’ve taken with the product. It doesn't look like anything else out there.”^[4]

Intellectual property rights dispute

A dispute exists surrounding the trademark and intellectual property rights to Feiyue between the United States-owned company, Feiyue International, LLC, and Shanghai Da Fu Rubber Co, the company who originally manufactured the shoe. Liu Qinglong, manager of Shanghai Da Fu Rubber Co, said of the situation in 2011, "The French Feiyue brand will never enter the Chinese market…^[5]

Patrice Bastian, former co-founder and creative director of Feiyue International, LLC, commented: "It's actually a legal issue and there are many things that we cannot control. The main issue is that many people are claiming the right to this brand in China. So it's very difficult to work with one owner."

In 2005, while living in Asia, Bastian became enamored of Feiyue’s white vulcanized shoes. A die-hard sneaker collector, he traveled to the factory to buy his own lifetime supply — and ended up making a bid to buy the brand (with partners Nicolas Seguy and Clement Fauth). Bastian sold his personal stash of 300-plus Nikes and other kicks to finance the purchase. ^[6]

According to Feiyue’s website, Feiyue International, LLC, retains all rights regarding their trademarks, trade names, brand names  trade dress. These marks, names or trade dress, and all associated logos are registered and/or common law trademarks of Feiyue are protected by and international laws and treaties.^[7]

Distinctions between the Chinese and American versions

The original Chinese versions of the Feiyue shoes and the re-designed American versions have a number of differences. The differences include:

The sole of the Chinese Feiyue shoe contains reduced padding on the bottom of the shoe, which is considered desirable martial arts activities.

The sole of the French version has thicker padding on the bottom and is designed for more general-purpose use.

Also, the seal at the center of the sole is a green triangle on the Chinese Feiyue, while the marking is a red circle on the American version. Although recently the Chinese version has begun to use the American Red Circle because of the newly gained popularity it has seen in the States.

The canvas material of Chinese Feiyue shoe is thin, resulting in a large range of ankle flexibility. The martial arts application requires a wide range of foot motion.

The canvas material of the American version is much thicker and uses higher quality materials.

The original Chinese Feiyues originally came in only two colors, black and white with HI and LO version of each. The shoes were previously only available in a limited range of styles—simple stripes with some different colors. Now with BBC International on board the range of colors and style has grown tremendously. Feiyue China has also expanded to a wider range of colors and styles.

The American version of the shoe offers a wide variety of fashion forward choices for men, women, and kids. Consequently, collaborations with the likes of Céline, Agnès B, and Swarovski followed, as did famous fans, including Miranda Kerr, Reese Witherspoon, and Orlando Bloom. Now, at long last, the trendy cult label is infiltrating the U.S. market. ^[8]

In popular culture

The shoes can also be seen in the music video for Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks."^[9]

Poppy Delevingne is a fan of the brand, being introduced to it once they arrived in the United States. The Social-slash-model makes her Feiyue work with everything. ^[10]

Since joining BBC International Feiyue Shoes has become the Next It-Girl Sneaker. Feiyue has been spotted on Poppy Delevingne and now Whitney Port, who wore the sneakers while out at the Moët & Chandon Suite at the BNP Paribas Open. ^[11]

Alessandra Ambrosio has sported the popular classic style, the American version, on several photographed outings. ^[12]

Chronology

In the 1920s, a cloth shoe was manufactured in Shanghai, which was to later evolve into Feiyue years later.

In 1958, Da Fu Rubber Company (大孚橡胶厂) designed and produced a kind of civil Jiefang shoe (解放鞋) known as "FEIYUE". These were a modification of the cloth shoes used by the Shaolin monks.

In 1959, the modified cloth-bound rubber shoes "FEIYUE Shoes" officially entered the market.

In 1963, using FEIYUE and double arrow-labeled chevron with of "FEIYUE track and field", "FEIYUE" became the best-selling shoes in China with an output of 1,616,000 pairs, which is also prevailing in the market today.

In 1963, 1977, and 1985, the classic rubber shoes successively received Shanghai-level and the national-level awards of footwear in China. Famous indoor football coach Xu Genbao and player Qi Hong participated in contests wearing "FEIYUE track and field" shoes.

In the 1980s, "FEIYUE" sports shoes was awarded as "Shanghai's top brand-name products" several times.

In 2005, a French company started producing its own version of Feiyue.

In 2009, the Da Fu Rubber Company reorganized and sold the rights to Feiyue to the Shuang Qian Group Co. Ltd which then leased manufacturing back to Da Fu, and another manufacturer Top One (大博文), both traditional producers of Feiyue shoes.

In 2014 BBC International, the Boca Raton, Fla based footwear firm acquired Feiyue Shoes. Building on the existing DNA of the brand, BBC has developed an extensive new collection featuring fashion-forward styling, updated silhouettes, and premium materials such as leather and skins. ^[4]

In 2015 BBC International Launched a Collaboration with Feiyue and Peanuts for a limited edition collection. Before BBC’s acquisition deal in August 2014, Feiyue had major success in collaborations — including collections with Celine, André, Casio, Bonton, NSBQ and more. Now, BBC is set to continue the efforts of the Feiyue heritage and release premium collaborations, and the launch starts with Peanuts. ^[13]

In 2016 Feiyue teamed up for a collab with Solid and Stripes clothing company. The shoes take Feiyue's signature silhouettes and give them a fresh spin with textiles that are all Solid & Striped. ^[14]

References

External links

• Chinese Feiyue official website
• The US Feiyue official website

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