Are ‘formal’ shoes increasing market share?

According to an ‘insights survey’ published on the industry website Business of Fashion (BoF), trainers (sneakers) may still be dominating the male shoe market in the West, but more formal footwear styles are proving increasingly popular as the first choice for fashion-conscious men. The report states that 63 per cent of high-net-worth British men are planning to buy dress shoes in 2023, compared with 37 per cent who will be opting for sporty shoes. The gap widens in the US, where around one-third of participants report that they aim to buy trainers, whereas 75 per cent are planning to purchase formal footwear.

The menswear manager of one upmarket UK department store is reported to have ‘definitely noticed a shift from fashionable sneaker styles to more formal footwear’. One analyst commented that “while trainers were for all situations and all ages… with every fashion there is a ‘boomerang’ effect.”

The survey concludes that both male and female shoppers participating in the BoF Insights research in China, the UK and the US expect to spend more on new designer shoes in 2023 than during last year. Nevertheless, trainers still account for over half of US footwear held in stock.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 4 of the February 2023 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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