Collaborations centered on pickleball are still on the rise as the sport continues to grow in popularity with mainstream consumers, both as a spectator and especially as a participant sport. Examples range from designer- and celebrity-driven apparel collections to paddles and other gear tied to all kinds of properties, from Vlasic pickles to the musical […]
Archive | Footwear
Leaving a Footprint
Footwear brands, designers, and 3D printing manufacturers have been collaborating on 3D-printed shoes for at least a decade, and the number of examples has slowly been growing over time. This year designer collaborations have been notable enough on the runways that 3D-printed footwear has been called out by fashion watchers as a key trend of […]
Standing in Someone Else’s Shoes
As retailers continue to increase brand-extension activity based on their proprietary IP—through licensing or other models—footwear has, not surprisingly, become a key category of interest for retail chains in the fashion and lifestyle spaces. Sometimes the licensed or collaborative shoes are sold primarily in the licensors’ own stores, but they often find distribution opportunities in […]
Fun with Footwear
When it comes to adult-skewing lifestyle collaborations with entertainment properties, footwear is a frequent area of focus. Recently, a very small but high-profile handful of in-world footwear initiatives have taken this phenomenon to the next level, attracting significant attention among fans and the media: Red Wing Shoes paired with Nintendo for a real-life version of […]
Best Foot Forward
Vans and Converse, not to mention Nike and its Jordan brand, Puma, Adidas, and the like, are among most active partners in the world of collaborations, as they try to feed the near-insatiable demand from sneaker collectors and other fans for new and unexpected designs. Less widely recognized on a mainstream scale, but still very […]
No Animals Were Harmed
As young adults and other consumers become increasingly concerned about the environment and make their purchase decisions accordingly, marketers of apparel, accessories, and footwear are touting a growing number of vegan products. These are made of natural materials or recycled synthetics in lieu of leather and other animal-based components. Vegan footwear in particular is starting […]
Shoe Business
With both sneaker collaborations and corporate novelty merchandise programs ubiquitous and still on the rise, is it any wonder that we’re seeing an explosion of offbeat corporate-branded shoes on the market? Products announced lately involve properties that are frequent participants in licensing and collaborations, as well as those that are new to the game. Many […]
If The Shoe Fits…
The extended-sizing trend has been gaining steam in the women’s fashion industry (and men’s, too, to some extent) over the past few years, as fashion labels and their collaboration partners release collections for the whole spectrum of consumers, from petit to plus-size. The trend is not limited to just clothing. Consumers not only want trend-forward […]
New Dimensions in Footwear
3D printing has a lower profile as a consumer-facing licensing trend than it did a few years ago. But the technology continues strong behind the scenes, as a means to personalize products, implement unique designs, and achieve other goals. In many cases, consumers may not realize a given product is being created through this technique, […]
Rethinking for the Long Run
Designer Isaac Mizrahi and New Balance just debuted a collection of footwear and apparel exclusively on QVC, while Mattel’s Barbie’s just launched its latest capsule with Puma, in honor of the doll’s 60th anniversary. These initiatives are reminders of how sportswear companies with roots in athletic footwear have, over the past decade, expanded their realms […]