The Refinery, or TR for short, is arguably one of the most well-known Chinese brands in classic menswear community, and its staple products are not suits. The co-founder LI Yao is considered a pioneer in this domestic consumer field. From the day I liked this category, I have heard the name of TR and the product is very popular. The nickname of the manager, Three Earth is also always heard mentioned. After writing classic menswear for more than 3 years, I finally got the opportunity to interview this practitioner who has been heard so much. Let’s take a look at his story.
Although many people know your nickname Three Earth, please introduce yourself roughly.
My real name is LI Yao, because the word Yao is rare, so people generally call me Three Earth (Yao垚，Earth土）, I feel Three Earth is more approachable and I like it very much.
I am a native of Shanghai, just past the age of forty.
I have been particularly fond of clothing since I was a child, influenced by my mother, who made hats when she was young. I majored in apparel design but have been working in branding and visual management since I graduated.
I have worked for brands such as Calvin Klein, Zuczug/, Ralph Lauren and many others.
How did you fall in love with the classic menswear?
This has a lot to do with my professional experience. Around 2008 or 2009, I started to realize that formal wear, Ivy, and Amekaji all belong to classic menswear, just different styles.
Working at Ralph Lauren has allowed me to touch and try on a very large number of products, and it also taught me a lot about clothing culture beyond the products, which is very important.
I was very impressed during my internship at the flagship store in Omotesando, Japan.
I asked my Japanese visual colleague why their shoes were arranged in a messy way instead of placing according to color shades or shape sizes, because in my mind, the arrangement from dark to light might make the product display look neater. The Japanese colleague introduced me the history of each shoe model starting from a longwing brogue derby. Through his introduction, the customer can get to know the characteristics and culture of each shoe type. This made me realize that some classic products are not only classic in appearance, but also need to understand the reasons for these designs and some of the culture and aesthetics of the time.
Due to my background of fashion design major, I was too concerned about novel designs and just for the sake of being different, and rarely thought about why I designed the way I did.
Since then, my nickname has changed to “Three Earths, No Design” and I have been using it until now.
As a consumer, what products and brands have given you the greatest pleasure and satisfaction?
2000 Spring Summer collection from KENZO impressed me, I liked the poppy shirt very much but couldn’t afford, I often window-shopped. Once in Shenyang New World, the store sales introduced me to a lot of relevant product knowledge, that day I spent 800 RMB to buy a basic TEE shirt, a vertical striped white TEE of Egyptian cotton, I Wore many, many years and the feeling of that premium material is still impressive.
During a spring festival, I bought a good fabric Gucci shirt in Huaihai Road. The beauty of the store, the soft carpet and the whole fitting were very pleasant, which made me feel very nostalgic.
I especially like the feeling that premium materials give to the body, which also influences our current understanding of the value of our products.
How did the transition from consumer to practitioner happen?
In the apparel industry, there are many people who have started their own business because they can’t buy the clothes they like. The common element is that we all love this industry. I like classic and durable products with quality, and I want them.
The origin of the name THE REFINERY, and what it stands for?
THE REFINERY is a trademark registered by me and Jiahao in 2016. We started to have a clear product style and brand positioning, and we wanted to make some classic menswear products, maybe some styles never seen for decades or even hundreds of years. We hope to retain the charm of these styles and add some our own ideas to make these classic products more urban, modernized. This is the origin of the name THE REFINERY.
We always believe that classic is not a retro, and there is no need to wear the same as 100 years ago. You can wear in modern times with the temperament of a different era while without contradiction. You can integrate different styles of different generations of these products, that is what I define classic.
THE REFINERY used to be a bespoke business and was highly acclaimed, why is it no longer available?
RAFFINA is the custom line of THE REFINERY, which is a very important carrier between the brand and the customer as we can have a more real communication with the customer in the store. In 2022 yearend we reorganized the store and made RAFFINA an independent operation of suit customization. The new RAFFINA offers MTO service of TR products, as the complement of The REFINERY to provide a more stylized, more personalized product selection.
For suits, we have our own aesthetic and style, and in the new RAFFINA store, we offer this service again. In the future, we will put more ready-to-wear products put into the store.
THE REFINERY is a jacket maker in enthusiasts’ eyes, is this assertion correct?
We have developed many different types of products, but in the future we will indeed focus on jackets as the main product with some other basic items. We launched some sweaters or knitted products, but we will cancel them afterwards because knitting factories and woven factories are completely different types.
For a brand, the limitations of the product do have an impact and we need to always keep an eye on the market response, but the most important thing is that the product itself exceeds the customer’s expectations.
Throughout the years since THE REFINERY establishment. what are the 3 most successful items?
Article 029, a M65 jacket is an early representative. We designed this product to be cleaner and more urban, raised the waistline, made some adjustments to the chest strap and eliminated the back collar cap. I did not expect that this design has influenced almost most of the peers in the classic menswear circle, and you can see most suit stores still carry this style M65. But they don’t manage the collapse problem at doorway to the collar seat, perhaps they do not care or simply did not pay attention to it.
Article 075 is the most copied style after 029, in fact, 075 is just a moving version of 029, but 075 represents our new direction and aesthetic output, which is a substantial adjustment. We began to pay more attention to the sense of silhouette and inclusiveness of the jacket. I make 075 more durable and practical.
Article 100 is arguably another most successful items, which is also a large jacket concept that can be layered with a suit with a feeling of 1980s, another rendition of the right fabric matching the right style, and this is currently one of the most popular products among our customers. This year we will launch the same short jacket product, I will personally try on all the new products a long time to achieve the perfect combination of practicality and appearance.
What do you think are the most convincing points in terms of the product that THE REFINERY has been able to get the approval of loyal customers?
The first thing I think is honesty. A customer can faithfully trust a brand, so the brand must also be honest with every customer. I want brands and customers to be more like friends, a more equal and open relationship.
At the end of the day, of course, what we sell is still the product, and product quality is greater than anything else.
In 2022, THE REFINERY may have changed quite a bit, what is the initial purpose of the change? What is the future direction?
2022 is really a very special year, in fact Refinery has been adjusting in the past few years. When Jiahao and I founded this brand, we also thought about why we want to build a brand and what we can provide for our customers. Although we are a small store, I always believe that a business is founded to provide value and help the society. There are a lot of menswear consumers in China, and if our brand and products can help people to wear fantastic outfits, I think the business is valuable and the business can get paid accordingly. I’m glad that along the way we did help a lot of our customers with their outfits, and they started to love wearing nice clothes and started to pay attention to classic menswear, and that will always remain the same.
This year, in addition to THE REFINERY, I have also taken over RAFFINA in its entirety. At present, our business is very stable on both sides, and we will also try to publish more content to contribute to men who love life in dressing.
What is the attraction of the latest THE REFINERY for potential customers who have not consumed Refinery?
Most of the time I’m actually doing the online customer service myself, I like to communicate directly with the guests and answer their questions. I can also get a more direct understanding of our customers’ needs, and of course, I think it has always been THE REFINERY’s continued creativity and interesting products that are our strengths, which come from our love of our own products.