Trends

Consumers love funky footwear

Forget beadwork, bows and laces, the new way to attract attention is by bling, diamantè appliques, big and bold embroidered designs, differently textured materials, and overall funky creativity that will make people stop you in the street and ask "where did you get those shoes? I want some!"

The fascination with weird and wonderful designs, appliques, glitter, you name it, can partly be attributed to today’s extensive media coverage of international lifestyle footwear trends, which is closely followed by consumers who in turn aspire to own the trendy and funky styles that they see on the international channels.

"Trend conscious consumers are always on the lookout for new, edgy must-haves. The demand for innovative design and detail is evidently increasing," says Werner Pieters of Footwear Trading.

He adds that "every brand has its core product that will always remain popular to the mainstream segment, but [he believes] in offering the market some seasonal excitement by adding funky detail and design to a collection."

The response to New Balance’s Classic and PF Flyers ranges has been great, says Wesley Scott of New Balance. "Buyers are excited because they are not limited by every brand having a fairly similar flavour for the season."

Scott adds that he has noticed a fair number of consumers who want to be individuals and not follow the herd. "These consumers are the ones who start the trends."

Consumers look for items with the X-factor; that little bit of edge that make the shoes stand out, and make people notice the wearer — OK, only after they have checked out the shoes of course, but the wearer still wants to stand out in a crowd. These trendy shoes are not for shrinking daisies.

New generation youngsters that grow up in a fashion conscious environment, surrounded by an array of brands and trends, are the most likely to buy these shoes, says Pieters.

Scott says their target market for these funky styles are between eighteen and thirty years old, with the majority from the emerging market.

Fun and funky abound in ranges

Footwear Trading has had an excellent response to their new ranges of funky footwear, but they are well aware that trends come and go, which is why they try to keep up to date with what is hip and happening in fashion circles. Some trends would work in SA, and others just refuse to catch on. It is all about knowing your target market and what they want.

Look forward to seeing Levi’s ladies canvas pumps with Paul Smith-inspired candy stripes and frayed edges. Levi’s footwear also has a new funky winter canvas collection featuring check and paisley prints with appliquè and embroidery detail. This gives canvas footwear a new exciting edge that fashionistas love.

Casual Sketchers sneakers have diamanté detail, which makes you stop and notice them.

Footwear Trading has launched funky Marc Ecko footwear, which features bling charm detail and graffiti prints — these unconventional elements are part of the Marc Ecko signature.

New Balance’s PF Flyers and Classic have kept to their traditional design, but at the same time sexied the style up with high quality fashionable material.

Look out for PF Flyer’s ladies Journa that has full grain Apollo leather; their Number 5 that has a silk paisley lining; the Glide has Basto Italian waxed canvas and embossed ostrich leather; and Classic’s W410 PP, W410 NP and W410 SY that have satin and suede uppers in bright colours.

"PF Flyers’ modern perspective continues to define new classic — in design, material and colour sophistication. Our penchant for style form new forward casual silhouettes and iconic re-issue sneakers. PF Flyers has stood for posture foundation, comfort and quality for the last 70 years," says Scott.

With Africa becoming the focus of fashion as 2010 looms, brands will be incorporating more and more ethnic and animal prints in their footwear, predicts Promostyl. Nike has already anticipated it and have made a sneaker with animal fur patches (fake, of course!).

PUMA recently celebrated its first year in golf with a special limited edition gold shoe collection, worn at the Masters by US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy and British Masters champion Johan Edfors (voted style trendsetter by the British golf fashion magazine Golf Punk last year). PUMA’s ladies golfers, including Erica Blasberg and Nicole Perrot, wore gold at the Ginn Open.

PUMA has made limited edition gold versions of the Concorde GTX (the lightest tour-grade performance shoe on the market) and the Traveller.

PUMA and Ducati have partnered on a new footwear range, the Panigale, designed by PUMA and with creative insight from the Ducati Design Team. The name refers to Borgo Panigale, the Bologna district where Ducati has had its headquarters since 1926. The Panigale brings with it a new style for sneakers — Moto Lifestyle.

Taking inspiration from PUMA’s research on their Moto GP boots, the Panigale has an outrigger on the forefoot, reminiscent of the forefoot sliders from the Moto 1000, the competition boot, as well as an exo-skeletal support structure in the heel to improve comfort without making the product heavier.

Infused with Ducati-design DNA, the Panigale uses key elements from most contemporary Ducati bike designs, and in particular from their high performance bikes. The shoe is built around a 360-degree graphic, which represents the famous racing stripe on the S4Rs. Materials reminiscent of Ducati’s bikes — glossy leather upper, carbon-optic heel construction, and traditional white, black and red colour combinations taken directly from the flashy colours of the Ducati motorcycles.

Skye Clothing and Footwear’s Dickies has launched their Tiger shoe, a canvas sneaker with a funky detail of a tiger.