Liebe Hsing Revives Taiwan’s Traditional Shoemaking Industry

Former fashion marketer Hsing-ju Lin (林倖如) has a life-long passion for shoemaking.  It started when she was a master student at the University of Leeds, later bloosomed into her very own women's footwear brand.  Her interest in shoemaking is unweavering, and it may as well revive the traditional shoemaking in Taiwan. Once an important part of the export industry, the number of craftspeople who make shoes by hand began to decline sharply in the mid-1980s after many jobs were outsourced to China and Southeast Asia.

Her year-old brand, Liebe Hsing, combines the German word for "love' with Lin's last name.  This brand is dedicated to creating stylish women's footwear with price ranging from NTD 3480 to NTD 7280.  All of Liebe Hsing’s designs are produced by the Juisheng Shoemaking Center (瑞晟鞋樣中心), a tiny Greater Taichung workshop run by Lu Kuang-mao (呂光茂), who has over 30 years of shoemaking experience.

via Taipei Times