Peng Xin, who goes by the name of Sans, is lanky and tall, with boyish looks and an irrepressible energy. At just 25, he’s just launched one of China’s newest and most peculiar high-fashion brands, untitlab, along with his friends Justin Zen and Tian Cai.  They’ve set themselves an ambitious challenge: to create shoes that bridge formal and sportswear.

Untitlab just debuted its spring/summer 2020 collection in Florence at Pitti Uomo, the semiannual menswear show that introduces new designs to industry buyers. This year’s guest of honor was China, and untitlab was one of just 10 Chinese brands selected to present their collection.

Untitlab’s shoes are nothing if not eye-catching. With glossy black tops, neon highlights, puffy tongues, and oversized military soles, they look like a cross between oxfords, trainers, and combat boots. You may not need to go straight from an urbex outing to a rooftop cocktail party, but in these shoes you certainly could: they split the difference between the active and the elegant. Or rather, they’re the kind of statement piece that belongs to the more eccentric and rarefied realm of high fashion, where categories like “formal” or “athletic” are beside the point. If you’re wearing untitlabs, you don’t want to fit in.

That unclassifiable quality is reflected in the brand’s peculiar name, which itself is a mashup. Combining “untitled,” and “laboratory,” it aims to evoke a spirit of experimentation. “We want to cast off the constraints of function and contour,” says Sans. “We invite the wearer to play an active role, to create personal scenarios for use.”

Untitlab is also committed to making their company eco-friendly. Their shoes are 100% vegan, and what looks like patent leather is actually synthetic. Sans spends a lot of time on the road, meeting with factory managers and learning about different materials. In both design and production, he’s obsessed with making everything perfect.

Sans studied product design and art, first at Jiangnan University—where he met co-founders Zen and Tian—and later at Birmingham City University in the UK. After graduating, he moved to Paris to spend ten months interning at Rombaut, a small shoe designer whose sensibility he shared. “I did two seasons of design for Rombaut, and also worked with brands like Sandro Paris and Hugo Boss,” he says. “There’s one style of Hugo Boss shoes where I saw through the whole process, from concept to product release.” Yet the individual designs were only part of the experience. “The city and the work were culturally enriching and broadened my horizons. That’s what really what mattered.”

In 2018, Sans moved back to China to work with fashion label Angel Chen, one of China’s leading young designers, known for her idiosyncratic style. But after two seaons he and his friends decided to strike out on their own and found a brand. “We realized that in China niche shoes were basically a wide-open sea—no brand had yet appeared that could command consumers’ attention,” says Zen. “So we thought, what if we could  create that brand and meet that demand? When the time was right, we all left our jobs to found untitlab.”

Not even a “wide-open sea” guarantees clear sailing, but so far Sans, Zen, and Tian have had the wind at their backs. Less than a year after starting out, they’re already doing a brisk business online and in select stores around China. “We’re in the initial stages of setting up collaborative relationships with a few buyers, and soon you’ll be able to buy our shoes in Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. We’re also optimizing our online shop experience,” says Zen. They’re quickly carving a place for themselves in the Chinese fashion world, as their invitation to Pitti Uomo attests.

Still, for now they’re staying small: the entire company consists of the three founders and three interns. More would be hard to manage, they say, because when the inevitable disagreements arise, it’s important to be able to resolve them quickly and on friendly terms. Besides, for the moment, they’re serving a niche market. “Currently 80% of those wearing our shoes are men,” says Sans. “They’re very independent-minded about style in fashion and accessories.”

Small doesn’t mean unambitious, and untitlab has big plans for the future. First they want to build a community of devoted customers and expand their operations. Eventually they hope to do research and develop their own sustainable materials. “We plan to set up our own materials production facility, maybe by starting out with a small-scale workshop,” explains Zen. “We want to use materials made in China that are artisanal, innovative, and sustainable.”

Asked about the company’s long-term aspirations, Sans isn’t shy. Their goals are: “within five years, to be the footwear brand with the most creative allure in China,” he says. “Within 10 years, to be a nationally influential brand, driving the development of the sustainable fashion industry. Within 20 years, to be a cultural brand with social influence internationally, driving innovation and progress in the global sustainable fashion supply chain.”

That’s a tall order for a brand whose shoes are, for the moment, far from mainstream tastes. But the three founders have talent to match their ambition, and after coming so far in such a short time, who knows how far they’ll go? Untitlab is one to watch.

Like our stories? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Website: www.untitlab.com 
Instagram: @untitlab
Facebook: ~/untitlab
Weibo: ~/untitlab
WeChat: untitlab_official

Contributor: Allen Young
Photographer: David Yen
Additional Images Courtesy of untitlab