TAIWAN FACTORY
- City: Taipei, Taiwan
- Owners: The Lin family
- Founded: 1986
- Number of employees: 25
- Maguire products: Our unisex sneaker Taipei
While the first shoe factories in Asia were located in Taiwan – we are now talking three generations of expertise – the opening of China to international markets took a heavy toll on this Taiwanese industry, which has lost a majority of its local manufacturers. However, our partner is exemplary of a whole new generation of Taiwanese entrepreneurs who aim to undo Asia’s bad reputation in fashion products.
How will they do it? In offering products with a considerable value-add and high standards of quality, and concentrating on local production to be more competitive. We right away felt an affinity with these young entrepreneurs seeking to disrupt the status quo. This partner wanted to create for us a shoe that would distinguish itself from the very first fitting for extraordinary comfort. We collaborated to achieve this goal in the Taipei unisex sneaker, with its cushioned sole and top-notch production.
How did we find them?Long before the launch of Maguire, our founder and designer Myriam was studying footwear design at Cordwainers, London College of Fashion. One of her classmates with whom she became friends would go on to build his own factory and a brand of shoes well-known locally in Taiwan. After staying in touch over the years, they accepted to produce a collection for Maguire for our very first unisex collection!