XTRATUF Talks Market Growth, Sustainability And New Partnerships
XTRATUF talks about its exciting growth in 2024, expanding its presence in the UK and Europe while connecting with outdoor and water sports communities. With a focus on quality, sustainability, and key partnerships like the RNLI, the brand is quickly becoming a standout in the footwear market.
How has 2024 been for the brand?
XTRATUF has experienced great momentum both in the UK and internationally throughout 2024. Our focus for the UK and Europe has been to continue to authentically build brand awareness in our core markets (surf, outdoor lifestyle, wild swimming and water sports) partnering with brands, ambassadors and retailers that share our ethos and who genuinely love our products. Key for us is listening to our community, as a ‘new’ brand to the market we are reliant on feedback from our consumers, Pro Team (XTRATUF ambassadors) and retailers to gain a better understanding of exactly what our community wants from our boots and where they’d like to be able to buy them.
Can you describe the design process for your shoes?
The brand’s vision is to be the global icon for function and reliability in footwear. When designing our products, we are always function first. We are constantly inspired by our XTRATUF community, and we look to our Pro Team for their honest opinions and feedback to develop products that live up to our consumers expectations.
How has expanding into the European market going?
XTRATUF now has representation in Finland and Switzerland. Both countries are certified XTRATUF territory, and as the snow sports season approaches, we are excited to see the response to our ADB Ice (faux fur lined boot with GlacierTrek® Pro outsole technology) as an ‘apres-ski’ boot. Looking forward to 2025, we are exploring event sponsorships, including ice swimming and downhill swim events as well as broadening our regional XTRATUF ambassadors. We are keen to keep growing our European distributor network as our range of footwear truly does offer something for every market.
Tell me about your recent partnership with RNLI?
XTRATUF is built for those who love the water, and we felt it our responsibility to ensure that our XTRATUF community can enjoy the ocean safely. By partnering with the RNLI we can help save lives at sea. In the UK we directly donate £1 per pair of our XTRATUF lifestyle range sold on our website, as well as sharing water safety messaging in our product boxes, on the UK site and via our global social channels.
In addition, we gifted 1,600 lifeguards across 240 beaches nationwide with a pair of bespoke red and yellow XTRATUF sliders. The feedback from the lifeguards has been incredible and we are excited to work with the RNLI for 2025 and beyond.
What steps do you take to ensure sustainable manufacturing practices and materials in your products?
Our Product Development team are always looking for ways to infuse more sustainable, environmentally friendly materials into future products and we are currently testing several different compounds for our upcoming product ranges. In our current ranges, we use BIOLITE Foam, a high performance, durable, biodegradable foam sourced from bio-based carbon. BIOLITE is used across multiple collections (including the ADB Sport and Après Fish sliders) within the midsoles and outsoles. We have used YULEX in our ADB Eco collection and will be using our bio-based neoprene, Bioprene, in our new ADB and ADB Sport products moving forward. We updated our packaging in 2023 to make our boxes, tissues and hangers 100% recyclable.
Which upcoming products are you most excited about?
We have some exciting releases coming up for Autumn/Winter 2025 with some brand-new product ranges which will continue to broaden the scope of the XTRATUF brand.
We’ve seen huge success with our ADB Ice, which has now landed in 2 new colours for men and women, particularly as a ‘post-surf’ boot thanks to its waterproof exterior, slip resistant outsole and cosy faux fur lining. Spring 2025 will see the launch of a collab boot that we are certain will make waves throughout the XTRATUF community. Watch this space!
Why should retailers stock XTRATUF?
XTRATUF has been around for 75 years, we have a rich brand heritage and products that are truly like no other. Our Ankle Deck Boot (ADB) created its own footwear category, which currently is only available in very limited retail. Our ethos is to work closely with likeminded retailers, to gain a better understanding of their consumers and supporting them wherever we can. As XTRATUF is ‘new’ to UK & European markets, it’s an incredible opportunity for retailers to come on board and be a part of the brand’s story.
