Made in China Podcast: International Business | Crowdfunding | Entrepreneurship · Rico & ChinaMike - Product Development Consultants

Ep 250 - Footwear Design, Dealing with China Remotely & High Volume (w/ Ryan Flynn)

·48 min·3 clips

Crazier footwear designs can double or triple development time when factories lack a reference.

1. Made in China Podcast episode 250 centers on Ryan Flynn and footwear design across China and New York City. 2. Rico interviews Ryan Flynn, the design director and creative director for a lifestyle footwear division, because Ryan works on high-volume manufacturing and also listens to the show. 3. The episode asks how footwear design changes when a designer has to work remotely with China, manage sample rounds, and protect quality at scale. 4. Ryan says he started with a retail store in 2006 or 2007, designed a few SME products, and then went to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. 5. He says he studied footwear design because he is a “Coast guy” who grew up around action sports and skateboarding. 6. He also mentions freelance work in headphone design and graphic design, including work for National Geographic and a Brain Games TV show. 7. Ryan says Opening Ceremony was the first footwear job that really started his career. 8. He describes the company as a designer department store with private-label work, vans colorways, exclusives, and big collaborations. 9. He says his current role came after someone from his old college reached out about an athletic footwear opportunity in New York City. 10. He says the job eventually brought him to China for the first time after he joined the company. 11. Ryan says he first turned down a three-month China assignment for a headphones job at Harman because the deal was not right. 12. He names Harman Kardon, JBL, AKG, Yankee Stadium audio, and Infinity cars while explaining that earlier offer. 13. He says he found the Made in China Podcast while traveling to China and listened because the show felt young and useful instead of boring. 14. He says Kickstarter coverage on the show also caught his attention, and that he reached out while on his way to China for business. 15. Ryan says he now travels to China about every three to four months, and that the company may send him more often because flights are cheaper than shipping large sample boxes back and forth. 16. He says Dongguan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Fujian are important for athletic footwear, especially when the brand is relaunching its lifestyle program. 17. Ryan says the most difficult part of these trips is time, because he has to make design decisions fast enough to avoid extra sample rounds. 18. He says quality control becomes harder at high volume because bonding, cement, color fastness, lead, and mold problems can appear after production leaves China. 19. The interview feels conversational and practical, with Rico pressing for details about suppliers, travel, and cost control while Ryan answers in a direct, specific way. 20. People working in footwear sourcing, product design, or China-based manufacturing will get the most value, while listeners wanting pure consumer fashion talk may skip it.

As heard by us

A focused look at how design intent holds up under high-volume manufacturing.

Ryan Flynn, a designer at a multinational sportswear company, is used to the friction that appears when products move into high-volume production.

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Why you'd press play

You want the factory-side details behind sportswear design at high production volume in China.

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