What your market requires, agreed before we cut
Compliance is where a good shoe becomes an unimportable one. This page sets out what we can support, what you have to arrange, and what we do not hold.
Restricted substances and testing
Uppers, linings, footbeds and adhesives can be specified against the standard your market requires. The usual ones for the US and EU are REACH SVHC, California Proposition 65, azo colourants and phthalates — but the list depends on your retailer, your market and your material choices, so we work from your requirement rather than a generic claim.
Third-party testing is arranged at your request through an accredited lab, with the cost and lead time quoted alongside your order. That means testing is real and traceable to your consignment, rather than a certificate from a different run of material.
Labelling, marking and packaging
Labels are a market-by-market requirement: country of origin, material content, size marking, care instructions, and in the EU the obligations around packaging and producer responsibility. A label that satisfies a US retailer is not automatically correct for the EU.
Tell us the destination market and the retailer's own requirements at brief stage. We build labelling into the sample rather than retrofitting it to a finished carton, because retrofitting is how shipments get held.
Sizing and fit for your market
We grade to US, UK and EU size systems, and we can work to your own size chart if you have one. The size conversion is not the hard part — the last width is. A US 8 and an EU 39 are not the same foot, and a range built on one market's last will draw returns in another. Tell us which market the style is primarily for and we build the last around it.
Duties, shipping and documentation
We ship EXW Chengdu or FOB Shanghai by default, with export documentation prepared for your destination. Duties, taxes and import clearance sit with you or your broker, and we will provide the commercial invoice, packing list and origin documentation your broker needs.
If you need DDP to a US or EU address, ask — it is a routing question we can quote, not a capability we assume.
Social and factory audits
Buyer-arranged third-party audits, social compliance reviews and factory visits are welcome. Tell us the date and the auditor and we will arrange access to both the office and the production lines. Production runs on dedicated lines in partner workshops, so an audit may need to cover more than one site — we will tell you in advance if that is the case rather than let it be discovered during the visit.
Your designs stay yours
We sign an NDA on request before development starts. We do not reproduce your styles, tooling, prints or packaging for any other client, and tooling or moulds created for your style are quoted as a separate line that belongs to you. If that commitment is not in your supplier agreement, ask for it in writing — we put it there.
Questions buyers ask about this
Do you have BSCI, Sedex or ISO 9001 certification?
No. We do not currently hold those certifications and we will not claim them. We do accept buyer-arranged third-party audits and factory visits, and we will tell you upfront which sites an audit would need to cover.
Can you provide REACH or CA Prop 65 test reports?
We do not hold pre-existing reports. Testing against the standard your market requires can be arranged through a third-party lab at your request, with the cost and lead time quoted alongside your order.
Who is responsible for import duties?
You or your broker. We ship EXW Chengdu or FOB Shanghai by default and provide the export documentation your broker needs. DDP routing can be quoted on request.
Will you sign an NDA?
Yes, on request, before development starts.
Send the shoe you have in mind
A photo, a sketch or a tech pack is enough. You get construction options, indicative pricing and the MOQ back within 24 hours. Sampling a synthetic leather (PU) upper is USD 100 and takes around 15 days — and nothing goes into bulk until you have approved the shoe.