The name 飞跃 literally conveys the concept of leaping or moving upward and forward. The international brand adapted this into the English phrase “Flying Forward,” describing it as representing a dual elevation of body and mind.[2]

The history of Feiyue is generally traced back to Shanghai in the 1920s, a period when simple cloth shoes were being manufactured in the city.

These early shoes were designed for utility rather than fashion. Their primary characteristics included:

• Lightweight construction
• Flexible canvas uppers
• Relatively thin soles
• Inexpensive production
• Durability
• Suitability for physical activity

They became particularly associated with Chinese martial arts, including kung fu and wushu. It is important to note that Feiyue was not originally conceived as a luxury sneaker or lifestyle fashion label; its origins lie firmly in the functional Chinese cloth shoe.[3]

Connection with Shaolin and martial arts

Feiyue became closely linked with Shaolin monks and martial-arts practitioners. The shoe’s flexibility and relatively low-profile sole proved advantageous for training and movement.

This association eventually formed one of the brand’s most valuable cultural assets, establishing an identity where Feiyue = Shanghai + kung fu + traditional Chinese footwear.

Historical accounts regarding the earliest Feiyue-branded products vary. Some sources trace the roots to the 1920s, while others identify 1958, when DaFu Rubber developed and produced a civilian shoe specifically named Feiyue, as the formal birth of the modern brand.[4]

Consequently, the most accurate historical framing is:

1920s = historical roots of the shoe; 1950s = emergence of the modern Feiyue brand/product.

During the mid-20th century, Feiyue established itself as a mass-market Chinese athletic shoe. Its appeal extended beyond martial arts to ordinary consumers, students, workers, and athletes.

By the 1960s, the brand had become a major footwear producer in China. Historical records indicate production of approximately 1.616 million pairs in 1963. By the 1980s, annual sales reportedly reached around 4 million pairs.[5]

Before becoming a Western fashion sneaker, Feiyue was essentially a mass-market Chinese sports shoe. For several generations of Chinese consumers, it occupied a role comparable to that of Converse, Keds, or basic Adidas models elsewhere: inexpensive, recognisable, and practical everyday footwear.

The classic Chinese Feiyue was defined by extreme simplicity.

Upper

Typically constructed from cotton canvas with minimal structure, low weight, and high flexibility.

Sole

The traditional design utilised a relatively thin rubber sole, making the shoe particularly suitable for martial arts.

Silhouette

The classic form is recognisable by:

• Low-top or high-top construction
• Rounded toe
• Canvas upper
• Vulcanised rubber sole
• Simple side branding
• Striped or chevron-like visual elements

The design philosophy prioritised function over decoration. This simplicity later proved advantageous in Western fashion markets, aligning perfectly with the emerging demand for vintage-style, minimalist sneakers.

Feiyue’s initial success eventually presented challenges. From the 1980s onwards, China’s economy and consumer culture underwent dramatic changes. International brands entered the market, and consumers increasingly sought more technologically advanced and fashionable athletic shoes.

Brands such as Nike and Adidas represented a new generation of sportswear. In contrast, Feiyue became associated with:

• Old-fashioned footwear
• Low prices
• School PE classes
• Martial arts
• Older generations

By the 1990s, the brand had lost much of its former cultural prestige. While the original shoes remained popular among martial-arts practitioners due to their low cost and functionality, they were no longer considered aspirational fashion products.[6]

In 2005, French national Patrice Bastian, who was living in Shanghai and practising kung fu, encountered Feiyue. He identified a quality that the domestic Chinese market had largely overlooked: fashion potential.

Bastian and his partners believed Feiyue could be transformed in a manner similar to how Converse, Vans, and Superga had evolved from practical footwear into lifestyle products. They began developing the shoe for the European market.

In 2006, the first French-designed Feiyue collection was launched.[7] This marked a pivotal turning point in the brand’s history.

The international version retained the basic visual DNA of the Chinese shoe but was modified for fashion consumers. Changes included:

• Revised proportions
• Different materials
• Increased cushioning
• Broader colour selection
• Fashion-oriented styling
• Men’s, women’s, and children’s collections
• Collaborations with designers and artists

The objective was to transform what appeared to be a traditional Chinese kung-fu shoe into a contemporary European sneaker. The international brand described this philosophy as preserving the shoe’s vintage character while combining it with French and international influences.[8]

This repositioning proved remarkably successful. Feiyue began appearing in fashion media and popular culture.

The brand pursued collaborations with creative figures and companies, including:

• Céline
• André
• Casio
• Bonton
• NSBQ
• Various artists and designers

The Feiyue × Céline collaboration, in particular, demonstrated that the humble Chinese canvas sneaker could be positioned within a high-fashion context.[9]

The shoe also gained celebrity visibility. Orlando Bloom was photographed wearing Feiyue, which helped accelerate its international fashion credibility.[10]

Thus, Feiyue underwent a significant reversal:

China:
cheap → ordinary → old-fashioned

France/West:
authentic → exotic → vintage → cool → fashion

A significant cultural moment occurred during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Feiyue shoes were worn by performers during the opening ceremony’s martial-arts presentation.[11]

This was symbolically important as it reinforced Feiyue’s connection with:

• Chinese culture
• Kung fu
• Martial arts
• National identity
• Traditional Chinese craftsmanship

At roughly the same time, the French version was being marketed internationally as a fashionable lifestyle sneaker. Consequently, two somewhat different versions of Feiyue were simultaneously gaining cultural relevance.

Understanding the current state of Feiyue requires acknowledging that there are effectively two Feiyue stories.

Chinese Feiyue

The original Chinese business retained rights to the Feiyue name in China.

International Feiyue

The French team registered the FEIYUE trademark in various overseas markets, beginning in the mid-2000s.

The situation became legally and commercially complicated because the two sides used the same Chinese-origin name while operating independently. World Intellectual Property Organization records indicate that a French company owned FEIYUE trademark registrations in multiple jurisdictions dating from 2006, while Chinese trademark rights to 飞跃 also existed.[12]

China Daily described the situation with the phrase:

“Two countries, one iconic name.”[13]

Consumers may encounter shoes labelled Feiyue that look noticeably different. This is because the Chinese and international businesses developed distinct products.

Traditional/Chinese Feiyue

Generally emphasises:

• Martial arts
• Traditional construction
• Lightweight canvas
• Simple styling
• Low-profile sole
• Chinese heritage

International Feiyue

Generally emphasises:

• Lifestyle fashion
• Broader styling
• Greater cushioning
• Contemporary materials
• Fashion collaborations
• International distribution

Details such as sole markings, canvas weight, and cushioning have historically differed between the Chinese and international versions.[14]

From a historical perspective, the Chinese shoe is the direct continuation of the Shanghai footwear tradition. From a trademark perspective, the international company legitimately owns Feiyue trademarks in various overseas markets. Both facts remain true simultaneously.

In 2014, the international Feiyue business was acquired by BBC International, a U.S.-based footwear company headquartered in Florida.

This acquisition provided the international brand with access to:

• Larger-scale footwear production
• Sourcing
• Distribution
• International retail
• Marketing infrastructure

Expanded collections were introduced internationally from spring 2015.[15]

Describing today’s Feiyue simply as a “French sneaker brand” is therefore misleading. A more accurate description is:

A Chinese-origin footwear brand whose international fashion business was developed in France and subsequently became part of a U.S. footwear group.

The international Feiyue identity revolves around the concept of “Flying Forward.” The word Feiyue is interpreted as movement upward or forward, and the brand associates it with the elevation of both body and mind.

Its visual philosophy tends to emphasise:

• Simplicity
• Timelessness
• Clean silhouettes
• Movement
• Youthfulness
• Cultural crossover
• Vintage authenticity

This positions Feiyue uniquely between sportswear and fashion. Rather than competing on technological performance, it sells a story and aesthetic alongside footwear.

The classic Feiyue aesthetic can be summarised through several key elements:

Minimalism

The basic shoe contains very few unnecessary elements.

Canvas

Canvas is central to the brand’s identity.

Rubber

The rubber sole provides the shoe’s traditional athletic and martial-arts character.

Chinese heritage

The silhouette evokes traditional Chinese martial-arts footwear.

Vintage Americana/European sneaker culture

The modern international version fits comfortably into the same visual world as Converse, Superga, Keds, and Vans. This cross-cultural ambiguity contributes to Feiyue’s appeal.

While the exact product range has changed considerably over time, several types have become particularly associated with the brand.

Feiyue Low / LO

The classic low-top canvas sneaker. This is arguably the most recognisable Feiyue silhouette.

Feiyue High / HI

The higher-cut version, visually closer to traditional martial-arts footwear and comparable in silhouette to a high-top sneaker.

Delta Mid

An example of the international brand moving beyond the traditional Feiyue silhouette, introduced around 2010.

10N28E

A fashion-oriented model named after Shanghai’s approximate geographical coordinates, representing the international brand’s deliberate incorporation of Shanghai into its design language.[16]

Collaborations were critical to the international Feiyue strategy. Rather than competing purely on technical footwear, Feiyue used partnerships to establish itself within fashion, art, and street culture.

Notable historical collaborations included:

• Céline
• André
• Casio
• Bonton
• NSBQ
• Peanuts
• Solid & Striped
• Various artists and designers

This strategy helped transform Feiyue from a “cheap Chinese kung-fu shoe” into a product viewed as culturally interesting by sneaker collectors and fashion consumers.[17]

Feiyue represents three different cultural identities at once:

Chinese industrial heritage

It originates from Shanghai’s traditional canvas footwear industry.

Martial-arts culture

The shoe became strongly associated with kung fu, wushu, and Shaolin culture.

Global fashion culture

The French revival transformed it into a minimalist lifestyle sneaker.

Few sneaker brands have undergone this specific journey. Feiyue can be described as a Chinese working-class shoe that was rediscovered by Western fashion culture.

Several factors contributed to Feiyue’s success in Western markets:

Authenticity

Unlike newly invented “Chinese-inspired” fashion products, Feiyue possessed genuine Chinese history.

Low-key design

Its simple silhouette complemented minimalist fashion trends.

Vintage appeal

The shoe resembled an old athletic sneaker rather than a technologically advanced performance shoe.

Cultural story

Associations with kung fu and Shaolin provided a compelling narrative.

Price accessibility

Historically, it was inexpensive compared to designer sneakers.

Celebrity exposure

Appearances by celebrities helped establish fashion credentials.

Collaborations

Partnerships with brands like Céline gave Feiyue legitimacy outside the sportswear market.

A useful comparison is Converse. Both brands share a similar transformation trajectory:

Converse

basketball shoe → everyday sneaker → youth culture → fashion

Feiyue

martial-arts shoe → everyday Chinese shoe → rediscovered by France → fashion sneaker

However, Feiyue has a much stronger East Asian cultural origin story, whereas Converse is rooted in American basketball. This distinction allows Feiyue to feel distinctive despite the familiar canvas-sneaker formula.

Comparisons with Vans are also instructive. Vans built its identity around skateboarding, Southern California, and youth culture. Feiyue built its identity around kung fu, Shanghai, Chinese heritage, and minimalist canvas footwear.

Both brands ultimately use a relatively simple shoe to communicate a larger cultural identity.

The most complex aspect of Feiyue’s history is that the brand name became internationally fragmented. The original Chinese company maintained the historical connection to the product and Chinese rights, while the French/international operation obtained trademark rights in numerous foreign markets.

The dispute became public because the two sides claimed different versions of the same heritage. The Chinese side argued that the French business had appropriated an established Chinese brand. The French side argued that it had legitimately acquired or registered the rights used internationally and had independently invested in transforming Feiyue into a global fashion brand.[18]

This issue involves trademarks, corporate ownership, manufacturing relationships, and geographic trademark rights, rather than merely a branding disagreement.

Feiyue’s greatest strength is also its biggest historical irony. In China, Feiyue was once too ordinary. In the West, that same ordinariness became fashionable.

A Chinese consumer might view an old Feiyue as an inexpensive school or martial-arts shoe, while a Western fashion consumer sees the same aesthetic as authentic, vintage, minimalist, exotic, and culturally meaningful. This reversal is central to the Feiyue story.

As of 2026, Feiyue should not be viewed as a single unified global company. There are Chinese Feiyue businesses and products tied to the historical Shanghai tradition, alongside the internationally marketed Feiyue business associated with Feiyue International and BBC International. Regional operations using names such as Feiyue Dafu also exist.[19]

The Chinese side continues to emphasise the brand’s national and industrial heritage, while international Feiyue emphasises the lifestyle and fashion interpretation of the classic sneaker. Official Chinese Feiyue/FeiYue Group materials present the brand in terms of both Chinese industrial heritage and internationalisation.[20]

Historical dates vary somewhat between sources because the history of the shoe and the legal history of the trademark are not identical.[21]

The brand’s significance can be summarised in five points:

1. Genuine age: Its roots extend back roughly a century to Shanghai.
2. Authentic martial-arts heritage: The kung-fu and Shaolin association is not a modern marketing invention.
3. Extraordinary cultural reversal: An inexpensive Chinese shoe became an international fashion product.
4. Creative international revival: French designers and collaborations radically changed perceptions of the shoe.
5. Complex corporate/trademark history: There is no simple narrative of single-company global ownership.[22]

Feiyue (飞跃) is a Shanghai-born Chinese footwear brand whose roots stretch back to the 1920s and whose classic canvas shoe became particularly associated with Chinese martial arts and Shaolin kung fu. After declining in popularity in China during the late 20th century, the shoe was rediscovered by French entrepreneur Patrice Bastian in 2005 and relaunched internationally from France in 2006 as a minimalist lifestyle sneaker. Collaborations with fashion and cultural brands, celebrity exposure, and international marketing transformed Feiyue from inexpensive Chinese athletic footwear into a cult fashion sneaker. The international business was acquired by U.S. footwear company BBC International in 2014. Meanwhile, the original Chinese Feiyue business continued separately, producing its own products and retaining important Chinese trademark rights. Consequently, Feiyue today represents both a historic Chinese footwear tradition and a separately developed international fashion brand.[23]

1. Feiyue
2. [Feiyue shoe brand: Two countries, one iconic name[3]- Chinadaily.com.cn](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-06/20/content_25766628_3.htm)
3. Our Story – FEIYUE AUS NZ
4. Feiyue
5. ABOUT US – Feiyue Dafu | Official Website
6. À PROPOS DE NOUS – Feiyue Dafu | Site officiel
7. Chinese company calls French firm ‘robbers’ for making Feiyue trainers | South China Morning Post
8. WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2010-0023
9. Feiyue s’adosse au groupe BBC International
10. FeiYue Group
11. Feiyue fait son retour sur le marché mondial de la sneaker – FashionNetwork France
12. Feiyue fait son retour sur le marché mondial de la sneaker – FashionNetwork Belgique
13. Feiyue – Wikidata
14. “Design in China” e31 – 飞跃 Feiyue – A Story of Sneakers, Trademarks, and Globalization – Animaze
15. California Residents – Feiyue
16. Flying forward, once again – Chinadaily.com.cn
17. Precision Design Studios launches pdsCommerce™, its Enterprise-level Commerce Platform, with Footwear Brand, Feiyue from BBC International
18. WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2011-1192
19. WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2011-0695
20. WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2011-0376
21. WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2010-1506
22. WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2010-1490
23. Att Gene – FeiYue shoes – Shaolin Kung Fu – KungFuMagazine