“Industrial Commercial Workwear as Fashion”
Ben Walters, founder of Ospop (Photo courtesy Ben Walters).
Last week, Jing Daily had the opportunity to speak to Ben Walters, founder of Ospop, a retro-hip company that makes “Liberation Shoe” (解放鞋)-inspired sneakers and bags. Upon moving to Shanghai in 2003, during a period of constant construction throughout the city, Walters became fascinated by the simple rubber-soled shoes worn by laborers all over the city. Working with a design team, he created Ospop, a line of shoes and bags that are both manufactured in and and representative of China.
Ospop has found success in rebranding the workwear shoe to foreign markets, with historically roughly 75 percent of the company’s business coming from the US and 25 percent from Europe. More recently, however, Ospop has turned their attention towards China’s domestic market. While it’s early on in Ospop’s foray into the China market, Ben Walters discussed his branding strategies and goals, as well as the changing perception of fashion in China, as it transitions from the overdone towards the understated.
Jing Daily: We were hoping you could give us a little more background about how you came to be interested in the company itself, because obviously the Liberation Shoe has been around for a long time. What drew you to that particular shoe?
JD: We’ve covered a lot of different Chinese retro brands in the past, so we’re really interested to hear what takes Ospop apart from those other brands (i.e. Feiyue, Huili). We’d be interested to hear what your branding message is and why it’s different from the other brands.
The Steppe line of shoes has been Ospop's strongest seller.
JD: In terms of the domestic market, going on with your marketing strategy, Ospop recently launched a China webshop on Taobao, can you talk about that a little bit?
JD: Let’s go back to your ‘Proudly Made in China’ campaign.
"Proudly Made in China" — Ospop
JD: In terms of talking to people in China, friends or otherwise, has the reception to that message has been pretty good? What sense have you gotten from that, bouncing it off of friends and acquaintances? You don’t hear any Chinese companies saying what you’re saying.
JD: It certainly seems like you’re in the right city, because it seems like Shanghai’s usually the sort of barometer, especially for younger people.
The Jing Daily team would like to thank Ben Walters for taking the time to speak with us. Be sure to check out Ospop at / and, for more information about Ospop’s “Proudly Made in China” poster campaign, head over to NeochaEDGE.