SKATEBOARD FOOTwEAR TREND REPORT 2012/2013
Out With the Old, In With the New, SOURCE Skateboard Footwear Trend Report 2012/13. By Dirk Vogel
For their Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 skateboard footwear collections, endemic brands are continuing the trend towards more originality, more variety and more innovation. While the world of fashion is keeping a close eye, the main catchword inside our business is authenticity: “Things are always evolving, but right now we feel as if things are trending towards having a valid point of view and offering something authentic. If you can’t do that, it’s game over,” said Steven Fröhlich, European Marketing Manager for Emerica and Altamont.
Keeping it authentic also means that specialty skate retail is the main place for brands to shine and tell their stories. “It’s all about diversity and uniqueness in the marketplace. We all need to find those styles or programs that drive consumers to our retailers,” said Kevin Dunlap, President and co-founder of Podium Distribution, adding: “DVS has made a major shift in its marketing spend, to where a majority will be spent at the retail level.”
Most brands are supporting retailers directly, including Globe, who say they are driving a ‘multi-pronged’ approach to promote their new S2 Nitrolite technology: “We are offering financial incentives for retailers to buy all three S2 Nitrolite styles to be able to present a story in-store and we’re backing it up with online and print advertising,” said Mike Xavier, European Marketing Manager, adding: “We’re also helping them to try and tell the story – apart from the usual packaging and in-store POS – by giving the customer a simple explanation of S2 Nitrolite on the actual product, printed on a label under the tongue.”
Price Points and SKUs
Not many changes here: price point ‘sweet spots’ in European retail remain around €60 to €70 for basic cup sole and vulcanized models, and €80 to €90 for performance-enhancing features and exclusive finishes. Meanwhile, customers are increasingly willing to spend €130 and upwards (!) for premium offerings such as boots, premium leathers and high-fashion styles.
“The most important change has been with our manufacturing,” said Kelly Bird, Brand Manager at Lakai. “Our deliveries and quality were starting to become affected by the labour issues many Chinese factories are dealing with right now, so we moved all of our production back to our original factory in Korea. We’re extremely excited about this as the difference in quality is undeniable.”
In terms of SKU counts, most brands report little to no change from 2011, with many echoing the strategy laid out by Mike Xavier at Globe: “Our overall SKU count has remained about the same. We try to keep a balance of introducing fresh new product, keeping in and building on best sellers, but also phasing out older styles, so we’re not just carrying over old styles for the sake of it.”
It’s also a matter of quality over quantity, said Jerome Thuillier, EU Footwear PLM for DC Shoes: “The retailers don’t need to fill the shelves, they need to offer a selection of the best products to their customers, as we do.” Within stable SKU counts, we can expect lots of reshuffling and novelty, said Kevin Dunlap at DVS: “The Fall 2012 line was the biggest offering of new styles we have had in the history of DVS, which is saying something with 17 years under our belt!”
Shining Stars
With an abundance of new styles in the mix for Fall 2012, we asked leading brands about the “shining stars” in their line-up. Here are the top models to look out for! True to their motto, “The Shoes We Skate,” Lakai Footwear is banking onThe Brea, “because it’s a great evolution of the Manchester,” The Linden, “because it’s really going to be the backbone for our XLK category,” and The Carlo model, “because the team really likes this style.”
Globe has launched the new S2 Nitrolite sole with The Lift model: “It’s a super light but functional shoe, with unique features such as fully breathable quarter panels and a fully breathable tongue,” said Mike Xavier, adding: “We have evolved this program by designing S2 Nitrolite versions of some of our top Pro shoes, The Odin S2 for Chris Haslam, The Heathen Hi S2 for David Gonzalez, and the Bender S2 for Jake Duncombe.
Emerica is charging ahead into Spring 2013 with The Herman: G6, Bryan Herman’s new pro model, The Romero Troubadour, Leo’s New Pro Model, and a new team shoe called The Liverpool, as well as a few awesome collaborations with Ed Templeton, Figgy and Collin Provost. Meanwhile Etnies, according to Sanne Verhoef, is focusing on the following lines: “RECOGNITION, targeted towards the core consumer and retailer, with signature products from Tyler Bledsoe, Jose Rojo amongst others; SOCIAL features our on-trend product geared heavily towards the European consumers, such as the Jameson 2 ECO collection; DNA ties back to our heritage and features styles like the RVM and Lo-Cut II LS; and ICON showcases our traditional styles with a broad mainstream appeal, such as the Fader and Piston.”
DC Shoes is focusing oninnovation said Jerome Thuillier, “whether it is for the style or features of the products. We have so many things going on, the next two seasons will be the opportunity for people to rediscover DC, exciting.” Highlights include “the new pro models as the Mickey Taylor, an ultra-flexible cupsole shoe, with super suede and a single toe pane. The Centric S, the new Josh Kalis shoe, with a great eva midsole and airbag. And finally, the Unilite which has all the DC technologies in a great trainer shoe, Unilite sole and no sew technology.”
At Gravis, Thomas Bonora Sales and Marketing Manager for Europe said: “FW12 will be the second season we will be running our Quarters style; a simple, clean mid-top shoe that has had a great response so far. Then we have a collaboration with Alien Workshop, including two models – a Quarters and a Dylan Slip-On. Both in a sick black colourway, that turns silver once you skate it!” Thomas also mentioned the Filter Duro, “a great shoe, we reinforced the toe box completely and added an Ollie patch on the side. And also the Dylan and Dylan Lace, which is THE Gravis skate shoe, now available in a laced-up version as well.”
Vans is up for a big year: “2012 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Vans Half Cab. In celebration of this occasion Vans will be dropping one new and exclusive limited edition 20th Anniversary Half Cab colourway every month,” said Rian Rhoe PR & Media Manager for Vans EMEA, adding: This Fall, Vans introduces the AV Native American Low, a new signature shoe for Anthony Van Engelen; an update to AVE’s popular AV SK8-Low. Another new addition will be The Lindero, a brand new skate shoe designed with input from Vans amateur skate team with performance features including our Pro Skate Vulc construction.
Over at OSIRIS, International Sales Manager Joe Marckx said: “Slimmed down shoes are still a strong trend on vulc, The Effect and Chaveta are two models that fit this profile which have been recently released to strong reviews. The NYC83 silhouette is our best seller as a hi-top on vulc’ and cup.” Joe continues: “Hi-tops are still killing it for us, but have dropped off the map in some pockets. We do a variety of Rider Revolt shoes for our core accounts in addition to the Duffel and Berry pro models. We also released a collab with Risk, a well-known West Coast graffiti artist, which is featured prominently in our advertising on web, print, and television.”
Kevin Dunlap at DVS pointed out: “We put a lot of focus on Torey’s new shoe and have some nice re-colours of the popular Daewon 12’er. With our Stafford model, we did a fun collaboration with Wee-man who has been rocking DVS for over a decade.” Stacy Lowry at DuFFS listed, “The Pedro Lo because it’s Cooper Wilt’s shoe, The Revert because it’s our most basic and most focused skate shoe, and the G5 because it features the Stombolie II outsole which features an expanded EVA midsole and our classic pimple pattern tread. We’d like to bring a little comfort back to skate shoes.”
Jason Searcy at up-and-coming brand Diamond Footwear said, “The VVS and Marquise models continue to perform extremely well for us. We’re very excited about the new General Issue as well. We’ll continue to offer new ideas as well as iconic silhouettes with premium materials and details. The intention is to offer retailers a footwear range that their customer can only find with Diamond.” Meanwhile Nike SB will focus on signature footwear aligned under the Swoosh with Lunarlon as the innovation platform, including the Zoom Stefan Janoski, Paul Rodriguez VI, and Eric Koston 1 models,” said Agra Diapari, Nike WE Footwear Merchant.
Element keeps running two separate lines of footwear per season: Element Skate and Element Emerald. Element Brand Manager Julien Duval explained: “For the Fall 2012 Emerald line, we are continuing our successful collaboration with outsole provider Vibram for our Elite series and expanding the concept to our best performing silhouette the Hampton. We are also introducing our first hiking inspired boot, the Donnelly.” For skate, “we are introducing the TOPAZ C3 Mid, a mid version of our Topaz skate shoe with a winter or hiking boot feel to it.”
Top Five Trends
Wrapping up our Trend Report, here are the five major trends for the 2012/13 skate footwear season:
1. Step Lightly
“Shoes so light you’ll actually defy gravity and float into outer space seems to be a real obsession right now,” said Kelly Bird at Lakai. DC Shoes is pushing its Unilite technology, while Globe is powering ahead on S2 Nitrolite technology. “We use a special phylon midsole formula, and have designed the sole to be skate functional,” said Mike Xavier at Globe.
2. A New Premium
Consumers are willing to spend more on exclusive models, and select brands are heeding the call: “The momentum behind Element Emerald products has shown us that not only are we able to be relevant within our regular distribution channel but also within a more premium one, which is not always an easy task for skate inspired brands,” said Julien at Element. Diamond Footwear also has a nice hold on premium products: “We’ve introduced the General Issue, a high-top boat/boot hybrid, which is another step in expanding the range beyond sneaker silhouettes.”
3. Cup Soles
The year 2011 marked the end of vulc’ dominance, and the trend continues into 2012/13. Vans dropped a technological milestone with the WAFFLECUP, which “combines the best of cup-sole with its increased support and durability and the superior boardfeel and grip found in a traditional Vans vulcanized shoe.” Sanne Verhoef at Etnies is on the same page: “Vulcanised product continues to play a very important role, however we do see a trend of cupsoles making a comeback.”
4. Growth Spurt
The kids segment still remains an attractive growth category for retailers and brands alike. “We’re excited about the real positive feedback we have on our kid’s line at the moment… these styles are the fastest progressing in Europe,” said Mathieu Tourneur at Lakai.
5. Cutting-edge Technologies
Most brands are sprucing up their core-skate models with new tech, including DVS: “For skate specific, we will be integrating several performance enhancing features through new technologies we have developed with our athletes.” At Osiris Footwear, Doug Weston, Founder/VP of Sales & Operations explained: “Moving ahead, we will also get back to the DNA of what Osiris is, with some really cool technical shoes like the G3L model coming up.”
ENDS
