ZOU Zhiguang is a very senior industry veteran. I have much respect for someone who has been immersed in the industry for a longer period of time. It is a great honour to talk with him.
Please introduce yourself briefly.
My name is ZOU Zhiguang, born in Guangxi province in 1975, my hobbies are sports and shoemaking.
When did you get into welted shoes and how did you feel at that time?
When my first entrepreneurial endeavor failed in Dalian in 2001, I chose to shine shoes on the roadside. In the process of shining shoes, I saw that many people were wearing beautiful shoes, so I thought I could provide custom-made shoes to customers.
I started to learn on my own, because I grew up with strong hands-on skills and a talent for drawing, so I taught myself pattern design while looking for someone to make shoes. In the process of self-learning, I was lucky enough to take a few pairs of shoes orders.
I became more and more interested in making shoes.
Later I went to Dongguan and opened a shoe factory.
Which aspects are the strengths of your shoes?
My greatest strength lies in pattern design, I like drawing since I was a child. I made a pair of shoes completely by myself from last making, upper stitching, lasting and sole stitching.
What areas do you think there is still a lot of room for improvement?
I feel that I still have a lot to learn, so I came here to participate in the competition in order to recognize my own shortcomings and learn better techniques, and only by learning can I do better.
What’s next for you in the career path of custom shoes?
In 2019 year, I opened two physical stores in Shenzhen, the next is to invest more time and energy to refine the two stores, provide better shoes and customer service.
What bottlenecks, if any, do you feel you need help to overcome?
When the technology reaches a certain level there will be a bottleneck, at this time you need to go out and learn from better people, find what you need to absorb him to improve him.
What do you think is the most important thing about custom-made shoes and how to achieve it?
The main thing about custom shoes is the craftsmanship and customer recognition, if there is no good skills, nor top level leather, we cannot make a good pair of shoes. If customers do not appreciate and sponsor your labour inside, the business would die.
What do you want to get by participating shoemaking competition?
For the shoemaking competition, the main purpose of participating is to expand the horizon and communicate with those who are better than oneself in the shoe industry for some technical understanding, followed by business cooperation.