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If we talk about the most popular dress shoe brands in China in 2025, AXEN thrones the entry level, and ZHUOLV the highest end. (fp in the middle).

Perhaps many people have met the founders of ZHUOLV, YI Tian, but few people know his background and why he founded this brand.

Let’s get to know the boss.

Tell us about your background.

I have worked in the real estate industry, been exposed to finance, and have also done brand consulting.

It doesn’t even sound like “making shoes”. I’ve been dealing with the “optimal solution”. This experience has given me an almost paranoid rationality. I believe that everything has underlying logic, and superficial shortcuts often lead to the farthest road.  

When I left, the most important thing I took away was not experience, but a question: in an era of pursuing “quick realization”, is there another “optimal solution”, that is, an extreme and simple road, which may be slower and more clumsy?

How did you fall in love with dress shoes?

At first, it was for “decency”. The first pair of decent leather shoes was bought for an interview when I first joined the work.

I entered the society when I was young, and a pair of decent shoes allowed me to stand up straight and pretend to be a calm adult in a strange city.

Later, with the social experience and demand, I bought an expensive pair of famous Italian shoes. They were beautiful, but every time I wear them for more than two hours, a blister will be worn on the little toe side of my right foot.

This puzzles me: Why can’t a pair of “good shoes” respected by the whole world properly hold a pair of ordinary feet? Then I started trying until I spent seven figures on buying shoes, and I realized that it wasn’t “my shoes”.

True love never begins with worship, but with a specific and slight pain and an impulse to solve it by yourself. New shoes are green promises, while old shoes are silent comrades. It is no longer a tool, but a private witness about growth and time.

After liking it, how to quickly advance?

My advanced is “wearing” and “disassembling”.

To really use it and feel what is really “good to wear” when commuting, traveling even on the uneven road.

Dismantling is driven by curiosity-if I buy a dissatisfied shoe, I will simply disassemble it and see its structure, lining and gluing method.

This process made me suddenly realize that many “discomforts” are not bad leather, but the internal bones (shoe last, support) have not really been considered for people’s feet. This laid the seeds for my later “clumsy shoes”: comfort must be built on the correct structure.

After spending on so many brands, which one do you like best? Why?

There are not many good brands, but I appreciate those brands with “time morality”. They are in no hurry to prove anything to you, but silently guard a set of their own guidelines: what skin to use, how to sew, and why to design like this. They taught me one thing: true luxury is the “uncompromising” spirit.

This kind of uncompromising, in the case of “clumsy shoes”, is our “unskillful”-we never deliberately narrow the last for the sake of “slimming” in appearance, nor are we vague about the internal support structure in order to reduce costs. We believe that time will eventually reward those things that can stand “wearing” rather than just “seeing”.

What is the motive to create ZHUOLV?

The original intention is to solve that initial blister.

For myself and the same kind, I want to make a pair of shoes that make feet “forget the existence of shoes”.

This sounds simple, but it is the most extravagant goal in the field of shoemaking. It means that we should make shoes with the thinking of making custom shoes. It is not to produce according to a standard and imaginary “perfect foot model”, but to understand the diversity of real foot types, reserve the necessary tolerance space on the last, and build a precise and soft support like custom shoes inside.

We want to prove that a high standard of comfort is not the privilege of a few people, but can be achieved through an “unattractive” and more solid industrial way. .

Foreign brands rely on more than 100 votes to accumulate data. Many Internet gods are very aware of this. They are very sensitive to their feet, and they will know if they are right as soon as they set foot. I have only been clumsy for three years, so why did I go for the first two years? Only by spending money to understand the data of human feet, walking habits, wearing shoes habits, etc., and fully combining ergonomic design with industrial design, we have today’s last. Three years, how to surpass the sense of feet? You don’t need superstition, you just need heart. You can’t copy and set the last, you can only develop your own design. The last may have a shape, but it doesn’t have the soul as everyone said. (advanced sense, fluency, and fitness are also foot feelings), it is not without, it is a world of difference.

How do the China elements echo ZHUOLV?

The “China element” we understand is a philosophy hidden in bones, not a totem embroidered on the surface.

The “clumsiness” of form: We pursue a kind of “harmony”. Lines don’t pursue the European sharp sense of puncture, but contain internal forces, like Tibetan front in calligraphy. This is the embodiment of “emphasizing meaning over form” in Chinese aesthetics.

“Toughness” of the soul: We have carefully developed a last that is more suitable for Chinese, and can provide continuous support during long-distance walking. Behind this is the wisdom of “being soft”-comfort is not soft, but resilient protection.

Reading “Harmony”: From the tacit understanding of “Linxi” to the inclusiveness of “Hunyuan”, our naming all tells the same idea-shoes should not be the shackles of feet, but should be partners who resonate with them at the same frequency. This is the pursuit of “the unity of things and me” in eastern culture.

What is ZHUOLV best at?

If you only say a little, it is “productism based on deep empathy.” Our team is not only the creator, but also the most demanding and long-term user.

The competitiveness we understand is not the dazzling skill of a single technology, but the four aspects of “scientific understanding of Asian foot shape”, “awe of classic men’s clothing culture”, “insight into contemporary life scenes” and “modern expression of oriental aesthetics” are completely and uncompromisingly injected into every dimension of a pair of shoes.

It finally presents a comprehensive experience: the first stunning, the tolerance of the feet, and the tacit understanding of “integration of people and shoes” after a long time.

Our competitiveness is hidden in places that these users can’t see at a glance, but can feel at every step.

What are the best-selling models of ZHUOLV?

Liuyu (flowing jade) is our first model, and it is also the shoe style that many people choose.

What contemporary men need is “scene adaptability” and “sense of wearing security”. The market will eventually reward those products that truly respect users and solve real pain points.

What’s the plan behind?

In the short term, we will continue to deepen the core proposition of “easy to wear”, explore more inner structures and materials that conform to modern comfort technology on the existing classic styles, and launch series that are more suitable for different seasons and specific scenes.

For a long time, “Zhuolv” wants to build a micro-world about “China gentleman’s lifestyle”. Shoes are the starting point and the anchor point. In the future, we may explore some complementary products and contents around “walking” and “character” and have a deeper spiritual dialogue with our guests.

Everything is not urgent, such as our brand name, “clumsy” means believing in time and the power of one step at a time. We just do the product well and give the rest to people who are on our way.