One Small Point of Pride (ospop) has introduced a line of Chinese workers’ shoes to the rest of the world. Tian Lang work shoes are found on the feet of legions of blue collar and construction workers in China. Like the Warrior Shoes, these shoes are popular because they’re cheap and sturdy. Ben Walters, the owner of ospop, worked with the Tian Lang factory to produce a new version that “stays true to the original design while employing better materials to create a more durable and comfortable shoe.” Photos below show the results:
The new Skywolf series in six colorways.
Original shoes in action.
Typical point-of-purchase setup for jie fang xie.
Typical Tian Lang target audience.
I must admit, I’m a bit conflicted about this reinvention of the humble jie fang xie (the generic term for rubber-soled work shoes in China). On the one hand, I’m glad to see that ospop is turning a portion of its profits over to charities in China, but on the other, $76 for a pair of shoes that will set you back about $1.50 on the street in Beijing seems a bit on the steep side. Especially when original Chinese jie fang xie, at least to my mind, are more attractive. I take ‘em low cut without the red embroidered “gong” symbol. Found this little homage to jie fang xie in all their various forms:
3 Comments
I ordered a pair of carbon sneakers expecting black shoes. They looked black on the website. They were dark green. I returned them. The people at ospop had no explanation why their carbon sneakers are green and not black.
I’ll say that they looked like green to me on their website, but I assumed that was the fault of my monitor. Carbon is not green. I just ordered the cement color. I’m assuming they will be grey, but now I’m a little worried they might turn out purple.
Got ‘em. They are cement colored and pretty cool, but I will agree with the author that they should be priced closer to $1.50 than $75. Maybe with the cost of transportation, $20. Tops. $75 is going to upset some people when they find how flimsy they are. There ought to be a cheaper way to experience walking in a Chinese worker’s shoes.
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