Gulun is a participating brand of the 2021 China Trunk Show and a well-known Chinese shoemaker.
In fact, Gulun started much earlier than the more talked about ones such as Mattina, Badia and Oct Tenth. And from its inception to today, it has always been using handwelted construction.
Speaking of the impression of Gulun, it must be value, and handwelted construction plus handstitched outsole only asks for 1000 RMB, it is crazy! I visited his workshop in 2022 and looked at all the processes to make sure that this information is true.
Later, it was said that there was a Goodyear machine, which I did not verify. But the benefit of handwelted construction remains which is that it offers more times of resoling, making the shoes you like that can stay with you for decades.
This year, Gulun came to the exhibition, what is the purpose?
The answer is UPGRADE.
Upgrade happens where it’s most visible and intuitive for consumers.
Leather
Once the price of Gulun was cheap, an important reason was the use of domestic leather. There were also high-end French leather, but it was not one we are familiar with.
Now, after the upgrade of the Gulun brand, two leathers occupy more than 90% of the product line. They are the Hatch Grain from Horween and the museum calf from Ilcea.
Horween’s Hatch Grain has a more gimmicky name, Shipwreck leather. Allusions to shipwreck skins, please see here.
The relatively rough texture is more suitable for outdoor shoes, of course, in this era of enthusiasts, it is not uncommon to mix and match extremely delicate and extremely rough.
Museum calf is very hot in China. It is popular because it used to be only the leather sought after in the circle of enthusiasts, but now, it is the leather that people who are not so interested in leather shoes will choose simply because of their good looks.
Visually, it is more shiny and bright, but in fact, its essence is to simulate the feeling of aging leather, making you look old money.
Construction
With handwelted construction and handstitched sole, what can be upgraded?
Norwegese construction.
Norwegese construction is more expensive because it cannot be achieved by machine, and requires a lot of labor.
Norwegese construction brings the tough element that is relatively lacking in dress shoes. In the case of casual outfit, this shoe is very classy.
What else? Fiddleback sole.
This may be a bit of a pandering to the enthusiast community. The role of fiddleback is to create a more aggressive shape on the sole, and at the same time tell that it is a high-grade product, with elements that other brands do not have.
There are also options for bevelled, but I expect that fiddleback will be more favored by the market.
Since its establishment in 2013, Gulun has also had a considerable number of loyal customers, why does he have such an upgrade? In two aspects, these customers have also upgraded, they hope to have better and more special products, on the other hand, whoever makes products does not want to make good ones which make themselves proud?
2023 China Trunk Show, let’s witness the upgrade of Gulun.