Skateboard Footwear AW15/16 Trend Report

Battling to learn a new skateboard trick is hard enough. But once November brings rain, snow, and frosty temperatures, the going gets even tougher as the tough keep going. Here’s how skateboard footwear companies are catering to the specialized needs of European skateboarders for Fall/Winter 2015/16 season. Trend report by Dirk Vogel.

California, the birthplace of modern skateboarding, is famously blessed with sunshine year-round. But across Europe, seasonal differences are more pronounced, and skateboarders have always needed to adapt to cold weather paired with heavy downpours. 

On a positive note, skateboard companies are well aware of climate differences. “We try to keep in mind that not everyone in the world has the same climate as Southern California. So we consider the different types of meshes and textiles we use to provide seasonal benefits like weather resistance and warmth. In addition, we have started introducing seasonal silhouettes that cater to the inclement weather,” said Bryon Schroeder, co-founder and creative director of upstart shoe brand FILAMENT.

At footwear mainstays Vans, Juss Apivala, Action Sports Product Manager EMEA, is on the same page: “In most places in Europe skating is fairly seasonal. Fabrications and colour palettes play a role in ensuring the product remains relevant and desirable even during the colder times, and when combined with some of the tech within the shoes, they help make the product a little warmer and better for enduring the elements.”

PRICING AND COLLECTIONS

From a market perspective, endemic shoe brands are approaching FW15/16 without much temperature change on the price point barometer. In terms of SKUs, most brands follow the same strategy outlined by Romy Bertrand at Element Europe: “Less and better!” Speaking on the issue, Sam Culshaw, European Sales & Marketing Manager at DVS, said: “Our SKU count has remained tight so as to be efficient as possible with every product we offer, that said we have increased our offering in our winter boot program, in which DVS has a long and rich heritage. It’s a major growth trend.”

Given the ongoing economic freeze, the next cold season continues the long-term focus on proven performers. “We make sure to offer shoes which sell longer than just six months instead of coming up with something new every few weeks. Why change a running system and force the retailer to drop the price because of a complete new range of products coming in?”, asks Jochen Bauer, co-founder of Europe’s longest-running endemic footwear company, SYKUM.

Retailers need to embrace cold weather season with a broad range of styles, while keeping in mind that performance requirements never change. “The skate consumer doesn’t want to radically change his footwear look just because it gets cold, no matter what logic says. So retailers need to work with the skate brands to make sure they have the necessary offering across their best-selling skate styles,” notes James Appleby, European marketing manager at Etnies.

BOOT UP FOR LOW TEMPERATURES

At the same time, –20°C weather calls for something more rugged than vulcanized low-tops. Setting the hottest trend for FW15/16, brands are giving their shoe collections the boot, literally.

“For Fall ‘15, we are offering styles such as the Motely Mid fur, which takes an iconic skate style and updates it with a faux fur lining and removes vent holes for improved heat retention. Also the premium Daley and Nomad boots, which are super comfy shoes, with both using premium upper materials on Vibram soles,” said Matt Wong, president of global product at Globe.

Osiris also keeps skaters covered, says global marketing director Hans Molenkamp: “For our cold-weather countries, we have a Shurling pack, featuring our NYC.83 high-top with a shelling lining and hiking boot trim items. Keeps toes all nice and toasty!” James Appleby at Etnies announced: “We have winterized many of our skate footwear so that they have gusted tongues, fleece lining and fleece foot beds for extra warmth as well as some coated materials to make them weather friendly. We offer a variety of styles from winterized skate silhouettes, to heritage inspired boots, to trend-relevant full grain leather boots.”

No stranger to boots, DVS proclaimed: “DVS has been leading this part of the market for the last 10 years and our collection for 14/15 is the best yet. We have a great mix of product in our winter boot collection including signature product from the likes of Mark McMorris, Eero Ettala, Marc Frank Montoya and John Jackson.”

RUGGED MATERIALS

While the time has come for floral print canvas low-tops to hibernate in the back of the closet, FW15 materials focus on “enduring the elements.” Romy at Element: “We’re bringing more full grain leather into the skate line, while introducing action nubuck, fused suede leather, and also sherpa and woven liners.” On a similar note, Kevin Furtado at Dekline Footwear announced, “more treated suede, and leather make ups for the Fall/Winter season. We are helping retailers by telling compelling stories with water-resistant materials and warmer linings, which can help make that sale.”

At DC shoes, winter designs start with: “using suede as the upper of choice then exploring towards warm materializations on specialty woven and wools is one of the solutions.” Antoine Soulé, DC Shoes EMEA Footwear Product Line Manager continued: “Another would be the seasonal colour choices. The Sherpa plus shearling lining has been a great seller for us the last three winter seasons and does not seem to trend down.” Peter Frericks, Sales Director EMEA at C1RCA said: “We will offer a new style called Lakota with fur lining, also some other styles with oiled suede for water resistance. Some of our best sellers like the Hesh will also have special winter lining such as Fur and Teddy.”

As a word of advice to retailers, Ben Childs, EU Product Manager Footwear SUPRA, says: “Place your buys based on the consumers needs for the region. Look at more suede and leather and, if the shoe needs to be canvas, maybe look toward more waxed canvases.” Speaking of canvas, Juss at Vans announced: “We developed a skateable canvas, which has been really popular. It’s a Duracap fused canvas, which makes canvas shoes last much longer than regular canvas. In places of high wear, it’s all about durability and grip.” On the same note, Kevin at Dekline is looking forward to offering the Jaws pro model in, “wax suede and with a wax canvas upper.”

Canvas also provides a viable alternative to leathers for the growing number of vegans in skateboarding. Upping the ante, SYKUM recently introduced denim to their collections, and Macbeth footwear stays true to their company ethos: “We work very hard each year to find ethical, vegan mock leathers and this year we have been able to source some amazing fabrications for our AW14 collection. The introduction of our mock Fur for AW14 is also really exciting,” said Robin Coleman, Macbeth Sales Manager.

SUBTLE PRINTS & COLORWAYS

In the apparel segment, colour palettes continue trending towards monochromatic outfits from head-to-toe. Footwear colourways are playing a supporting role, with an emphasis on seasonal tones. “Our upcoming colour themes focus on Fall, including brown, navy, grey and oxblood,” said Peter Frericks at C1RCA. Jochen at SYKUM is banking on, “basic colours like black, navy or grey, but on the other hand we bring bright colours like red, yellow or lake into the line. For 2015, we’ve added pool (turquoise) and desert (tan) to our colour palette which came out really good.”

Full prints remain a hot topic this winter, shedding their summer skin for seasonal updates. UK-based action sports footwear brand Odessa offers their best-selling mid-top vulc model, the Jag, in combat-inspired camouflage patterns – including urban digital camo, and a British woodland green limited edition – and houndstooth versions. Ben at Supra is looking forward to introducing, “geometric prints on sublimated nylons. These details will be found on lining stories and even exteriors.” Without spoiling the surprise, Antoine at DC Shoes, “can only unveil that we are introducing High Abrasion Screen Prints unseen from the competition yet.”

Slowly but surely, textured fabrics are taking the place of colour accents and printed patterns. Bryon Schroeder at FILAMENT confirms: “For FA15, there is a little less emphasis on colour and more on texture. Of course, suede and leather are ever-present, but we are introducing more textures even in those materials.” Confirming the trend, Juss at Vans said: “We have some pretty rad twill and herringbone materials coming into the mix. It’s also how you treat and apply the materials. We have some nice perforated options and tooled leather executions that gives a nice hand to the material. It’s all about details.”

HIGH ON MID-TOPS

Driven by the resurgence of skateboarders in their mid-to-late thirties, skateboard shoes are offering increased support with a notable spike in mid-top and even high-top models. For the upcoming winter months, Jochen at SYKUM advises retailers to offer, “a larger range of mid and high-top skate footwear in their assortments.” Romy at Element also encourages buyers to, “be clever on their mid-top offer.” Following the trend, James at Etnies revealed: “The HighLITE will launch with a supporting mid-top version as well.”

Early adopters of mid-top styles, DVS keep the innovations coming, said Sam Culshaw: “The Torey 3 is a new and original design, a mid top that features a Velcro strap across the laces. This was designed in close cooperation with Torey’s specific needs and style preference.” Newcomers FILAMENT are also playing along: “We have a new mid-top silhouette that has evolved from the Shadow. It’s a little more progressive than what we have done before, featuring external heel support and instep articulation.”

Taking things into high-top territory, Robin at Macbeth said: “The London high-top has really taken off and the introduction of the Fur-lined version has been really helping bridge the gap from the warm Southern Cali skate look into the European winter feel. The Reed is a new mid-top and has its debut for this AW season.”    

Widely considered as the pioneers in “extra high” -top shoe design, SUPRA is seeing continued success with their Vader and Skytop models. For next season, Ben at SUPRA said: “We adapted our vulcanised technology to give it a longer life span ‘on board’. In turn, this has created some interesting visual stories.”

Also known for pushing the envelope in the high-top segment, Osiris is updating their range with, “soles with unique use of Phylon midsoles, shoes with neoprene internal socks for ankle support. Our FLEX VULK tooling that is an actual cup sole that is designed to look and feel like a vulcanized, its drop in midsole allows us to use different insole thicknesses and compounds to achieve different feels and price ranges,” said Hans Molenkamp. Globe caters to performance-oriented customers by offering, “a new Nitrocel sole in the Mahalo Lyte. It combines our Nitrocel airbag technology with an injected EVA midsole, to bring you a superlight sole with impact control where you need it most – under the heel.”

OUTLOOK

Ultimately, retailers continue to play a key role when it comes to making sure that frosty temperatures don’t freeze up the local skate scene. According to Jochen at SYKUM, core shops can play their part, “by motivating people to skate even in the winter time. For example with weekly bus trips to indoor skate parks and monthly skate video nights to keep the kids motivated to skate.”

Most of all, retailers should embrace winter not as a challenge, but a chance to shine, says Bryon at FILAMENT: “Build more indoor skate parks! In all seriousness, it’s hard. I grew up in a colder climate, and those months of rain and snow are brutal. Back then, we used to skate in parking garages. I think most European accounts understand this challenge as they usually offer a more diverse range of footwear than skate shops in the US. From another perspective, we see that as an opportunity!”

AUTUMN/WINTER 2015/16 SKATEBOARD FOOTWEAR TRENDS AT A GLANCE

· Outdoor shoes. Boots and “winterized” skate models keep riders warm en route to the skate park, where they slip into performance skate kicks.

· Cruelty free. Leather remains the undisputed king of winter footwear, but vegan options like mock leather, denim, mock fur, and waxed canvas provide animal-friendly alternatives.

· Seasonal prints & colorways. Fall/Winter palettes focus on solid tones of black, brown, navy, grey and oxblood, while full prints receive seasonal treatments such as camo, houndstooth, and geometric patterns. 

· Textures are the new prints. Interesting fabrics add subtle details and perceived value, including twill, herringbone, and tooled leathers.

· Mid-tops kick into high gear. Across the board, mid-tops occupy increasing amounts of shelf space, as comfort and ankle support emerge as key criteria.

· Winterization. Proven skate styles endure the elements updated with insulation, weather-proof uppers, and plush inside lining, including faux fur. Matt Wong at Globe: “We continue to up-spec our range with more premium materials with a rugged feel – whether that be in premium leathers, nubucks, or even faux fur linings.”

· Performance knows no seasons. The go-to shoes for shredding remain unchanged – performance features such as shock-dampening insoles and durable uppers matter year-round.