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This afternoon I was strolling around Xintiandi when I saw a nice pair of shoes in a new (?) shoe shop called Silvano Lattanzi. I went inside to take a look at the shoes, and was impressed by all the other models they had on display. I was told that all shoes are handmade in Italy, and I started to suspect that the price may be on the high side. But when I looked at the price of my favourite pair I was literally shocked: RMB 79,990 – more than USD 10,000 for a pair of shoes!
I dont’t mind paying a bit more for quality products, but this is outrageous. In Shanghai I normally pay less than USD 50 for handmade tailored shoes, meaning I could buy 200 pairs of those for one pair of Silvano Lattanzi. The Chinese staff told me that this brand is actually quite famous, but until now I had never heard of it (which does not say much, fashion brands is not an area that interests me very much). They tried to convince me to buy a pair by telling me that royalty and US presidents buy their shoes, but that failed to impress me. Even though the shoes look fantastic, I will stay with my Chinese custom-made shoe maker for now.
I am a Dutch entrepreneur in Shanghai who has lived and worked over 12 years in China. Co-founder of among others Tudou.com and unitedstyles.com, advisor to Spil Games for which I set up and led the Asian operation (2006-2011), and angel investor in Chinese Internet and tech start-ups. Married to Grace, with whom I have a son (Scott) and a daughter (Elaine). These are my personal views and do not necessarily represent the companies I am involved with. You can reach me at marcvanderchijs (at) gmail (dot) com
6 Responses to “Expensive shoes”
Even it’s a world famous brand or has the best quality shoes in the world, this is outrageous. Compare it to a pair of Tod’s, which should be max around RMB 10,000. But somehow they seem to get away with it. Even a simple Hugo Boss suit seems to cost RMB 15-20,000, while in Europe a buy them for EURO 500-600.
hm, that’s crazy! where do you normally go to get custom shoes in Shanghai?
typical normal dutch farmer reaction… their conversation won’t pas the word “how much you pay” This people/civilisation should come back to SENS… something they forgot…
@anonymous Don’t understand your comment about the ‘normal Dutch farmer reaction’. Do you not agree that paying such a huge amount of money for a pair of shoes is outrageous?
Dear Mr.Marc,
I’m very interested about some information on Chinese custom made shoes .
Where do you buy them in Shanghai?
have you got the adress or website ?
how much are they?
In you experience are there any maker better than other ?
Thank you very much
B Regards
Maksy
@Maksy I used to buy my shoes at a shoe maker close to Zhongshan Park. However, I do not have the address (I just drive there each time, don’t know street name). I also have not been there in the past 2 years, so he may have changed location. The price I paid was about RMB 300 per pair.
There is another shoe maker right behind the Portman Ritz-Carlton, in the street with the sports bars. Not sure how expensive they are, probably more than RMB 300.