Yuers: A sincere factory brand aiming to become the third force in sneakers. Part 1

Hello, I'm Hasegawa, a YUEN support staff member.

I recently cleaned out the entrance to my house.

What came out was a huge pile of shoes, shoes, shoes...

My wife and I have both worked in the apparel industry for a long time, so we tend to buy a lot of shoes along with our clothes. On top of that, our child is in elementary school. He outgrows his shoes quickly, so we could just throw them away or sell them, but they just keep piling up.

Looking at the shoes in the entrance hall, there are many brands. However, Nike and Adidas are overwhelmingly the most popular. I somehow felt like my home's entrance hall was a microcosm of the sneaker industry.

Because of my job, my eyes are always drawn to shoes when I walk around town, and even when I go to the hospital, my eyes are always drawn to the shoes on the shelves. Everywhere I go, people of all ages are wearing Nike and Adidas, and I think they are truly amazing brands.

NIKE's annual sales are said to be a whopping 7 trillion yen, and they account for 22% of the world's sneaker market share. Adidas accounts for around 17%, and these two brands together account for about 40% of the sneaker market. Their sales are higher than those of car manufacturers Suzuki and Mazda. That's incredible.

I understand that there must be a lot of them in my entrance hall, but I think this is a bit lacking in diversity.

As with anything, diversity and competitiveness are generated in an ecosystem, and new things are born. Consumers also have more choice, and it's no fun for an industry to have an overwhelmingly strong player continue to dominate.

Also, the fact that sneakers are being traded at ridiculous prices in the secondary market with "premium" prices means that the supply and demand balance is too concentrated, and I don't think it can be called a healthy market.

Nike and Adidas are the two biggest names in the sneaker industry.

・Skechers

・New Balance

・PUMA

・ASICS

And the third force, which has been gaining presence in recent years, is

・HOKA

・on

Brands such as:

The market size for Converse and Vans is surprisingly small.

This third wave of sneakers has a short history, but it has gained a lot of support from many consumers thanks to its unique cushioning performance and design.

"History" is surprisingly important in the sneaker industry, and Nike and Adidas have carved their mark on history alongside famous professional athletes. For example, "Professional athlete X wore this when he won that tournament." There are many models like that.

The more valuable a brand is, the more stories it has. ROLEX and OMEGA watches have plenty of stories to tell, such as when they were worn to the depths of the ocean by a certain number of meters, or when mankind first set foot in space, etc.

It's quite difficult for a new brand to try to imitate or incorporate these aspects. Influencer marketing, which has been on the rise recently, may be part of an effort to create a story like this, but as the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day," and history can't be created overnight.

It's true that history doesn't build up easily, but I think the strength of up-and-coming brands is their "ability to adapt flexibly to modern demands and incorporate new technologies." HOKA and on have been widely praised for their fusion of cutting-edge technology and design.

In this context, we at YUEN aim to become a third force in the sneaker industry by proposing a sneaker brand called "yuers." This brand respects history while incorporating innovative technology and thoroughly pursuing usability. The design concept of yuers is defined as follows:

yuers is a sneaker brand that pays deep tribute to the craftsmanship that has colored the "cultural scene" of various eras, and aims to combine tradition and innovation, with "usability" and "functionality" as its keywords when designing.

For more details, click here

https://yuenstore.jp/blogs/article/yuers-product-characteristics

That means...

-Each model is based on something that has become a classic sneaker.

・There are points that need to be updated to suit the times.

That's right. As someone who has been in the apparel industry for a long time, this is something that I'm very curious about.

The late Virgil Abloh, a genius designer who served as art director at Louis Vuitton and achieved great success with his own brand, Off-White, also favored the "3% approach," which involves updating existing designs and shapes by just 3% to make them more innovative and modern.

"That's just a small change!"

Some people may think that it's easy, but this "just a little bit of originality and timeliness" is actually very difficult. Anyone can change an existing design. It's very difficult to determine whether it's the originality needed in this day and age, and I think it's an area where the brand's personality and way of thinking really comes through.

This is something that can't be answered no matter how much you think about it, so the quickest way is to ask the person who made it.So we visited the office of EST Co., Ltd., which manages YUEN, to interview Tadatsu, the representative of EST Co., Ltd., which directs yuers, about which models are updated and how they are creating yuers products that are optimized for the times.

The reason I created Yuers was simply because of my pure desire to pursue my ideals.

EST Co., Ltd. is based in Osaka, near Yotsubashi Station, and is a company that handles OEM, wholesale, planning and manufacturing for apparel brands, mainly shoes and bags, as well as operating its own e-commerce site, YUEN.

Although Hasegawa works as a YUEN support staff member, he does not work in the office frequently, so he kindly took the time to interview us.

The office doubles as a showroom, and the interview begins amidst a packed space filled with a wide variety of sneaker samples.

Hasegawa: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. We spoke a little bit about it the other day, but I wanted to hear about the behind-the-scenes story behind the development of yuers. There are many things I'd like to ask you, but first, let's start from the very beginning: why did you decide to create the yuers brand? What was the origin of the brand development?

Tadatsu: "Yuers is a brand that was born from the intersection of many different things, so I'm not sure where to start, but I'll start by talking about myself. I've been in this industry for many years, making many sneakers and fulfilling the requests of many brands, including various designs and functions."

Hasegawa: "It's OEM, right? That's right. Tadatsu has made sneakers at the request of various brands. He now runs YUEN and other companies, but I heard that EST originally started out as an OEM sneaker business."

Tadatsu: "That's right. Of course, I can't say which brands I've made shoes for, but I have made shoes for many brands. From our perspective, the brands are our customers, and our job is to give shape to the designs and images that the brands envision. Each brand has its own design concept and price range. There are also needs of the customers who follow the brand. Each brand has different elements that they value and priorities."

Hasegawa: "The customer base varies depending on the brand. Even if the sneakers have the same design, like German trainers, the price and materials are completely different between luxury brands and sports brands."

Tadatsu: "That's right. As I work to realize the requests of various brands, there are quite a few times when I think, "I personally think this material would be better," or, "If I used this sole, it would be more comfortable even if it was a little more expensive." Of course, I make suggestions based on what I think, but it's up to the brand, our client, to decide which suggestion they choose, so they don't necessarily choose the suggestion I think is best. This doesn't mean that I think the suggestions are good, as they also change depending on the taste and concept of each brand."

Hasegawa: "I see. I've served many customers in the apparel industry, and I used to be asked, 'Do you have a good jacket?' What constitutes 'good' really varies from person to person. Something durable, something light, something comfortable to wear, something handmade... In short, what people value is completely different."

Tadatsu: "That's right. I've been doing this kind of work for many years, and I can give form to a wide variety of designs and functions. But at the same time, because it's someone else's brand, there are times when I can't give form to 100% of what I envision. So I thought, why not start a brand that can give form to 100% of what I envision? I want to make things that I simply want, that I want to buy, and that I want to wear."

Hasegawa: "It's pure desire. So what are the elements that you particularly want to achieve with yuers? I think that's what makes you unique, and what makes yuers unique."

Tadatsu: "Usability. Comfort. A fusion of usability and design."

Hasegawa: "That's exactly what the brand concept is. Why are you so particular about usability and functionality?"

Tadatsu: "I didn't want to give up, or rather, I wanted to do my best. The most important thing about fashion sneakers is the design, after all. But I don't think you have to sacrifice either comfort or design."

Hasegawa: So does that mean that OEMs from apparel manufacturers often prioritize design over comfort?

Tadatsu: "Sports manufacturers make running shoes that are designed to suit each sport after thorough research into the human body, but fashion sneakers made by apparel manufacturers simply can't compete there. The markets are different to begin with. However, I don't think that just looking good is enough, and I don't think it's okay if they're uncomfortable. I don't think it's a matter of 0 or 100, and I thought I could make fashion sneakers that were both comfortable and well-designed."

Hasegawa: I see. So, does that mean that yuers sneakers are made with the utmost focus on design and usability, without worrying about price? Currently, most of the sneakers are priced around 20,000 yen, but is there a possibility of a luxury line in the future?

Tadatsu: "That's right. I want to make the best product without worrying about price. However, it's not as simple as just raising the price to make them more comfortable to wear. If we use high-quality materials in the design, the price may go up, but I think we can continue to pursue design and usability within the current price range."

Through the interview, I found it quite surprising that the starting point for creating a brand was the "pursuit of ideals." Rather than exploring the market or demand in business, it was simply the pursuit of one's own ideals.

Is this market-in or product-out in manufacturing? As a factory that has been manufacturing for many years, Yuers seems to have a deep sense of pride that "if you make good products, they will definitely be needed."

In the second part, we will interview Yuers about their design philosophy and the specifics and usability they are pursuing as they aim to become the third force in the sneaker industry.

Yuers: A sincere factory brand aiming to become the third force in sneakers. Part 2

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