The most iconic design remains the Feiyue 501, a white plimsoll with red and blue chevrons. The design dates back to the 1950s, when a Chinese tire company called Dafu Rubber started making consumer shoes.

The company initially got into shoemaking because it saw an opportunity to turn excess rubber into shoes. The first product it rolled out in the 1940s was a line of military shoes called Jiefang, or “liberation,” named after the People’s Liberation Army.