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The Future of
Footwear Is Here
Introducing the World’s First Compostable and Recyclable Midsole OrthoLite Cirql is a recyclable and industrially compostable foam created as an alternative to conventional footwear plastics. Why? With an estimated 20 billion pairs of shoes produced each year, we need intentional focus on end of life if we are to achieve true circularity in footwear. Cirql is the solution. Welcome to the future of sustainable footwear.
POWERED BY PLANTS Cirql midsoles deliver the comfort and performance you expect from OrthoLite, with a true focus on end-of-life sustainability. Made from responsibly-sourced plants and biodegradable materials, Cirql is the first ever, soil-to-soil footwear foam.
A MANUFACTURING BREAKTHROUGH THAT’S PURE GENIUS Cirql’s patented foaming process is ingeniously simple. It eliminates the use of toxic and hazardous chemicals commonly used in footwear manufacturing. It also reduces energy consumption and creates a finished product with no curing times. Simply genius.
Be an industry leader at OrthoLiteCirql.com
EVA Plastics- Free Foam
Chemical-free foaming process
Reduced energy consumption
Zero-waste production
Recyclable
Industrially Compostable
Untitled-6 2 3/7/22 6:12 PM
The Future of
Footwear Is Here
Introducing the World’s First Compostable and Recyclable Midsole OrthoLite Cirql is a recyclable and industrially compostable foam created as an alternative to conventional footwear plastics. Why? With an estimated 20 billion pairs of shoes produced each year, we need intentional focus on end of life if we are to achieve true circularity in footwear. Cirql is the solution. Welcome to the future of sustainable footwear.
POWERED BY PLANTS Cirql midsoles deliver the comfort and performance you expect from OrthoLite, with a true focus on end-of-life sustainability. Made from responsibly-sourced plants and biodegradable materials, Cirql is the first ever, soil-to-soil footwear foam.
A MANUFACTURING BREAKTHROUGH THAT’S PURE GENIUS Cirql’s patented foaming process is ingeniously simple. It eliminates the use of toxic and hazardous chemicals commonly used in footwear manufacturing. It also reduces energy consumption and creates a finished product with no curing times. Simply genius.
Be an industry leader at OrthoLiteCirql.com
EVA Plastics- Free Foam
Chemical-free foaming process
Reduced energy consumption
Zero-waste production
Recyclable
Industrially Compostable
Untitled-6 3 3/7/22 6:13 PM
Fashion market trends have undoubtedly fluctuated and flowed toward comfort and practical-ity, particularly in footwear. And
brands such as uin Footwear are fastening their focus on a niche segment – the travel shoe – that reflects the distinctive lifestyles, wants, and needs of consumers.
Originating in the ancient hilltop city of Toledo, Spain, the brand is led by shoe designer Fernando Acevedo, who was inspired to design a pair of travel shoes after observing his wife Ana struggle to find footwear suitable for travel from her siz-able collection. As he began to think about designing a unique shoe made specifically for travel, Acevedo decided that art and a “strong Spanish style” would define the aesthetic.
“At present, the primary categories of shoes in the market are dress shoes and sports shoes, but as people’s lifestyles become increasingly diversified post-pandemic, var-ious scenes and settings change when trav-eling through urban, seaside or fashionable environments, or even for daily wear,” he said – and uin Footwear’s travel shoe can be worn in multiple milieus.
FASHION AND FUNCTIONAcevedo explained that moving through
continuously shifting landscapes – the essence of travel itself – creates a need for a single, multi-hyphenate shoe. “In these different scenarios, these two types of foot-wear alone can no longer meet people’s dif-ferent wearing and outfit matching needs. Besides, clothing is very diverse, which illus-trates shoppers’ different styles, but the styles of shoes are generally monotonous.”
It’s why uin Footwear tries to address the “varied matching problems of people in dif-ferent scenarios,” Acevedo said. And with all that in mind, Acevedo ultimately landed on a foot-shaped design, massage insoles, 100 percent natural cotton canvas materials, and ultra-light EVA soles, among other qualities, that collectively deliver a barefoot-like expe-rience for the wearer.
“The canvas upper with colorful pat-terns tell different traveler’s stories. From the inside out, it gives people a chance to express their own style with artistic patterns, while enjoying the comfort and freedom brought by the bionic design. It indeed brings about
a comfortable and happy journey for both body and mind,” Acevedo told FN. “It is a pair of shoes that make people want to set off on a journey.”
Its footwear philosophy is centered on three core ideas: Progressing from functional design to natural design; a shift from merely functional value to emotional value (“A pair of shoes that carry emotional expression and resonance bring hope, warmth, soothing and encouragement to travelers with inter-esting, loving, rich and touching patterns, especially during the pandemic,” Acevedo noted); and moving away from traditional Color Material Finish (CMF) design to artis-tic design. “We replaced traditional CMF design with rich patterns, and redefined design with aesthetic value, emotional sig-nificance and attitude expression contained in the patterns themselves,” he explained.
For example, Acevedo said he crafted the “Toledo Shoe” with a 3-D map of the cher-ished Spanish city in the sole’s design, inte-grating “a profound and beautiful history” into the shoe itself.
FOOTWEAR MARKET MOODSThe brand said that during the pan-
demic period, it saw its sales increase
ten-fold. “Under the influence of the epi-demic, travel restrictions issued by various countries brought a wave of growth oppor-tunities to online e-commerce businesses, and simultaneously, people had more time for deeper self-exploration, which has pro-duced a higher pursuit for the emotional value of products,” Acevedo explained.
“Our brand creates the opportunity for people to wear beauty on their feet and showcase creative and artistic designs, so that every step people take can inspire the enthu-siasm for life for themselves, their friends and family, bringing warmth and inspira-tion. That subsequently generates a strong emotional resonance with our customers.”
The company sees sales in more than 100 countries worldwide, and in the U.S. market, uin Footwear saw a fifteen-fold sales increase from 2019 to 2021. “We have nine product series that support different needs of specific groups of people, seasons and travel scenarios. Our Toledo style, as a super prod-uct, attracts users globally, especially the U.S. consumers that advocate natural and inno-vative design.”
As far as what consumers want now, uin Footwear says that the pandemic has only increased shoppers’ longing for travel. “The
pandemic has restricted people’s freedom of travel, while their desire for it has become stronger. In 2021, uin Footwear launched a campaign, ‘Travel in My City,’ which received a warm and positive response from consumers. During the pandemic, we also launched a design of ‘Nurse Shoes’ to express our respect for the medical workers. This design remains one of our bestselling shoes to date.”
Acevedo’s concept indeed aligns with the direction and current mood of the market. “The pandemic has further enhanced peo-ple’s health awareness and strengthened the relationship between human and nature. More people voluntarily go outside and get closer to nature,” he said – which means, naturally, an increase in travel.
The pandemic has also motivated peo-ple to seek spiritual comfort and encour-agement, Acevedo said. “Under these circumstances, uin Footwear is inspiring people with its simple and natural design, and rich and creative artistic patterns, with our buoyant Smiley Collection; storytelling Destination Collection; humanistic IP Col-laborative Collection; Pet Collection; and Blossom collection all receiving very posi-tive market feedback.”
Spanish designer brand uin Footwear talks travel shoes and forthcoming trends.
Shoppers seeking shoes that transcend traditional categories can peruse uin Footwear’s latest lineup for spring.
Premiere of the ‘Travel Shoe’ Footwear’s Third Eye
6 7
Ask uin Footwear about its debut of “travel shoes,” and the brand will emphatically explain the logic behind the launch. “Travel shoes are people’s ‘third pair of shoes,’ uin Footwear told FN. “Everyone
needs three pairs of shoes in their life: The first is dress shoes; the second is sneakers; and the third is travel shoes.”
The brand asserts that the “blue ocean of travel shoes has yet to be developed,” compared to other footwear seg-ments that have already matured in the market.
Based on its own customer feedback, the brand said that “Our travel shoes are the ‘center-shoe’ in the crowd. In terms of outfit matching, shoes are an indispensable accessory.”
Its focus on art takes form in creating painted travel shoes with imaginative patterns “as a way of expressing fashion styles and personal emotions, making people become the focal point of their journeys. That is why we call them “cen-ter-shoes,” the brand told FN.
To keep up pace in a chameleonic market, uin Foot-wear said that it plans to “Vigorously promote artist cooper-ation and cross-border co-branding to continuously improve brand value.” Part of its strategy is a partnership with the National Gallery, which launched this month and a con-tinued effort to seek additional collaborations with artists around the world. Shoppers can peruse the latest from uin Footwear on its official website.
The brand aims to provide better service for its custom-ers worldwide and establish a wider distribution network in the footwear industry to strengthen its global and local deliv-ery capabilities, with a particular focus on the U.S. market.
“We hope to establish cooperative relationships with pro-fessional marketing companies to optimize brand expression and increase brand communication with U.S. consumers,” the brand explained. “By creating and sharing beautiful travel stories, uin Footwear brings pleasant experiences to travelers around the world and aspires to become a world-renowned travel brand
Travelers in Park Guell, Spain
P O W E R E D B Y P O W E R E D B Y
Fairchild Studios_FN_UIN.indd All Pages 3/7/22 3:37 PMUntitled-4 2 3/7/22 5:11 PM
Fashion market trends have undoubtedly fluctuated and flowed toward comfort and practical-ity, particularly in footwear. And
brands such as uin Footwear are fastening their focus on a niche segment – the travel shoe – that reflects the distinctive lifestyles, wants, and needs of consumers.
Originating in the ancient hilltop city of Toledo, Spain, the brand is led by shoe designer Fernando Acevedo, who was inspired to design a pair of travel shoes after observing his wife Ana struggle to find footwear suitable for travel from her siz-able collection. As he began to think about designing a unique shoe made specifically for travel, Acevedo decided that art and a “strong Spanish style” would define the aesthetic.
“At present, the primary categories of shoes in the market are dress shoes and sports shoes, but as people’s lifestyles become increasingly diversified post-pandemic, var-ious scenes and settings change when trav-eling through urban, seaside or fashionable environments, or even for daily wear,” he said – and uin Footwear’s travel shoe can be worn in multiple milieus.
FASHION AND FUNCTIONAcevedo explained that moving through
continuously shifting landscapes – the essence of travel itself – creates a need for a single, multi-hyphenate shoe. “In these different scenarios, these two types of foot-wear alone can no longer meet people’s dif-ferent wearing and outfit matching needs. Besides, clothing is very diverse, which illus-trates shoppers’ different styles, but the styles of shoes are generally monotonous.”
It’s why uin Footwear tries to address the “varied matching problems of people in dif-ferent scenarios,” Acevedo said. And with all that in mind, Acevedo ultimately landed on a foot-shaped design, massage insoles, 100 percent natural cotton canvas materials, and ultra-light EVA soles, among other qualities, that collectively deliver a barefoot-like expe-rience for the wearer.
“The canvas upper with colorful pat-terns tell different traveler’s stories. From the inside out, it gives people a chance to express their own style with artistic patterns, while enjoying the comfort and freedom brought by the bionic design. It indeed brings about
a comfortable and happy journey for both body and mind,” Acevedo told FN. “It is a pair of shoes that make people want to set off on a journey.”
Its footwear philosophy is centered on three core ideas: Progressing from functional design to natural design; a shift from merely functional value to emotional value (“A pair of shoes that carry emotional expression and resonance bring hope, warmth, soothing and encouragement to travelers with inter-esting, loving, rich and touching patterns, especially during the pandemic,” Acevedo noted); and moving away from traditional Color Material Finish (CMF) design to artis-tic design. “We replaced traditional CMF design with rich patterns, and redefined design with aesthetic value, emotional sig-nificance and attitude expression contained in the patterns themselves,” he explained.
For example, Acevedo said he crafted the “Toledo Shoe” with a 3-D map of the cher-ished Spanish city in the sole’s design, inte-grating “a profound and beautiful history” into the shoe itself.
FOOTWEAR MARKET MOODSThe brand said that during the pan-
demic period, it saw its sales increase
ten-fold. “Under the influence of the epi-demic, travel restrictions issued by various countries brought a wave of growth oppor-tunities to online e-commerce businesses, and simultaneously, people had more time for deeper self-exploration, which has pro-duced a higher pursuit for the emotional value of products,” Acevedo explained.
“Our brand creates the opportunity for people to wear beauty on their feet and showcase creative and artistic designs, so that every step people take can inspire the enthu-siasm for life for themselves, their friends and family, bringing warmth and inspira-tion. That subsequently generates a strong emotional resonance with our customers.”
The company sees sales in more than 100 countries worldwide, and in the U.S. market, uin Footwear saw a fifteen-fold sales increase from 2019 to 2021. “We have nine product series that support different needs of specific groups of people, seasons and travel scenarios. Our Toledo style, as a super prod-uct, attracts users globally, especially the U.S. consumers that advocate natural and inno-vative design.”
As far as what consumers want now, uin Footwear says that the pandemic has only increased shoppers’ longing for travel. “The
pandemic has restricted people’s freedom of travel, while their desire for it has become stronger. In 2021, uin Footwear launched a campaign, ‘Travel in My City,’ which received a warm and positive response from consumers. During the pandemic, we also launched a design of ‘Nurse Shoes’ to express our respect for the medical workers. This design remains one of our bestselling shoes to date.”
Acevedo’s concept indeed aligns with the direction and current mood of the market. “The pandemic has further enhanced peo-ple’s health awareness and strengthened the relationship between human and nature. More people voluntarily go outside and get closer to nature,” he said – which means, naturally, an increase in travel.
The pandemic has also motivated peo-ple to seek spiritual comfort and encour-agement, Acevedo said. “Under these circumstances, uin Footwear is inspiring people with its simple and natural design, and rich and creative artistic patterns, with our buoyant Smiley Collection; storytelling Destination Collection; humanistic IP Col-laborative Collection; Pet Collection; and Blossom collection all receiving very posi-tive market feedback.”
Spanish designer brand uin Footwear talks travel shoes and forthcoming trends.
Shoppers seeking shoes that transcend traditional categories can peruse uin Footwear’s latest lineup for spring.
Premiere of the ‘Travel Shoe’ Footwear’s Third Eye
6 7
Ask uin Footwear about its debut of “travel shoes,” and the brand will emphatically explain the logic behind the launch. “Travel shoes are people’s ‘third pair of shoes,’ uin Footwear told FN. “Everyone
needs three pairs of shoes in their life: The first is dress shoes; the second is sneakers; and the third is travel shoes.”
The brand asserts that the “blue ocean of travel shoes has yet to be developed,” compared to other footwear seg-ments that have already matured in the market.
Based on its own customer feedback, the brand said that “Our travel shoes are the ‘center-shoe’ in the crowd. In terms of outfit matching, shoes are an indispensable accessory.”
Its focus on art takes form in creating painted travel shoes with imaginative patterns “as a way of expressing fashion styles and personal emotions, making people become the focal point of their journeys. That is why we call them “cen-ter-shoes,” the brand told FN.
To keep up pace in a chameleonic market, uin Foot-wear said that it plans to “Vigorously promote artist cooper-ation and cross-border co-branding to continuously improve brand value.” Part of its strategy is a partnership with the National Gallery, which launched this month and a con-tinued effort to seek additional collaborations with artists around the world. Shoppers can peruse the latest from uin Footwear on its official website.
The brand aims to provide better service for its custom-ers worldwide and establish a wider distribution network in the footwear industry to strengthen its global and local deliv-ery capabilities, with a particular focus on the U.S. market.
“We hope to establish cooperative relationships with pro-fessional marketing companies to optimize brand expression and increase brand communication with U.S. consumers,” the brand explained. “By creating and sharing beautiful travel stories, uin Footwear brings pleasant experiences to travelers around the world and aspires to become a world-renowned travel brand
Travelers in Park Guell, Spain
P O W E R E D B Y P O W E R E D B Y
Fairchild Studios_FN_UIN.indd All Pages 3/7/22 3:37 PMUntitled-4 3 3/7/22 5:15 PM
F O OT W E A R N E W S // M A R C H 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 // F O OT W E A R N E W S . C O M
A LEG UPPAIRED WITH JIMMY CHOO’S NEOPRENE COSMOS SHOES, ALO YOGA’S NEW AIRBRUSH FLUTTER LEGGINGS HINT AT A NEW SILHOUETTE TAKING HOLD FOR THE WEAR-EVERYWHERE APPAREL.
8
INSIDER 13 � e Road
to VictoryThe four opportunities running companies are addressing now.
16 Coaching SessionJim Weber shares leadership lessons from his new book.
18 Match PointTennis has seen an explosion of new fans and young talent.
FN MILESTONE: CONCEPTS
22 Real TalkConcepts founder Tarek Hassan sits down with rapper and sneaker lover Fabolous.
26 Area CodesHow the Concepts banner is growing on all fronts.
32 � e Art of StorytellingInside the mind of Concepts creative director Deon Point.
34 Lobster TalesNever-before-told secrets of the popular sneaker series.
36 Good WordsBrand partners break down the retailer’s winning formula.
THE LIST 47 Shoe to Know
Lululemon debuts its much-anticipated sneaker line.
48 Land of OpportunityWhy Oofos is taking its recovery concept to the outdoor market.
50 Hello BrooklynA peek at the new Ecco Studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yards.
51 Turn Up the HeatHow Hari Mari found eco inspiration in the desert.
52 First LookRyka delivers the fi rst sneaker collection for pregnant women.
53 � e BuzzNew recovery releases from Kane, Vionic and Hoka One One.
54 Back to the EarthOrthoLite tackles circularity with its fi rst midsole product.
55 Five QsThe inside scoop on K-Swiss’ collab strategy.
56 Got the GoodsStadium Goods debuts a new look as resale booms.
FN PICK 58 Honoring
UkraineDemna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga show was a tribute to refugees.
40
ON THE COVERPhotographed by DEREK WOOD
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Quick, easy and accurate. All the features and benefits you could
possibly need in one compact device.
ALBERT 2 PROThe Ultimate All-In-One Foot Scanning Solution
Call 800.526.2739 or visit aetrexb2b.com
Meet the Expert- presents -
How to Check a Foot Scanner for AccuracyScan to watch video
Untitled-1 1 2/16/22 1:15 PM
ootwearnews.comA S N E A K P E E K A T S O M E O F O U R B E S T U P C O M I N G C O N T E N T .
V I D E O SG A L L E R I E SS T O R I E S
CATCH UP ON ALL THINGS COACHELLA
April 15After a two-year COVID hiatus, the Coachella music festival returns bigger than ever with headliners like Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Kanye West. Surrounding the music acts, brands will host over-the-top activations that translate to major marketing opportunities via trendsetters, infl uencers, media and other famous faces. We look at how brands have turned around their strategies for a big comeback.
AIR MAX DAY MARKS ITS BIG ANNIVERSARY
March 26Nike’s Air Max 1 is celebrating its 35th anniversary with much fanfare and special releases, and FN is here for it. We’ll explain everything you need to know about the brand-created annual holiday.
CELEBRITY STYLE STARS AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS
March 27Celebrities won’t be the only boldface names on the red carpet at the 2022 Oscars, where designer brands do their part to celebrate outstanding achievements on the big screen. We reveal the best looks of the night.
PRICES ON THE RISESOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
The year-over-year increase in consumer prices in February7.9% 1982 The last time
the U.S. experienced this level of infl ation 10.3% The rise in prices
for children’s footwear last month
The 94th Academy Awards will air on ABC
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Olivia Culpo at the Revolve Festival at Coachella 2019
TETHERED TO NOTHINGASH BARTY FOR FILA
Designed to perform. Elevated to outpace
every other shoe on the court. The FILA Axilus
Energized 2.0 puts the agility FILA fans love
front and center, featuring tennis pro-approved
response, lightness and style.
#FILATENNIS
FILA.COM
Untitled-11 1 3/8/22 10:15 AM
SUSTAINABILITY
THAT PERFORMS
Sporting 57% Total Eco Content by combining43% production waste foam, 7% castor oil and7% recycled rubber - OrthoLite® HybridPlus-Bio™delivers eco-comfort with all-out performance.
Untitled-5 1 3/7/22 5:53 PM
INSIDERT H E B I G S T O R Y 13 L E A D E R S H I P I N S I G H T S 16 M A R K E T W A T C H 18
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In the ultracompetitive running market, success is never guaranteed. Industry leaders reveal four
opportunities that could set a new pace for brands.
In the ultracompetitive running market, success
� e Road to Victory
BY PETER VERRY
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Since the onset of the pandemic-created running
boom, leaders in the category have been open
about the many ways they’ve leaned into the
business. But as consumer lifestyles shift once
again in 2022, they must enact new strategies to
engage athletes of all types.
Below, market experts pinpoint four
opportunities that running brands will have
to capitalize on to cross the fi nish line before
the competition.
POSITION RUNNING SHOES AS STREETWEARPerformance running shoes haven’t been in favor
with the fashion set for some time, but insiders
suggest that is about to change.
“There are more people running, more
people are wearing running shoes and people
are going to want to look like the next trend.
When a fashion element comes in, it changes the
dynamics signifi cantly,” said Matt Powell, senior
sports industry adviser with The NPD Group Inc.
“There are a lot of people who want to look like
a runner, but not like a hard-core runner. We’re
going to see people who want to wear running
shoes as casual footwear.”
Wendy Yang, president of the performance
and lifestyle group at Deckers Brands, also
believes performance run will be adopted
for style, and thinks Hoka One One is well
positioned to capitalize.
“Running shoes represent the biggest segment
of the performance category. While consumers wear
them to help them perform, they also buy them for
how they make them look and feel,” Yang said. “At
Hoka, we call the intersection of performance and
trend Lifestyle Athletics. We’ve built this segment
in an authentic way at Hoka, by taking some of
our most popular performance franchises, such as
Bondi and Mafate, and dressed them in interesting
materials, with color-blocking and fi nishings that
make them a standout for trend consumers.”
She noted that the adoption of Hoka footwear
in the streetwear space provides the brand a key
opportunity to widen its consumer fanbase.
As fashion trends start to lean toward running,
Powell believes brands need to adjust their
approach to product delivery to meet the demand.
“The way performance running shoes are
traditionally brought to market is brands
transition out of last year’s model during the
summer and reintroduce new styles in the fall,”
Powell said. “If we see the business becoming more
of a fashion [play], the demands for newness are
great. There will need to be constant introduction
of new products, new colorways, new materials,
maybe bringing back dormant styles. The releases
will be smaller and faster.”
According to Powell, the athlete who is new
to running is going to drive this trend, forcing a
change in mindset of the marketplace.
“The new runner does not think about
footwear like the old runner did. They want
shoes that look cool, they also want shoes to be
versatile, that they can wear for more than just
running,” Powell said. “New customers are going
to buy shoes in a different way, and that will
force the market to respond.”
The industry insider believes two brands are
well-positioned to lead this trend: Puma and On.
“Puma came out with a new running line 18
months ago that looked trend-right from the
beginning. They were able to marry performance
and fashion in a shoe,” Powell said. “I’m also seeing
On worn by non-runners, and their products lend
themselves to fashion. It has a visible technology,
people recognize that it’s an On shoe right away,
and they have opened their distribution to fashion
Running has accelerated at a relentless pace over the past two years, and
the path to success has been as open as the roads where people log their miles.
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The On Cloudnova for fall ’21 gets a fashion treatment
A Birkenstock pop-up at Naperville Running Co.
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He continued, “The world is fl at in terms of
making good shoes. There are tons of companies
doing a great job, and because there’s a lot of good
stuff out there, what’s the differentiator?”
Yang agrees, and pointed to purpose as a worthy
differentiator. “The new generation of consumers
don’t just purchase based on a product or price —
but on how well a brand’s values align with their
own. Ethically feeling good about a purchase is
more important than ever before,” she explained.
This “proving your value” mindset, according to
Fitzgerald, is also critical for retailers.
“Why would you come to a shop? Why would
you hear of a shop? You can’t just be talking about
GAIT analysis, it can’t just be free runs. What’s
going to actually connect?” Fitzgerald explained.
“If we can’t tell big stories, link to big moments
and infuse our brand into them and make it
powerful and fun, then we’re failures.”
For Heartbreak Hill., this was evident in its
private-label Internationalist race kit that was
released on the eve of the opening ceremonies of
the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
The retailer created a bold look merging several
vastly different bits of inspiration, including the
rebellious attitude Fitzgerald became enamored
with during his time in the surf industry and Yves
Saint Laurent’s famed Piet Mondrian-inspired
cocktail dress from 1965. As for the colors,
Heartbreak tied them to the Olympic rings — blue,
yellow, black, green and red.
That combination of high ideals and high
fashion, paired with the desire to celebrate sport, is
what Heartbreak consumers crave, said Fitzgerald.
“In its execution, in terms of brand vision and
how it looks and releasing it on the eve of Beijing, it
came together in a way that is powerfully authentic,
even though, if you take any one of those elements
alone, it sounds crazy,” he explained.
Looking ahead, the retailer said Heartbreak
Hill will story-tell through its private label for the
Boston Marathon by focusing on modern medicine
and the city’s place in innovating that space. Also,
the retailer will carry the story out through efforts
to highlight stories of caregivers.
retailers. That positions them well.”
And with the recent introduction of
Lululemon’s fi rst running sneaker, the category
could could see a further demand spike among
casual wearers.
EMPHASIZE RECOVERYOne of the biggest opportunities for the run
market, players in the space say, is also one of the
more obvious ones: post-run recovery.
“Most running stores have started playing
in that game a little bit. If they haven’t, they
should,” said Kris Hartner, owner of Illinois-based
Naperville Running Co.
The storeowner said the concept of recovery
within the specialty run channel took off 15 years
ago with nutrition, then progressed into products
such as compression socks and apparel, tools such
as the Hyperice suite and more. The footwear
portion, according to Hartner, gained momentum
with the introduction of Oofos in 2011.
Hartner told FN he saw the opportunity there
and was the fi rst run specialty store in the U.S.
to carry the brand. And in April 2020, he also
made the decision to once again stock comfort
favorite Birkenstock.
“For some stores, that combo of having both
Oofos and Birkenstock — very cleanly distributed
products that are hard to get, they’re not
everywhere — is a no-brainer,” Hartner explained.
He said Naperville Running Co. will invest
even further in post-run recovery this month.
The retailer has turned its Annex door into a
Birkenstock pop-up shop, which will remain open
until June, and it will launch an Oofos shop-in-
shop in its South store.
While Oofos has been clear and steadfast in
its focus on recovery since its debut, Birkenstock
is a relative newcomer to ahletic retail channels.
In January 2021, the company tapped industry
veteran Jim Van Dine, a former president of Hoka
and co-founder of Ahnu, to boost its presence in
the run specialty channel.
“The intention is to further emphasize the
orthopedic benefi t of [Birkenstock] versus just the
casual fashion aspect. That is at the heart and soul
of what Birkenstock is all about,” Van Dine told
FN. “That’s how it started more than 200 years ago
in Germany, that’s how it was introduced to the
U.S. almost 60 years ago, but the fashion success
has overwhelmed [that aspect of the brand].”
Van Dine, who will join Birkenstock as its
director of the athletic and outdoor category in
April, said he has landed 50 to 60 new accounts in
the channel — starting with Naperville Running
Co. — and has 10 to 20 more in his queue. The
goal, Van Dine said, is 160 doors a year from now.
FOCUS ON TRAIL RUNBoth running participation and visits to outdoor
spaces climbed as COVID-19 swept the country
two years ago, so it’s fi tting that trail running — a
marriage of both activities — has become a greater
focus for sneaker brands.
According to the Sports & Fitness Industry
Association’s 2022 Topline Participation Report,
12.5 million hit the trails for a run in 2021, a 5.6%
increase over the 11.9 million people who engaged
in the activity in 2020 and a 13.9% increase over
the 11 million people in 2019.
At The Running Event in Austin, Texas,
last December, industry powerhouses such
as Altra, Speedland and La Sportiva revealed
their upcoming styles for fall ’22, and the most
compelling selections were in the trail space.
One of the more eye-catching looks of the show
came from Hoka with the Tecton X, its fi rst trail
shoe with a carbon plate that will arrive in May.
Hoka’s focus on the category, and intent on leading
the competition, is intentional, according to Yang.
“Hoka was born in the Alps, and because
of that, we will always view trail running as a
critical part of our DNA,” she said. “That’s why we
deliver a range of trail and hike products for all
consumers, whether they are just starting out in
their trail running journey or competing on the
trails of Chamonix [France].”
Its focus on trail was further realized in
October 2021, when the brand signed a multiyear
partnership to become the fi rst global premier
partner of the UTMB World Series in Chamonix.
The partnership extends through 2023, and there
are options to extend it to 2024 and beyond.
COMMUNICATE YOUR VISIONDan Fitzgerald, co-owner of Heartbreak Hill
Running Co., believes the market’s greatest
opportunity is simply: “Tell me why I should care
about you.”
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Runners in the Puma Velocity 2
“THE NEW GENERATION OF CONSUMERS DON’T JUST PURCHASE BASED ON A PRODUCT OR PRICE — BUT ON HOW WELL A BRAND’S VALUES ALIGN WITH THEIR OWN.”—WENDY YANG, DECKERS BRANDS
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L E A D E R S H I P I N S I G H T S
Brooks CEO Jim Weber sits atop one of the
fastest-growing footwear brands in the U.S.
But the journey to get there was anything
but linear.
Upon joining Brooks in 2001, Weber oversaw
a vast turnaround plan for the company that
had previously been on the brink of bankruptcy.
His strategy called for refocusing strictly on the
performance running category, guided by its
upbeat “Run Happy” messaging. It made steady
gains and, after a series of acquisitions, Brooks
became an independent subsidiary of Warren
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway organization in
2011. Over the next several years, it developed a
large and growing fan base.
Then came the pandemic, when the brand
experienced a surge in demand during a global
running boom.
In the last year, Brooks has consistently
grabbed market share from industry leaders
like Nike and Adidas in the crucial category of
women’s performance. The Brooks Adrenaline
GTS 21, which retails for $130, ranked 8th on
The NPD Group’s list of the top 10 best-selling
sneakers in 2021 according to dollar rank. And
in Q3, revenue for Brooks grew 24% year-over-
year, with gains led by the Adrenaline GTS,
Ghost and Glycerin franchises, which were up
50% versus 2020.
In his upcoming book, “Running With
Purpose,” which releases this spring, Weber
refl ects on his career path, from his early
dreams of becoming a professional athlete
to being named the CEO of a major running
brand. He also delves into the lessons Brooks
has learned over the past two years.
“We’re all outcomes of our journey and
experiences in our lives,” Weber told FN. “It’s
true with companies too.”
Weber spoke with FN exclusively about six
leadership principles included in his book and
how he applies those to Brooks to keep the
company competitive and authentic.
1. OWN A NICHE“This really relates to two key elements: focus
and choosing your customer. For every brand
in business, the biggest decision they make is
which customer they choose to focus on. And
at Brooks, we [targeted] runners 20-something
years ago. We can compete because of our focus
on a customer and a niche and trying to be
the best in this one niche that we’re in. And
that just gives us a shot at being
credible and creating affi nity
with the customer. I think for
most businesses, unless you’re
a platform company, you’re a
niche player. If you’re not the
No. 1 brand, you’re probably
a niche player and it’s best to
characterize your strategy in that
way. I’m a fi rm believer in that.”
2. BUILD A MOAT“We’re part of Berkshire
Hathaway, and Warren Buffett
Jim Weber discovered running after his college hockey career ended
Coaching SessionAhead of the release of his new book, Jim Weber shares the leaderships lessons that pushed Brooks to the head of the pack. BY SHOSHY CIMENT
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has often talked about a company’s — or brand’s
— moat. It’s all those things that are your
strengths, your distinctiveness and what allows
you to sustain your health and success as a
company. What’s interesting about a brand is, it’s
not an inanimate thing. It’s not an asset on your
balance sheet. It’s in the mind of your customer.
So it’s really about creating a distinctive,
defendable moat. It’s such a failed road to be on
to just emulate your competition because you’re
probably never going to be as innovative or up
to speed if you’re just following them. You have
to know all the choices your customer has and
create a distinctive, defendable position that you
can sustain over time.”
3. SOLVE FOR PROFITABILITY“When you have investors, which everybody
does — unless you own it yourself and I
don’t own Brooks — you have to solve for
[profi tability] to keep them with you and be
able to play another day. We’re seeing in our
broader industry that, ultimately, profi tability
is typically expected. You have to engineer it
into your business model. We had to do this
at Brooks to survive. And if you’re successful
at it, there’s this return on investment
fl ywheel that lets you invest more in growth
against the customer. It’s a critical piece to
know as you’re building out your brand. And
for us, we want to be a profi table business
because then our owner is going to want to
invest more in it.”
4. VISION WITHOUT EXECUTION IS HALLUCINATION“In around 2008-2009, it became clear to
me that to grow and scale, it was all about
people. It was all about execution. You might
have the best strategy, you might have an
exciting brand, you may even have a fantastic
product, but you’ve got to execute across your
entire business. Globally, we’re sort of a niche,
smaller player. So if we’re going to execute this
brand all around the world through partners
and then have a compelling story in front
of every runner, whether they’re in Milan or
Des Moines or Sydney, it’s all about people to
execute that all the way through. We’ve created
a collaborative team-based approach at Brooks.
And we try to engage everyone on our team.
Business is a team sport.”
5. LEAD AUTHENTICALLY“I want to be part of something I’m proud of. I
want to be part of something that has a future,
that’s going to an exciting place. We’re trying
to lead our teams against an opportunity to do
something great for runners and that’s going
to create opportunity for them in their careers
to do good, meaningful work. We’ve invested a
lot in training at Brooks in the last fi ve or six
years. It’s something we think is foundational
to our brand. We’re positioned as a running
brand, and to earn a sense of authenticity from
the customer, you have to be authentic inside.
Customers are smart today. They really are
doing their homework. If your company is all
about making money, they’re going to fi gure
that out over time. So leading authentically is a
challenge that we’re giving to ourselves across
the leadership team.”
6. THE ULTIMATE ADVANTAGE IS A STRONG CULTURE“We’re competing with culture today. We
have this ‘Charting Brooks’ Future’ three-year
strategy playbook. It’s very detailed and every
department in our company syncs in with that
roadmap. But you can only do that if you have
a strong culture underneath it. Every part of
our business, to execute well, is going to be
driven by people. So we’re working hard on
our culture and the ultimate test is how it is
going to attract and retain the talent we need
to execute well in this industry. Right now, I
feel very good about that. Again, we don’t take
that for granted either. Customers have choices,
employees have choices, now more than ever
today. But I think we’ve got a strong culture
and we’re going to work hard to continue to
keep it strong to attract great people to the
Brooks brand.”
“CUSTOMERS ARE SMART TODAY. THEY REALLY ARE DOING THEIR HOMEWORK. IF YOUR COMPANY IS ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY, THEY’RE GOING TO FIGURE THAT OUT OVER TIME.”— JIM WEBER
THE ROAD TO BREAKING A BILLIONBY SHOSHY CIMENT
Brooks has o� cially entered the billion-dollar brand club.
The running company scored new sales records in 2021 and ended the year with global revenue in excess of $1.11 billion, marking a 31% percent increase from 2020. In North America, revenue was $889.1 million, representing a 33% growth from 2020. The company’s e-commerce channels in North America grew 149% compared with 2019.
“It’s not an accident,” Brooks CEO Jim Weber told FN in an interview. Since the brand narrowed its focus to perfomance running in 2017, global revenue has doubled.
So when the pandemic hit, Brooks was in a prime spot to reap the rewards of a nationwide running boom, which has also galvanized other running-focused brands like Saucony and Hoka One One.
“We were perfectly positioned,” Weber said.In the last year, Brooks has become a standout
for women’s performance sneakers, stealing market share from leaders like Nike and Adidas. Its Brooks Adrenaline GTS 21 has been a particularly strong performer. Weber attributed the success in women’s running to o� ering consumers an “approachable” and “inclusive” brand.
“We’ve had an open tent in terms of welcoming everyone into run and welcoming everyone into our brand,” Weber said.
The strategy appears to have paid o� in unit sales. Brooks sold 25% more pairs of shoes globally in 2021 compared to 2020. Weber relies on an omnichannel strategy that doesn’t only focus on direct-to-consumer sales to reach new consumers.
About 40% of Brooks’ 2021 sales occurred online, evenly divided between third-party retail sites and the company’s own website. The rest, about 60%, was done through retail stores. Brooks currently operates two brand-owned stores in the U.S., a fl agship retail store near its Seattle headquarters and another outlet store.
While Weber pointed to the importance of having physical stores, he said there is currently no plan to open more brand-owned locations in the U.S. Right now, he added, it’s more sustainable for Brooks to find consumers by selling product at different footwear, running and sporting goods stores.
“You can’t build enough stores in every running community,” Weber said. “So we think multichannel is critical if you want to reach runners, and we’re just trying to execute that as well as we can.”
Like other footwear brands, Brooks was impacted by supply chain slowdowns and factory shutdowns in China and Vietnam last year. Still, the company managed to deliver record results, reworking the business to ensure that product made it to the consumer.
“We’ve been working really hard on adding capacity and diversifying our factory base across countries and partners,” Weber said. “Because of that work over the last two years, I think we’re going to weather this storm really well.”
Last month, Brooks promoted longtime executive Dan Sheridan to president. In that new role, he will guide the company’s supply chain and operations, as well as oversee IT and digital products.
Weber competes at a Brooks employee event
Match PointGiven the “pandemic-friendly” nature of tennis, the market has seen an explosion in consumer participation and rising talent.BY STEPHEN GARNER
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It’s no secret, the pandemic has changed
a lot about our world. And the tennis market
is no exception.
For some consumers, COVID-induced quar-
antines and gym closures forced them to fi nd
new ways of working out. With outdoor sports
deemed more “pandemic friendly,” tennis saw
a surge of new and returning players getting
into the sport, as courts have become socially
distanced havens for boutique-fi tness refugees
and those driven stir-crazy by isolation.
According to Tom Cove, president and CEO
of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association,
2020 and 2021 were the best for tennis in over
25 years, in terms of both participation and
product sales. In a recent report, SFIA said ten-
nis participation was up 27.9% over the last two
years, with 22.6 million Americans reporting
they played at least once in 2021, up from 17.7
million in 2019 and up 4.5% from 2020, which
saw 21.6 million Americans playing the sport.
Mark Mason, the owner of Mason’s Tennis in
Midtown Manhattan said that the demand for
tennis shoes is “through the roof” because so
many new people are now in the market for gear.
“We have players who haven’t played in 10 years,
that are coming back to us for guidance on what
to wear on the court. It’s exciting,” Mason said.
At Grand Central Racquet, also in Midtown
Manhattan, co-owner Woody Schneider told
FN that 2021 was the best year his business has
ever had — and the momentum has continued,
as February 2022 was his best February on
record. Schneider said, “I’ve never had so many
people tell me they haven’t played tennis in
10 years and want to get back into the game
or that they’ve always wanted to play and are
ready to start. I must have heard these two
statements 10,000 times over the last year.”
While Grand Central Racquet doesn’t
carry the big major labels like Adidas and Nike,
Schneider said he has found success in niche
brands like Mizuno. The brand’s Wave Rider
18 style is one of his top sellers, along with
Prince’s long running P22 sneaker. “The com-
panies that I like to sell are also companies that
are racket companies,” Schneider said. “I want
to support the brands that keep me in business
across all categories.”
Mason noted that Asics is the top-perform-
ing tennis shoe brand at his store, despite the
brand being affected by the factory shutdowns
in southern Vietnam. He specifi cally called out
Asics’ Solution Speed FF and Gel Resolution 8
as standout styles. And he gave an honorable
mention to the Nike Vapor Pro as another top-
selling tennis styles.
Those results match the data from The NPD
Group. Senior sports industry adviser Matt Pow-
ell said that in terms of the top brands in the
space, Adidas still captures the largest market
share in the footwear made for tennis category.
Asics comes in second, followed by Nike, New
Balance and K-Swiss.
As for specifi c top-selling performance tennis
styles, Powell cited the Adidas GameCourt shoe
as No. 1 in 2021, followed by the Nike Court
Lite 2. Asics’ Gel Dedicate 6 and Gel Resolution
8 took third and fourth place last year, with
Nike’s Air Max Volley rounding out the top fi ve,
according to NPD.
But given the meteoric rise for the category,
many experts believe tennis may have hit a peak
in terms of popularity. “Looking at the history
of tennis, participation boomed in the 1980s
and ‘90s,” SFIA’s Cove told FN. “But since the
start of the 2000s, the sport has struggled to re-
port high growth rates. This makes the growth
rate tennis has seen over the last two years
even more phenomenal. It is inconceivable the
industry could continue that momentum; it just
wouldn’t make sense. I would say the growth
rate may fl atten in 2022 as more people return
to their normal pre-COVID schedules and we
learn to live with this virus.”
Emma Raducanu during the women’s singles fi nal of the 2021 US Open
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Nevertheless, top brands in the fi eld are forg-
ing ahead with new tennis capsule collections,
marketing initiatives and player endorsements
in hopes of keeping the momentum going.
At Adidas, which has a long history in
the sport, the brand is modernizing its
approach by incorporating its three-loop
sustainability strategy into tennis product.
“By 2024, our aim is to replace virgin
polyester with recycled polyester wherever
possible,” Annette Steingass, senior director
of tennis and court sports at Adidas, told FN.
“We constantly rethink our materials as we
create our seasonal collections. For example,
our most recent Australian Open apparel
range was made with Parley Ocean plastic. In
addition, the dress that Garbine Muguruza
wore at the tournament, and the tee worn by
Stefanos Tsitsipas were [from our] ‘Made to
be Remade’ [upcycled collection].”
For Fila, the athletic brand has sought the
help of designer Christopher Bevans to ramp
up its tennis offering. Earlier this month,
Fila introduced the Bevans Park Collection, a
42-piece line fi lled with a variety of looks for
men and women. The collection was unveiled
at this year’s Fila-sponsored BNP Paribas
Open in Indian Wells, Calif., where the brand’s
sponsored athletes wore the collection on-court.
At Asics, the footwear brand has doubled
down on its focus in tennis through its “Cat-
egory Offense” initiative. Kevin Powers, category
director of core performance sports at Asics,
said, “We have a specifi c group of employees
focused on tennis within design, development,
product, sales and marketing functions globally
and regionally.”
Most recently, Asics has been developing
shoes specifi cally targeted to different playing
styles, from aggressive baseline to all-court play.
Powers said this is a key story for the brand
when it goes to market with new product and
has shaped how it communicates to consumers.
Asics is also investing in new talent in the
sport, most recently signing Matteo Berrettini
in January. According to Powers, Berrettini is
already ranked No. 6 in the world with his semi-
fi nal showing at the Australian Open and will
continue to wear its Gel Resolution 8 sneaker.
Other new players like Berrettini are also
creating excitement around the sport, especially
in the men’s fi eld, which has been dominated by
the big three (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer
and Rafael Nadal) for almost 20 years.
Britain’s Cameron Norrie and American
Sebastian Korda were named as two players
to watch. The two athletes sparred last month
during the Delray Beach Open. Though Korda
was a fi nalist in the tournament last year, he
was defeated by Norrie, who went on to win the
tournament on Feb. 21.
On the women’s side, Montreal-born Leylah
Fernandez, who recently signed with Lululemon
in January as a face of the brand’s formal push
into tennis, is creating big buzz. The 19-year-old
had a breakout year in 2021, as the runner-up in
the U.S. Open — a feat that put her at No. 24 in
the world. British player Emma Raducanu, who
beat Fernandez at the U.S. Open and is ranked
No. 13 on the WTA Tour, is another star on the
rise. Her U.S. Open win was the second Grand
Slam tournament of her career. The 19-year-
old now holds the record for the fewest majors
played before winning a title.
But at Mason’s Tennis in New York, the ten-
nis superstars — Djokovic, Federer and Nadal,
who have respective shoe deals with Asics, On
and Nike — are still the ones who drives sales in
his store, despite the fact that they are playing
fewer tournaments than in previous years.
“The shoes sell on their own merits,” Mason
said. “The shoes don’t sell based on who’s wear-
ing what, right? But right now, it really boils
down to who can get their shoes to market
given all the supply chain issues.”
Sebastian Korda (at left) shakes hands with Cameron Norrie at the 2022 Delray Beach Open
Top-ranked tennis star Ash Barty in the Fila x Bevans Park Collection
AT MASON’S TENNIS IN MANHATTAN, ASICS IS THE TOP-PERFORMING TENNIS SHOE BRAND.
Asics’ Gel-Resolution
8 sneaker
REAL
TALK
WHAT HAPPENED
WHEN A STYLE-SAVVY
RAPPER SAT DOWN
WITH AN INFLUENTIAL
STREETWEAR RETAILER?
AS CONCEPTS MARKS
25 YEARS, FABOLOUS
TALKS WITH TAREK
HASSAN ABOUT HUMBLE
BEGINNINGS, BIG TIPPING
POINTS AND AMBITIOUS
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.
BY PETER VERRY
22
FN MILESTONE CONCEPTS@25
way to understand everyone who
works with us. The person doing
stock, I know exactly what he’s
doing and what he’s going through,
and [the same] if you’re a buyer or
in marketing.
FAB: Talk about the transition
from The Tannery to Concepts in ’96.
TAREK: I started in the brown
shoe business. The Tannery was
mainly a comfort and outdoor store.
But my passion was snowboarding
and skateboarding, and the other
thing I loved was fashion. I wanted
to bring that passion to my work.
With Concepts, I wanted to open a
snowboard and skateboard shop,
and I knew for a lot people it would
make no sense to have that inside a
shoe store. I came up with a vision
for Concepts and went from there.
FAB: You built this store and
created this gumbo of three di erent
worlds. Where did your vision of the
marriage of sneakers and streetwear
and high-end fashion come from?
TAREK: My passion is what got
me to do all of this. It was unique
and di erent back in the day. Not
many understood it. You would
walk into Concepts and see Gucci
footwear next to skateboards, which
back then was [di erent].
FAB: Sometimes that person
who snowboards likes Gucci too,
and he likes Nike when he goes
skateboarding. You made it a one-
stop shop.
TAREK: [For example], we were
trying to get opened up with Burton
Snowboards. They came to visit
the store when Concepts was in
the back of The Tannery and you
had to go through 20 tables of
comfort shoes before you got to the
snowboards, which was unusual.
There weren’t many brands that
believed in us. They thought, “How
could you buy a snowboard inside of
a shoe store that sells handbags and
comfort shoes?” I will never forget
the comments I would hear. “How
are you going to be able to get kids
to go to the back of the store?”
FAB: Di erent usually isn’t
accepted right away. Di erent has to
be proven. Later on, it’s appreciated.
From that, how has Concepts, which
started in 1996 and now it’s 2022,
evolved over the years?
TAREK: We went from
underground in the back of a shoe
store to being on one of the most
important streets in Boston in
Newbury Street. Back then, our
store was 500 square feet. Our store
now is 4,500 square feet in Boston
and 2,500 square feet here [in
New York].
FAB: When you arrived, it was
probably like pulling teeth trying to
get products in your shop. But now,
you get to be selective.
TAREK: Like anything else, you
struggle in the beginning. Brands
want you to be proven, they want to
see your actions and what you can
do di erently. We’re in a good place
now, we have great relationships
with great brands and we work
closely with a lot of brands like New
Balance and Nike, who are great
partners for us. We’ve paid our dues.
FAB: Why would you say you’ve
been able to have staying power?
There are a lot of shops that come
and go.
TAREK: It’s a few things, but No. 1
is passion. If you’re passionate about
what you do, that on its own will
keep you standing.
FAB: Passion is also one of those
things that will keep you from
giving up.
TAREK: And I’ve surrounded
myself with talented people. Deon
Point has been a part of Concepts
for the last 15 or so years and is
still passionate. And the young
generation that has joined Concepts
— as part of the hiring process,
the fi rst thing I look for is passion.
When you fi nd it in that person, you
can teach everything else.
FAB: A passionate person is also
eager to learn.
From left: Tarek Hassan and Fabolous, photographed
for FN at the Concepts NYC store this month
AS CAR HORNS and sirens blare on
a cold spring morning in New York,
Concepts owner Tarek Hassan and
rapper Fabolous talk quietly about
life and work while standing in the
doorway of the Manhattan fl agship,
dressed almost entirely in the
retailer’s private-label collection.
Though the two men have met
before, this is their fi rst opportunity
for a lengthy one-on-one.
On the surface, Hassan and
Fabolous couldn’t be more di erent.
One is a Boston transplant by way
of Lebanon, who helped shape
streetwear retail after years in the
brown shoe world. The other is a
rap superstar born and raised in
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Despite making a name for
themselves in distinct worlds, the
two have much in common.
For starters, both Hassan and
Fabolous are widely respected in
their fi elds and have maintained
positions atop their ultracompetitive
professions for decades. And both
have made a signifi cant impact in
the fashion space.
With Concepts celebrating
25 years, the rapper joined the
retail leader to discuss Hassan’s
decades of success and what the
future holds.
Below is the candid discussion
between these two powerhouses,
edited for clarity.
FABOLOUS: I want to talk about
your history in retail and coming
up in Boston. How did this whole
thing start?
TAREK HASSAN: I left Lebanon
in the mid-’80s when I was 16
years old, not because I wanted
to but because there was a civil
war going on. My parents wanted
to send me somewhere safe and I
had an uncle, [Sam Hassan], who
lived in Boston, so I went there.
He owned a shoe store called The
Tannery in Harvard Square and I
started working there. My fi rst job
was street marketing, passing out
fl yers on the sidewalk. From there, I
worked in the stockroom and then
stepped up into sales on the fl oor,
then became the manager and then
buyer. I went through every aspect
of the business.
FAB: From the basement to the
penthouse.
TAREK: I loved every experience.
FAB: Would you say that helped
shape who you are as an owner,
knowing every level of the business?
TAREK: Absolutely. It’s a great
IF YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO, THAT ON ITS OWN WILL KEEP YOU STANDING.— TAREK HASSAN
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Fabolous (L) and Tarek Hassan in the Concepts x Nike Air Max 1 SP “Heavy” and “Mellow,” respectively
FN MILESTONE CONCEPTS@25
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TAREK: And this is how you
discover talents, too. We love to
promote within the company.
FAB: How do you avoid burnout?
TAREK: It’s tough, but I’m
getting better at it. Working out,
running in the morning. We just
got a new dog — that forces me to
get up in the morning. Anything
to get me outdoors, that’s where I
can relax.
FAB: What do you do here that
separates you from other shops?
TAREK: Quite a few things.
Experience, that’s key for us.
Concepts is known for storytelling,
we feel like we own that. We
take pride in our collabs and
projects with partners, and the
deep relationships we have with
brands. We’re able to leverage those
relationships.
FAB: Twenty-fi ve years, that’s a
long relationship.
TAREK: The other thing we’re
very proud of — and is massive for
us right now with big potential —
is private label. That’s a big part
of what di� erentiates us from the
competition.
FAB: What’s di� erent in the
footwear industry from 1996
to now?
TAREK: There’s big positive
change in the last 25 years. Today,
everyone cares about community.
We’re paying attention and we care
about climate and sustainability.
Back in the day, these things didn’t
really matter. That on its own is
amazing.
FAB: How have you been able to
discover young talent and surround
yourself with younger people to
keep the brand going?
TAREK: I use my instincts,
and we’re on the ground all the
time, always in front of people
and surrounded by the industry. I
like to discover talent within the
organization as well. Some of the
team has started as salespeople and
now they’re leading the brand.
FAB: When I walked in, you
asked how I was and the fi rst thing
I said was trying to balance family
and work. So now I’m going to ask
you, having a 25-plus-year business,
how do you balance the two?
TAREK: It’s tough.
FAB: There’s no recipe.
TAREK: It’s a work in progress.
I’m lucky to have an understanding
wife and an amazing family. But I’d
be lying if I said I had it fi gured out.
The older I get, it’s defi nitely getting
better.
FAB: You spoke on private label
earlier. What role will Concepts’
private label play in the company’s
future?
TAREK: It’s a massive
opportunity. We’re going to
continue to build on it and scale
it, not only on the apparel side
but [to make it] more of a lifestyle
[brand]. Every collab we do with
our partners, we build a collection
around the storytelling and the
vision of what that is. A great
collection was built around the
Nike Air Max [collab this month],
it’s one of my favorite projects for
the year. Private label will be our
biggest focus moving forward.
FAB: What are some of Concepts’
THE SHOE GAME
biggest goals of 2022?
TAREK: [Aside from] becoming
a lifestyle brand, the other is to
grow brick-and-mortar. We’re
excited about what’s going on in the
metaverse and with NFTs — it’s a big
world for us and we’re putting a lot
of energy there. And we’ll continue
to build on our relationships with
collabs and projects, and keep
pushing ourselves.
FAB: I’m interested to see how
cryptocurrency and NFTs a� ect
retail.
TAREK: We will defi nitely be
a part of that, there’s a lot of
excitement and we’re still learning
about it.
FAB: You have locations here in
New York, Boston, Dubai, Shanghai
and Beijing. Are there any more
coming in the future? You have to
share that with the world.
TAREK: There’s defi nitely a plan
for Concepts to be in other states
and countries. Right now, we’re
putting much of our focus on New
York because this is fairly new — it’s
less than a year-and-a-half old —
and Boston as well.
FAB: Personally, I’m glad y’all
came to New York. Any brand
that’s been around 25 years needs
its fl owers, so I want to give you
your fl owers for creating a brand
that represents you and speaks
to other people as well. It’s an
amazing feat.
FABOLOUS’ FOOTWEAR COLLECTION LIVES UP TO HIS NAME.By Peter Verry
SHOES I WORE IN HIGH SCHOOL:“I went to high school in the ’90s, so I wore everything from Nike to Jordan to Reebok to Adidas — a wide range of shoes. Filas. I wore everything. New Balance.”
HOW MANY PAIRS I OWN:“I have no idea. I have so many shoes. I lost count a long time ago and I’m not even trying to go through the process of counting.”
WORN THE LONGEST:“I have an original pair of Air Jordan 7s that now the sole is falling apart. That might be my longest-running shoe, the ‘Bordeaux.’”
WHAT I TRAVEL IN:“It changes per outfi t, but my travel shoe is mostly a comfortable shoe. I like Yeezys to travel in, New Balance. I also like some cool Sacai x Nike.”
MY SHOE CLOSET:“I have them in multiple places, so my shoe closet is wherever I fi nd room.”
THE SHOES I DREAM ABOUT:“The Air Yeezy. I had all three colorways and I got some kind of scu� that messed up my black pair and I got rid of them. In hindsight, I’m like, why did I do that? I could have got them fi xed or cleaned — especially in these times. At that time, there were not as many cleaning places, but looking back, I’m like, I cannot believe I threw those shoes away.”
IT’S BEEN 25 YEARS since Tarek
Hassan opened his fi rst Concepts
store in Cambridge, Mass., and while
many retailers have shifted focus to
digital, he is still dedicated to brick-
and-mortar.
With locations in Boston, New
York, Shanghai and Dubai, Hassan
said 2022 is about continuing to
invest in the physical experience.
Given recent challenges of COVID-19
and store shutdowns, this year,
the founder and CEO is looking to
reinvigorate Concepts’ activations,
such as enlivening the cafe
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FROM BOSTON TO
DUBAI, THE CONCEPTS
RETAIL BANNER IS
MAKING ITS MARK
AROUND THE GLOBE.
BY NIKARA JOHNS
AREA
CODE
S
The Concepts door in New York City spans
2,500 square feet
Founder and CEOTarek Hassan
FN MILESTONE CONCEPTS@25 27
experience on Newbury Street in
Boston, and deliver more community
tie-in projects.
“We were born [as brick-and-
mortar], and that’s where our focus
is right now,” Hassan said. “We’ve
invested [in physical], especially in
2020, so now we’re seeing the fruits
of our labor there and we’re focusing
on those locations.”
In Boston, with the fl agship
store that opened in October 2020,
Concepts continues to push its
boundaries. The fl agship location
contains a bigger mix of luxury in
a space for more female-focused
brands and wider installments of
accessories, explained Hassan. It’s
also the location of Vrsnl, a women’s-
focused luxury boutique.
Dan Leonardi, VP of sales at
Sperry, explained the store’s draw:
“Concepts stands out to me as an
elevated retail experience that
perfectly blends the worlds of luxury
fashion and streetwear/skate culture.”
He continued, “To me, they are
the epitome of a concept store that
started many years ago in some
European and Asian cities. If you’ve
been to their Newbury Street store,
then you know that these guys are
doing it as well or better than anyone
in the U.S.”
Meanwhile, in Shanghai, Concepts
is catering to a more fashion-driven
consumer. And its New York location,
which opened in December 2020,
Hassan likens it to that Cambridge
store, given the college crowd near
its 99 University Place location.
Although Hassan wouldn’t
disclose the site of his next Concepts
door, the storeowner said he expects
to open two more in the U.S. and one
abroad by the end of 2023.
He noted what will remain
consistent through all outposts are
key brands and Concepts’ private
label, which is merchandised for
each respective market.
“Our private label continues to be
our No. 1 priority — our No. 1 success
— especially within this last year.
For us as a brand, [private label]
ultimately [gives us] the control
to dictate what we’re making, how
we’re making it and fi nding who that
consumer is,” said Annie Morgan,
brand manager at Concepts.
Hassan added that the private-
label business, which now consists
of apparel, will expand into a full
contemporary lifestyle brand. “That
means increasing accessibility by
investing in adaptive o� erings, and
it can also mean exploring NFTs as
well,” Hassan said. “We want the
private label to become a signifi cant
percentage of our business and a key
brand that is trusted by and always
serves our evolving consumer.”
While Concepts is proud of its
impressive retail experience, part
of that includes an e-commerce
component. Last year, for instance,
the company launched a mobile
app to give consumers access to
exclusive products and early access
to upcoming launches, as well as
o� ering its diverse catalog of men’s
and women’s footwear and apparel.
“Our brand has always had an
international audience, but we
have never been able to engage that
community until now. E-commerce
unlocks that customer for us and we
continue to grow our e-commerce
sales. Our website is evolving, as is
our approach to storytelling across
di� erent channels like Instagram,
Twitter, Facebook and TikTok,”
Hassan said.
Part of Concepts’ 25-year
success also comes from its close
relationships with brands such as
Adidas, Canada Goose, Nike and
New Balance (Hassan’s fi rst sneaker
collaboration partner). “What keeps
me going,” said Hassan, “is that we
still are able to bring freshness, new
ideas and storytelling to the brands.”
Concepts is continuing that trend
this year and will be teaming up with
a range of sneaker brands, including
K-Swiss, Nike, New Balance, Vans
and Converse.
K-Swiss international brand
president Dave Grange said,
“Anytime we can partner with
Concepts, it’s a privilege. They add
credibility, energy and a consumer
reach that’s hard to obtain naturally.
They have been doing this for 25
years and remain at the top of
the game. Their history, heritage,
knowledge and experience are
unrivaled globally.”
What’s more, Concepts will
partner with brands outside the
sneaker space that have been
instrumental to its success, including
Sperry, Mephisto, Birkenstock and
Sorel. It also will deliver its fi rst-ever
collaboration with Ecco.
“We’ve done collaborations with
them in the past, but that was years
ago. We wanted to work with them
again to celebrate the history,”
Hassan said. “These are the brands
that were a big part of the beginning
days of Concepts. These are my
roots, going way back into the
brown shoe world.”
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PRIVATE LABEL IS CONCEPTS’ NO. 1 PRIORITY. HERE’S HOW IT FITS INTO THE BUSINESS.
Although a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, Annie Morgan is responsible for leading Concepts’ private label push. Here, the brand manager explains how its private brand strategy has evolved over her fi ve years and what the ultimate goals are for the collections.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CONCEPTS PRIVATE LABEL EVOLUTION?“We've always dabbled in it. There have been some great sprints, but now we have our vision solidifi ed of who we are, what we want to stand for and the risks we want to take. Storytelling is the Concepts DNA, but stories change, the focus of our consumers change, so we're telling those stories and making it exciting.
Our consumer expects the unexpected from us, so it's constantly fi nding out what's the next unexpected thing.”
WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO BUILDING THESE COLLECTIONS?“We have ties to luxury, as well as extreme sports and Boston heritage. And we have brick-and-mortar and digital to think about, and how to touch as many people as possible through product. I look at those things and then wrap it all into one thing.”
WHAT ARE THE PRIVATE LABEL GOALS?“Short-term is to keep expanding the products and make sure they stay inclusive, but special at the same time. We want to create products that people seek out and can’t fi nd anywhere else. Long-term, it’s to have a variety of touchpoints, whether it be women's, men's, kids’, accessories. To become a lifestyle brand, that's the ultimate goal.” — Peter Verry
BUILD FOR THE FUTURE
Annie Morgan
ForgetmenotCorner of Division and Canal Streets
Hungry Ghost
Corner of Church and Reade Streets
Nike LabMercer St.
Between Canal and Grand Streets
Dudley’sCorner of Orchard
and Broome Streets Regina’sOrchard St. between
Canal and Hester Streets
Sweet ChickCorner of Division and Canal Streets
Vig BarCorner of
Elizabeth and Spring Streets
Cafe MogadorSt. Marks Place
Mamoun’s2nd Ave and St.
Marks Place
ConceptsCorner of University
and 12th Streets
From its inception in 2006, Concepts has been known for an unparalleled brand mix – and the relationships it
has with those brands. The company brings its customers experiences that represent a contemporary luxury and embraces the most exciting elements of contemporary lifestyle. There is no hierarchy of aesthetic or interest in the Concepts brand, to hear Tarket Hassan, owner and founder of Concepts, describe it.
“Concepts has always had a broad perspective,” said Hassan. “We were watching the snowboard boom of the ‘90s, but also seeing sneaker culture root globally. We understood the mix of extreme sports, skate and sneaker culture immediately. We also knew that there was an inherent luxury to it all – something that gave us permission to stretch the boundaries of accessories and, as we’ve grown, our brand mix.”
It seems only fitting then that the New England company would have such a strong connection to New York City, which thrives on blending cultures and setting trends.
“New York moves fast. It creates trends; it supercharges trends,” said Annie Morgan, who oversees the Concepts Brand and label. “New Yorkers are attuned to shifts. The city has an incredible sense of heritage — its shoppers innately understand classic style. Understanding this and having willingness to embrace the avant garde, makes the scene very exciting.”
Setting itself apart, Concepts has always worked to create a “full package experience.” Packaging to the team behind Concepts goes beyond a sneaker box to how they show up in their retail stores or at a launch. Put simply, the
Concepts team wants to create a memory for the consumer.
And these interactions have become part of the conversation, Deon Point, Creative Director for Concepts told Footwear News. “There’s nothing better than hearing from our consumers that they remember coming to us for a specific launch. When we make a shared moment, there is a nostalgia attached to both the experience and the product. Concepts is dedicated to landing that mix.”
“We understood coming into NYC that there was competition,” said Morgan “We also knew there was space for authentic connections to be made. That is our specialty. We want to have a conversation. We want to educated people about what we bring into our stores. We love being storytellers. The ways we do this go back to looking at the behaviors not only of customers, but by looking at contemporary lifestyle culture. Merging that — how people learn, live, and shop — is how we find success.”
When the company opened its first NYC location it was after years of planning, waiting for the correct time and the correct space, Hassan told WWD.
“The Tribeca store was originally designed as a showcase for our collaborations,” said Point. “We opened it as a gallery, something that could change with each product and tell a deeper story. The experiential nature of the space definitely helped us gain a footprint in NYC.”
From opening in New York City with New Balance as its partner to its current location at 99 University Place, Hassan said collaborations have been integral to deepening the brand’s relationship with consumers.
“Our Union Square store reflects our heritage,” said Hassan. “Skate-focused and university
adjacent. We understand the high/low dynamism of streetwear. And New York expects that knowledge, but also embraces evolution. Giving space to our private label in the store, for example, was a perfect way to share our growth and secure our story over 25 years.”
Notably, longtime friend of the company, skateboarder and NYC-native, Vinny Ponte, was influential in the Concepts’ introduction to the New York Skate scene is where the team first got its footing.
“The people who come to Concepts expect a story,” said Point “They are invested in the experiences. We’re lucky to work with great brands. Thinking about Nike, we’ve been able to do things with Nike SB, like the Holy Grail project, and with Nike basketball. The diversity of those projects speaks to our interests, but also matches the holistic interests of our fans. They are not one dimensional,
and Concepts collaborations allow us to really underscore that.”
In fact, after working in partnership with Nike for decades now, Concepts will be furthering its presence in New York City in its latest collaboration with the brand as it will be expanding the experience of the Air Max 1 launch partnering with NikeLab at 21 Mercer and SNKRS pass.
For Concepts, the collaboration represents another opportunity to share its vision in difference spaces. And with 21 Mercer being a sort of hallmark of New York City for global sneaker culture, it’s also a chance to bring the brands unique style for ideas and storytelling to the forefront.
“Over the years, we’ve been progressing our partnership with Nike,” said Hassan. “What was first delivered through Concepts is now delivered across multiple platforms. We share belief in the power of a physical experience. Similarly, we are able to push best-in-class digital experiences together.”
Always looking to evolve and progress in partnerships, Morgan said with Nike it’s a shared mantra of ‘no finish line’ that will “mix our mutual excitement for storytelling and reflect on the unique energy of the city.”
Beyond bringing New Yorkers an experimental experience, a fun aspect of the partnership, Deon Point said, will be the element of surprise since Concepts always strives to push boundaries.
Inspired by the “revolution” that took place when Nike first released the Nike Air Max 1 in 1987,consumers visiting the NYC NikeLab can expect Concepts to bring the “energy of that time” and its out-of-the-box perspective to blend heritage with a consumer experience that “totally bends the mind.”
Since opening doors on Hudson Street in 2014,Concepts has been making its mark on New York.
Concepts’ New York
Warwick Hotel
ForgetmenotA favorite for New Yorkers for being fun and homey, the bar’s eclectic surf-shack décor and funky furniture make visitors feel as though this bar has been around forever. Not to be missed is the golden skateboard that hangs on the wall. (The friendly co-owner Adam Himebauch has been rumored to deliver the kitchen’s Mediterranean food through the lower east side on skateboard.) Visitors can be sure to have a good time.
Dudley’sPerfect for a low-key dining experience, Dudley’s was designed to share the quintessential Australian corner pub-and-bistro with its guests. It’s a place to meet for drinks or share a casual meal with friends on a busy Saturday night and on a quite Tuesday. New Yorkers can enjoy the inviting menu that has something for everyone (from light bites and sandwiches to � lling entrees) with an indoor or outdoor experience.
Mamoun’s FalafelMamoun’s staked its claim as the � rst falafel restaurant in New York in 1971 as well as becoming one of the � rst Middle Eastern establishments in the United States. Still family-owned and operated, the restaurant has stayed true to a philosophy of serving fresh, authentic Middle Eastern cuisine in a fast, casual environment – everything is made from scratch and the � nest imported spices add a special touch to each dish. New Yorkers come to enjoy the restaurant’s rich tradition and the best falafel around. Mogador is a favorite for brunch among the cool-kids, so visitors hoping to try the Middle Eastern breakfast should plan to get there early.
Hungry Ghost Coff eeCreated by Turkish immigrant, Murat Uyaroglu, since 2012, Hungry Ghost Coffee has welcomed New Yorkers with a sense of community that is joyful, focused and proud. The quirky yet charming coffee shop offers satisfying Stumptown coffee and lattes as well as teas and kombucha, but a must have on the menu are the amazing pastries.
The Vig BarThis cozy bar is exactly what you’re looking for in Nolita with its intimate atmosphere, low-key elegance and great music. Ideal for a small group of friends for a late-afternoon drink or happy hour with co-workers as the bar prides itself for a long list of cocktails that are both classic and creative.
Regina’s GroceryBorn in Brooklyn, this Italian sandwich bar is family owned and operated. Designed to bring New Yorkers a bit of “Old New York” experience, the owners strive to bring a part of their family’s history to the menu with each sandwich named for a member of the family they want you to know. True to the family recipe, nothing is processed and each sandwich is made with what the call “the best” from Sullivan Street Bakery and mozzarella from Loni’s to imported essentials from Italy.
Sweet ChickCreated by John Seymour and backed by Nas, Sweet Chick serves Southern love the Brooklyn way. Since 2013, the Sweet Chick team has followed a philosophy to “have fun, eat well and spread love” that New Yorkers can’t get enough of. Known for fried chicken and waf� es, the menu also offers “rustic but modern” American comfort foods and cocktails. Plus, be sure to check out the daily specials.
Café MogadorHaving been around since 1983, Café Mogador is a sort of institution of the Lower East Side. Those who know even credit the family-run Moroccan and Middle Eastern restaurant for being an early pioneer in the NYC restaurant world and downtown cultural hub. Today, Café Mogador is a favorite for brunch among the cool-kids, so visitors hoping to try the Middle Eastern breakfast should plan to get there early.
CONCEPT’S NYC MUST-SEE’S
P O W E R E D B Y : P O W E R E D B Y :
3130
Untitled-9 2 3/10/22 7:17 PM
ForgetmenotCorner of Division and Canal Streets
Hungry Ghost
Corner of Church and Reade Streets
Nike LabMercer St.
Between Canal and Grand Streets
Dudley’sCorner of Orchard
and Broome Streets Regina’sOrchard St. between
Canal and Hester Streets
Sweet ChickCorner of Division and Canal Streets
Vig BarCorner of
Elizabeth and Spring Streets
Cafe MogadorSt. Marks Place
Mamoun’s2nd Ave and St.
Marks Place
ConceptsCorner of University
and 12th Streets
From its inception in 2006, Concepts has been known for an unparalleled brand mix – and the relationships it
has with those brands. The company brings its customers experiences that represent a contemporary luxury and embraces the most exciting elements of contemporary lifestyle. There is no hierarchy of aesthetic or interest in the Concepts brand, to hear Tarket Hassan, owner and founder of Concepts, describe it.
“Concepts has always had a broad perspective,” said Hassan. “We were watching the snowboard boom of the ‘90s, but also seeing sneaker culture root globally. We understood the mix of extreme sports, skate and sneaker culture immediately. We also knew that there was an inherent luxury to it all – something that gave us permission to stretch the boundaries of accessories and, as we’ve grown, our brand mix.”
It seems only fitting then that the New England company would have such a strong connection to New York City, which thrives on blending cultures and setting trends.
“New York moves fast. It creates trends; it supercharges trends,” said Annie Morgan, who oversees the Concepts Brand and label. “New Yorkers are attuned to shifts. The city has an incredible sense of heritage — its shoppers innately understand classic style. Understanding this and having willingness to embrace the avant garde, makes the scene very exciting.”
Setting itself apart, Concepts has always worked to create a “full package experience.” Packaging to the team behind Concepts goes beyond a sneaker box to how they show up in their retail stores or at a launch. Put simply, the
Concepts team wants to create a memory for the consumer.
And these interactions have become part of the conversation, Deon Point, Creative Director for Concepts told Footwear News. “There’s nothing better than hearing from our consumers that they remember coming to us for a specific launch. When we make a shared moment, there is a nostalgia attached to both the experience and the product. Concepts is dedicated to landing that mix.”
“We understood coming into NYC that there was competition,” said Morgan “We also knew there was space for authentic connections to be made. That is our specialty. We want to have a conversation. We want to educated people about what we bring into our stores. We love being storytellers. The ways we do this go back to looking at the behaviors not only of customers, but by looking at contemporary lifestyle culture. Merging that — how people learn, live, and shop — is how we find success.”
When the company opened its first NYC location it was after years of planning, waiting for the correct time and the correct space, Hassan told WWD.
“The Tribeca store was originally designed as a showcase for our collaborations,” said Point. “We opened it as a gallery, something that could change with each product and tell a deeper story. The experiential nature of the space definitely helped us gain a footprint in NYC.”
From opening in New York City with New Balance as its partner to its current location at 99 University Place, Hassan said collaborations have been integral to deepening the brand’s relationship with consumers.
“Our Union Square store reflects our heritage,” said Hassan. “Skate-focused and university
adjacent. We understand the high/low dynamism of streetwear. And New York expects that knowledge, but also embraces evolution. Giving space to our private label in the store, for example, was a perfect way to share our growth and secure our story over 25 years.”
Notably, longtime friend of the company, skateboarder and NYC-native, Vinny Ponte, was influential in the Concepts’ introduction to the New York Skate scene is where the team first got its footing.
“The people who come to Concepts expect a story,” said Point “They are invested in the experiences. We’re lucky to work with great brands. Thinking about Nike, we’ve been able to do things with Nike SB, like the Holy Grail project, and with Nike basketball. The diversity of those projects speaks to our interests, but also matches the holistic interests of our fans. They are not one dimensional,
and Concepts collaborations allow us to really underscore that.”
In fact, after working in partnership with Nike for decades now, Concepts will be furthering its presence in New York City in its latest collaboration with the brand as it will be expanding the experience of the Air Max 1 launch partnering with NikeLab at 21 Mercer and SNKRS pass.
For Concepts, the collaboration represents another opportunity to share its vision in difference spaces. And with 21 Mercer being a sort of hallmark of New York City for global sneaker culture, it’s also a chance to bring the brands unique style for ideas and storytelling to the forefront.
“Over the years, we’ve been progressing our partnership with Nike,” said Hassan. “What was first delivered through Concepts is now delivered across multiple platforms. We share belief in the power of a physical experience. Similarly, we are able to push best-in-class digital experiences together.”
Always looking to evolve and progress in partnerships, Morgan said with Nike it’s a shared mantra of ‘no finish line’ that will “mix our mutual excitement for storytelling and reflect on the unique energy of the city.”
Beyond bringing New Yorkers an experimental experience, a fun aspect of the partnership, Deon Point said, will be the element of surprise since Concepts always strives to push boundaries.
Inspired by the “revolution” that took place when Nike first released the Nike Air Max 1 in 1987,consumers visiting the NYC NikeLab can expect Concepts to bring the “energy of that time” and its out-of-the-box perspective to blend heritage with a consumer experience that “totally bends the mind.”
Since opening doors on Hudson Street in 2014,Concepts has been making its mark on New York.
Concepts’ New York
Warwick Hotel
ForgetmenotA favorite for New Yorkers for being fun and homey, the bar’s eclectic surf-shack décor and funky furniture make visitors feel as though this bar has been around forever. Not to be missed is the golden skateboard that hangs on the wall. (The friendly co-owner Adam Himebauch has been rumored to deliver the kitchen’s Mediterranean food through the lower east side on skateboard.) Visitors can be sure to have a good time.
Dudley’sPerfect for a low-key dining experience, Dudley’s was designed to share the quintessential Australian corner pub-and-bistro with its guests. It’s a place to meet for drinks or share a casual meal with friends on a busy Saturday night and on a quite Tuesday. New Yorkers can enjoy the inviting menu that has something for everyone (from light bites and sandwiches to � lling entrees) with an indoor or outdoor experience.
Mamoun’s FalafelMamoun’s staked its claim as the � rst falafel restaurant in New York in 1971 as well as becoming one of the � rst Middle Eastern establishments in the United States. Still family-owned and operated, the restaurant has stayed true to a philosophy of serving fresh, authentic Middle Eastern cuisine in a fast, casual environment – everything is made from scratch and the � nest imported spices add a special touch to each dish. New Yorkers come to enjoy the restaurant’s rich tradition and the best falafel around. Mogador is a favorite for brunch among the cool-kids, so visitors hoping to try the Middle Eastern breakfast should plan to get there early.
Hungry Ghost Coff eeCreated by Turkish immigrant, Murat Uyaroglu, since 2012, Hungry Ghost Coffee has welcomed New Yorkers with a sense of community that is joyful, focused and proud. The quirky yet charming coffee shop offers satisfying Stumptown coffee and lattes as well as teas and kombucha, but a must have on the menu are the amazing pastries.
The Vig BarThis cozy bar is exactly what you’re looking for in Nolita with its intimate atmosphere, low-key elegance and great music. Ideal for a small group of friends for a late-afternoon drink or happy hour with co-workers as the bar prides itself for a long list of cocktails that are both classic and creative.
Regina’s GroceryBorn in Brooklyn, this Italian sandwich bar is family owned and operated. Designed to bring New Yorkers a bit of “Old New York” experience, the owners strive to bring a part of their family’s history to the menu with each sandwich named for a member of the family they want you to know. True to the family recipe, nothing is processed and each sandwich is made with what the call “the best” from Sullivan Street Bakery and mozzarella from Loni’s to imported essentials from Italy.
Sweet ChickCreated by John Seymour and backed by Nas, Sweet Chick serves Southern love the Brooklyn way. Since 2013, the Sweet Chick team has followed a philosophy to “have fun, eat well and spread love” that New Yorkers can’t get enough of. Known for fried chicken and waf� es, the menu also offers “rustic but modern” American comfort foods and cocktails. Plus, be sure to check out the daily specials.
Café MogadorHaving been around since 1983, Café Mogador is a sort of institution of the Lower East Side. Those who know even credit the family-run Moroccan and Middle Eastern restaurant for being an early pioneer in the NYC restaurant world and downtown cultural hub. Today, Café Mogador is a favorite for brunch among the cool-kids, so visitors hoping to try the Middle Eastern breakfast should plan to get there early.
CONCEPT’S NYC MUST-SEE’S
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GROWING UP in Brockton, Mass.,
Deon Point developed a devotion
to sneakers by taking trips to New
York City to shop at the likes of
Alife and Nort. Then in 2002, his
brother discovered Concepts in
nearby Cambridge.
Today, Point is the creative
director of the retail chain
and a highly respected design
collaborator. However, his path to
get here is anything but traditional.
In 2004, while working in
construction, Point took a part-
time job at Concepts that he
admits was mostly to ensure he
didn’t miss any sneaker releases.
He transitioned to a full-time role
there in 2006, and in 2007 — with
no formal design background
— started creating the retailer’s
sneaker collabs.
What Point lacked in education
he made up for with his
innate curiosity.
“I always had this love for
learning about stuff without being
told in the classroom. I’ll nerd out
now and watch documentaries. I
love little quirky stories that people
don’t know, even if it’s a small
discovery point. Case in point:
the ‘Lobster’ [series],” Point said,
recalling how he excited he was to
discover the sea creatures come in
diverse colors. “I was like, ‘Holy
s**t, this is wild. How can you have
a blue lobster?”
Over the years, Point has
honed his craft and is now lauded
as a talented storyteller, having
delivered the Nike Dunk SB High
“When Pigs Fly” and the New
Balance 997S “Esruc,” among
many others.
This month, the iconic Nike
Air Max 1 is his canvas. The eye-
catching sneakers were inspired by
influential concerts and cultural
events from 1969, specifically
the Harlem Cultural Festival and
Woodstock, and launched via
Concepts on March 5 and March 12,
respectively. The first shoe would
later drop via SNKRS on March 12,
and the second is slated arrive at
select retailers on March 19.
He prides himself on not
skimping on a single detail. “We
did an Adidas shoe based on the
Lufthansa Heist from ‘Goodfellas,’”
said Point. “There are three
random colors on the back Adidas
logo — yellow, red and blue —
and since we couldn’t speak to the
‘Goodfellas’ story too much and
I based the shoe off of the actual
heist, those colors are directly
taken from the Lufthansa logo at
the exact year that the heist
went down.”
Point also refuses to deliver
anything underwhelming. “I don’t
want to do something you can go
and ID on a website for a brand.
It wouldn’t sit well with me. Even
though we go above and beyond
— sometimes actually too far — I’d
rather go that route than just seem
like it was lazy,” he explained.
This approach isn’t lost among
his peers in the industry.
“It’s mandatory for Deon to
find the authentic narrative that
he’s going to use to tell the story.
He doesn’t ever do a collab or a
product just to fill a void,” said
Mike “Upscale Vandal” Camargo,
CEO of The Upscale Group
consulting agency. “Every collab or
project you see them put out has
such intrinsic details and values to
the narrative — and a lot of brands
or people don’t care about that.”
Despite the accolades, Point
remains humble in his approach to
the work.
“I’m not a sculptor or a Museum
of Fine Arts artist. I’m just picking
materials and colors on shoes and
having fun,” he said. “It weird to
even talk about it because I feel like
there are so many talented people
out there who do so much more,
even within our own space.”
And he is quick to give credit to
the person who made this career
possible: Concepts founder and
CEO Tarek Hassan.
“Tarek gave me a huge
opportunity and I’m forever
grateful,” he said. “People are
drawn to me because I’m around
those [sneaker] circles more than T
is — because he’s doing the big-boy
meetings. But at the end of the day,
all credit goes to him.”
Point noted that throughout his
career, Hassan has been a pioneer
in merging categories, seamlessly
pairing Birkenstocks and Clarks
Originals with Nike, Moon Boots
and Canada Goose. And from
Hassan he has learned how to see
retail in a different way.
“When we first got the
proposition from Tarek to do a
Birkenstock collab — this was
in 2014 — I didn’t know what a
Birkenstock was,” Point recalled.
“I knew he sold it in the store, but
I never equated it to something
that would move and shake in our
[sneaker] world.”
He added, “I put up a little
fight, like, ‘That’s not right for us,’
and T was like, ‘Trust me, this is
going to be the biggest thing.’ He
ultimately won the argument, we
worked on it and we came out with
two awesome ones. And to this day
people still ask for them. I had to
eat my words.”
THE A
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INSIDE THE THOUGHT
PROCESS OF CONCEPTS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
DEON POINT, THE
MASTERMIND BEHIND
THE RETAILER’S ICONIC
COLLABORATIONS.
BY PETER VERRY
Deon Point in the Concepts x Nike Air
Max 1 SP “Heavy”
JOIN US THIS YEAR IN CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF WINNING25TH ANNIVERSARY
B O S T O N N Y C S H A N G H A I D U B A I
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WHY HE WASN’T INITIALLY A
FAN OF “LOBSTER”
“Je� [Staple] did ‘Pigeon’ [with
Nike], so to me, I felt like ‘Lobster’
was our version of ‘Pigeon,’ in a
sense. He had so much energy
surrounding his release — it was
the fi rst [sneaker collab] in the
[New York Post] and New York
was going wild for it. To me,
‘Lobster’ initially seemed like a lazy
idea, and I was nervous of being
compared to ‘Pigeon.’ But what
we did with the shoe, especially
looking back, you can tell they’re
two dynamically di� erent things.”
THE IDEA THAT “LOBSTER”
BEAT OUT
“We had a short window to pitch to
Nike and had submitted two shoes
to make the deadline. One was
basketball jersey material, with a
pair based on the Brooklyn Banks
in New York, a popular skate spot,
and a pair for an area in Boston.
The idea came because a lot of kids
skated with basketball jerseys on.
The other was the lobster idea.
It was like an internal contest and
we went with lobster.”
THE TIME WITH THE
DISASTER SAMPLES
“When we got the fi rst ‘Green
Lobster’ samples, it was completely
wrong. They looked lime green and
one was a hideous, putrid green, like
split pea and ham soup. We were
fearful of sending them o� and the
shoes coming back wrong. We had
to make adjustments sight unseen.
There’s something scary about
signing something o� blindly and
not knowing what you’re going to
get back. I was biting my nails o�
waiting for the shoes to come
in and when I fi nally saw them
I was like, ‘Thank God.’ It was a
pivotal moment for us with the
resurgence of Dunks, and we were
ready to eat them if we didn’t like
how they came out. If we put [the
incorrect shoe] out, there was a DEON POINT
REVEALS LITTLE-
KNOWN FACTS ABOUT
CONCEPTS’ FIVE
FAMED “LOBSTER”
DUNK COLLABS
WITH NIKE.
BY PETER VERRY
risk that it could completely tank
and do irreconcilable damage to us.”
WHY “YELLOW LOBSTER”
IS SO RARE
“We had 36 pairs total. And I know
where they all went — who’s worn
them, who’s beat him up, who’s
given them away. There can’t be
more than eight deadstock pairs in
the entire world.”
THE RAREST “YELLOW LOBSTER”
“I know I have the only [size] 9
that’s deadstock in the world. I’m
100% positive of that.”
DEVELOPING THE COLOR SCHEMES
“When we were doing research, I
was told lobsters can be any color
depending on the depth of the
water, but being that we can only
dive so deep, there’s things in the
ocean that nobody’s seen. We talked
about mixing colors, it was like
kindergarten 101. We did purple
based on red and blue being the
fi rst two, and green based on yellow
mixed with blue.”
ABOUT THE GIANT FOAM CLAWS
“Pepsi did blue Styrofoam lobster
claws for [the release of the ‘Blue
Lobster’]. They called us at the 25th
hour and were like, ‘We want to do
something for you guys. What if we
do foam lobster claws with Pepsi
on it?’ It had nothing to do with the
project, no contract was exchanged,
but I was like, ‘Come drop o� Pepsi
for kids on line and you’ve got a deal.’
I still want one, I never got one.”
From left: “Red Lobster,” “Yellow Lobster” and
“Blue Lobster” Concepts x Nike Dunk SBs
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TARA MCRAECHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, CLARKSHow they inspire me:“[The sta� ] are always fashionable, knowledgeable about their brands and the culture in general, and never too cool to help. These qualities are instilled into the team directly from the leadership of founder and CEO Tarek Hassan, who has gone out of his way on many occasions to befriend and mentor young people in the industry.”Lessons others can learn from Concepts: “There are countless examples of retailers who, when given the opportunity to grow, lost a sense of their identity. Concepts’ authenticity as a brand that supports skate culture has always been paramount to who they are, and you can see that in their retail footprint to this day. And while they have evolved to carry a variety of brands, including those in the luxury space, there is always an element of the fun and counterculture that goes hand in hand with that skate heritage.” Favorite personal memory: “I was down at their shop on a release day with my kids to shop and show them the recent Clarks drops that Concepts had. To see this buzz that I grew up on with my kids was super exciting. Now they are hooked. ‘Can we go back to Concepts?’”
RUSTY HALLCEO, MEPHISTO USABiggest point of di� erence: “Concepts continues to stretch the boundaries for fashion and function. They are uniquely unique.”How they inspire me: “Tarek leads by example and
the brand leads the industry in much the same way.” Lessons others can learn from Concepts: “How to think out of the box. From design to delivery to the consumer, they think outside the box.”
ARI UOLDE-MARIAMSALES MANAGER, ONBiggest point of di� erence: “Concepts has always been the leader in product storytelling within the industry. Everything from the packaging to the minute details, they’ve always found a way to present compelling stories to consumers in an authentic way that ties back to the retailer’s values and DNA. They’ve never been shy about showcasing their foundations in sport and, most importantly, being a champion for Boston.”Lessons others can learn from Concepts: “Never lose sight of the importance of storytelling. There are far too many product collaborations with a lack of total consideration. Take a page out of the Concepts playbook and focus on every aspect and detail of a project.”Favorite personal memory: “I spent a few years living in Boston and the Concepts team always made me feel welcome in their city. Though our early interactions were of a professional nature, we quickly became friends and I felt like I was part of their local community. They are truly a Boston establishment and look to welcome everyone into their world.”
SEAN MCDOWELLSENIOR VP OF GLOBAL PRODUCT, SPERRYBiggest point of di� erence: “We absolutely love working with the Concepts team. They respect our 80+ years of heritage, but they are always looking for a way to give it a modern twist. They push us to challenge the status quo, to present new ideas in fresh and relevant ways.
How they inspire me:“Tarek Hassan and Deon Point are some of the best footwear professionals in the industry. They have an excellent sense of style and their experience in launching world class product is phenomenal. They have an eye for color and materials that is second to none. I always love visiting Concepts retail door on Newbury Street in Boston. They focus on beautiful displays, allowing clean space between projects almost like a museum.Favorite personal memory: “I was fl ipping through my Instagram in the fall and saw Deon throwing out the fi rst pitch at the Boston Red Sox game. Pretty incredible! I mean who lives like that?”
JOE SPIESVP OF NORTH AMERICAN WHOLESALE, CONVERSEBiggest point of di� erence: “What sets Concepts apart is their storytelling. They are
second to none in crafting and delivering compelling retail stories with range. In their presentations, we’ve seen them capture the spirit of our core Chuck Taylor All Stars and we’ve also seen them create unique environments for our limited-edition drops. Concepts knows how to create a customer journey and build a world that provides a look inside the Converse universe.”Lessons others can learn from Concepts: “Concepts is the kind of retailer where each consumer can engage with Converse on their own terms no matter where
they are in their life journey. Concepts knows how to stretch the imagination of its consumers and they show that execution can be purposeful and intentional but also fun.”
FELIX ZAHNDIRECTOR OF MERCHANDISE, PLANNING AND ALLOCATION, ECCO USALessons others can learn from Concepts: “Embrace where you are coming from and stick to your roots, while at the same time challenge the status quo and try the unexpected. There is also a pleasant way of working and collaborating with the Concepts team. You rarely meet people who are this
respectful and humble, despite all the success they are having.” Favorite personal memory: “I have to go back 12 years here. I had just moved to the U.S. from Europe and started to work for Ecco USA. My first customer visit was going down to Boston to meet a guy named Tarek. I was obviously super nervous. At the same time, I was very impressed with the Concepts store in Cambridge and their outstanding merchandise. Since this visit, we’ve have developed a good friendship.”
CONCEPTS BRAND
PARTNERS REVEAL
THE SECRETS TO ITS
CONTINUING SUCCESS,
FROM INNOVATIVE
DESIGN AND
MERCHANDISING
TO STANDOUT
CUSTOMER SERVICE.
BY TARA LARSON
CONCEPTS CONTINUES TO STRETCH THE BOUNDARIES FOR FASHION AND FUNCTION. THEY ARE UNIQUELY UNIQUE.— RUSTY HALLGO
OD W
ORDS
Brands and retailers seeking fresh perspectives on fashion, style-for-ward solutions, and some much-needed sunshine; can head out
west to Palm Springs for the debut of Fash-ionGo’s first in-person trade event – and the novel experience will be a strategic merging of the firm’s wholesale known-how with its robust digital community to breathe new life into the B2B market.
Held in conjunction with FashionGo Week Palm Springs on May 3-5 at the Palm Springs Convention Center and organized by FashionGo Events, the debut event marks the evolution of FashionGo from a strictly digital entity to a live, intelli-gently-interactive affair.
Established in 2002 in the heart of the Los Angeles Fashion District, FashionGo, a B2B wholesale online marketplace that fos-ters industry-wide connectivity and fash-ion-related opportunities. Part of NHN Global; FashionGo boasts an extensive list of vendors and an ever-growing community of retailers that engage with the firm’s solu-tions, service, and insightful industry data.
A strong focus on cultivating relation-ships and omnichannel retailing; the idea for FashionGo’s event is to blend physical and digital wholesale discovery and com-merce while broadening accessibility to the wholesale market – and with a robust qual-ity-vetted exhibitor list.
Here, Tom Nastos, FashionGo Events, talks to Fairchild Studio about cultivat-ing relationships, FashionGo’s commitment to local and wholesale communities, and what’s trending up in the wholesale market.
Fairchild Studio: Tell us about the
genesis of this show. What led to
FashionGo’s decision to evolve into an
in-person event?
Tom Nastos: B2B wholesale buying is evolving. Retailers have been adopting ‘fast-turn’ merchandising strategies to increase their sell-through and allow for the flexi-bility to purchase based upon immediate customer demand or market trend.
The market dynamic has only acceler-ated since the pandemic with digital whole-sale adoption vastly increasing. However, the need for retailers to see, touch, and feel prod-ucts remains a crucial part of the discovery journey, which can’t be replicated online.
FashionGo Events was launched with the purpose of meeting this market need, creat-ing frequent market access both online and in-person. FashionGo Week Palm Springs & New York will combine the creativ-ity, rich-experience, and sense of commu-nity, with the convenience, speed, the effi-ciency of powerful technology, and data driven tools. Integrating FashionGo’s digi-tal marketplace; streaming media, and live event opportunities into a seamless shop-ping experience.
FashionGo Events is focused on creating market access for all our customers to dis-cover, connect, and transact. By fusing the very best of online and offline shopping, we make it efficient, and convenient, for both retailers and brands to do business with one another, and securely purchase products.
Fairchild Studio: Why is this event
distinctive in the fashion market?
T.N.: Today’s rapid adoption of digital buy-ing behavior has severely disadvantaged tra-ditional tradeshows and physical markets. Many organizers have pivoted to digital offerings; however, none fully support seam-less end-to-end transactions, and market access that quickly fulfills open-to-buy, while replenishing inventory. Typically, retailers are provided brand lists and digital look-books of exhibitors prior to market that attendees can browse prior to the show.
FashionGo Week Palm Springs, our debut event; will offer retailers the ability to have a more digital, consumer-like interac-tion with brands and products. We will offer
the ability to browse, and explore online, the same as they would offline, within the FashionGo platform. Retailers can search and discover actual products – not brand-lists and categories – and can bookmark and favorite items they want to see in person.
To further support order placing and seamless transactions, at the event, retail-ers can use the FashionGo mobile app to securely purchase products immediately, while efficiently tracking their shipments directly to their stores.
Retailers will love discovering new and trending styles, with FashionGo’s innovative visual search technology tool Style Match+. Available on the mobile app, which will help them quickly find products both online and in-person; from brands like By Together, Polagram, and Le Lis. Style Match+ quickly finds similar style products based on an image from wherever inspiration strikes – the web, social media, or a favorite celebrity.
For those that cannot attend the event in person; FashionGo Week online will run concurrently with FashionGo Week Palm Springs. It will feature the same digital ben-efits, and promotions, with an emphasis on live streaming, and social selling.
Brands such as Maker’s Shoes, Lush, Fate, or even Wishlist will be able to connect with our vast online audience on our GoLive Streaming media channel, offering real-time chat, and shoppable collections.
We’re really excited to offer retailer’s exclusive access to our GoLive Social Selling Studio, à la Palm Springs style. Retailers can
invite their social media audiences on their onsite shopping journey, and they can easily find out what their customers want before even placing an order.
Fairchild Studio: In what ways does
FashionGo support the wholesale
community?
T.N.: As we all know; the industry has under-gone a major evolution. Brands and Retailers have been catapulted into a digital future. Responding to this, we’ve put a big empha-sis on understanding and providing the types of omnichannel market access the industry needs now and moving forward.
In addition to high quality market access, we also support our community with value added services that save them time and money. FashionGo Rewards programs that allow retailers to shop and earn points to save on future purchases. Services like Consolidated Shipping; whereby a retailer can purchase from multiple participating brands and receive their order in one single shipment. Those are real dollars going back into the pockets of our community, not to mention the time and convenience of track-ing one single shipment.
FashionGo supports buyers and sellers of all stages to shop smarter, sell more, and grow faster.
Fairchild Studio: How is FashionGo
bringing the local community to life?
T.N.: Palm Springs is an iconic destination – dare we say, a resort location. Folks want to go to a great destination. Palm Springs has already been branded as an “oasis.” It has so much to offer our community, espe-cially around health and wellness, including outdoor activities, a diverse range of dining experiences, shopping, and nightlife, at vari-ous price points to fit any budget.
We are working closely with Palm Springs to provide endless offerings and opportunities to our attendees. We want them to curate their own journey, whether with family, friends, or business partners – there’s something for everyone. Our inten-tion is for it to be immersive and inclusive. Local businesses are also a focus, and we want to support them.
Fairchild Studio: What’s next for
FashionGo Events?
T.N.: We are making data driven deci-sions on expanding to new locations; we will be expanding to New York this upcoming November 7-9. As we grow the live events, expect new approaches to the discovery pro-cess using our platform.
We’re strategically working with brands to provide protective market exclusivity – especially for distribution.
FashionGo will debut its first in-person omnichannel B2B wholesale fashion event in the ever-stylish mountain town of Palm Springs.
Wholesale Fashion Redefined
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FashionGo Week Palm Springs, will offer retailers the ability to have a more digital, consumer-like interaction with brands and products.
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OOFOS discusses its OOfoam™ performance absorbent technology and trendsetting role in the recovery segment.
Footwear Forecast: The Future is Foam
Shrewd brands and retailers are already riding the wellness wave – but companies such as OOFOS, a recovery footwear brand, are a
standout in the segment for their technology that delivers a gratifyingly effectual experi-ence for the wearer.
Distinguished for its proprietary perfor-mance absorbent technology that cocoons the contours of a foot, OOFOS told FN that its footwear indeed possesses wholly unconventional properties. “Our propri-etary OOfoam™ technology is what makes the experience of our products so indescrib-able and separates OOFOS from other per-formance and cushioned footwear.”
“OOfoam™ del ivers enhanced impact-absorbing properties that have been
shown in studies to reduce load, more effec-tively distribute pressure and alleviate stresses on the body – helping aid in recovery and eliminate asymmetry and imbalance.”
Considered by some to be a new cate-gory in footwear, the recovery sector includes well-cushioned shoes embedded with tech-nical support, alongside other advantageous performance qualities. OOFOS’s technol-ogy absorbs 37 percent more impact than traditional foam footwear, positioning it as a prime choice for professional athletes, physical therapists and medical practitioners seeking products that alleviate stress on feet and joints.
“Technology is the thing that makes OOFOS different from other ‘comfortable’ footwear and elevates us to a scientifically
proven recovery solution. It’s this technol-ogy that provides the perfect combination of soft and stable, enabling the feet & body to move more optimally – like it would on a soft, natural surface such as grass. It’s not just soft, it’s OOfoam™ and it’s only from OOFOS,” the brand said.
REIMAGINING RECOVERYThe only way to understand OOFOS’s
unique performance qualities is to put them to the test, according to Arnie Kander, a physical therapist and strength and condi-tioning coach in the NBA, namely for the Detroit Pistons and “Bad Boys of Detroit”.
“In the sports world, any competitive edge – whether its one percent or more – is significant! We are always looking for the
various things that can support those gains and often do not share this with the compet-itors to keep that edge to ourselves,” Kander told FN. “I really feel that OOFOS could be a game changer to not just high-level athletes, but anyone who slides them on their feet.”
Kander explained that in the sports sphere, it is common to see similar modal-ities and concepts in strength, balance, power, movement, and other aspects of per-formance. “Even in recovery, most every-body uses compression, stretching, soft tissue and fascial work, cryotherapy, acupuncture, infrared technology, and other modalities. One of the most missed concepts is what do we do to recover throughout the day. OOFOS helps to address this by creating
the perfect shoe to assist with reducing the inflammatory burden as we are moving or standing which is one of the keys to opti-mize recovery.”
And OOFOS has been dedicated to the recovery cause since its inception, and its roots enable the brand to be uniquely posi-tioned to lead recovery footwear innovation and trends in the sports performance space.
“OOFOS has been focused solely on recovery since the start when we launched The OOriginal – recovery footwear. Using a combination of our proprietary technology – specifically designed to support recovery – and combining it with a patented foot-bed design that maximizes the properties of OOfoam™, we laid the foundation for the broadest line of recovery footwear avail-able,” the brand told FN.
Podiatrist and marathon runner Timo-thy Karthas, DPM, told FN that after trying hundreds of different shoes and sandals for recovery, OOFOS’s footwear were the only shoes he didn’t want to take off. “[OOFOS’s shoes] improved areas of chronic pain in my feet and ankles almost immediately. To this day, whether it is after exercising or just walking at home on hardwood floors, I’m hardly ever without a pair on my feet.”
And all this is due to the level of comfort that comes from the “combination of struc-ture and cushioning that just feels good on tired and always injured feet like mine,” he explained, adding that in the recovery space, “there isn’t another sandal or shoe brand with this level of comfort and support, but what makes the OOFOS brand truly stand out is their determination to both improve and back up their products with research.”
STRIKING A BALANCETechnically speaking, according to Kar-
thas, accelerated recovery outcomes from OOFOS’s footwear is due to the elevated arch that is apparent when the shoes are first put on. “This allows for reduced pressure in the ball of the foot and the heel where injuries are common. It also helps to reduce excess motion and strain on the large ten-dons that help to stabilize the foot and ankle. After vigorous exercise, the muscles become fatigued, resulting in asymmetries and imbalances in gait and posture that can result in injury,” he said.
“By improving stability by design through arch support and a slight heel cup to stabilize the heel, the muscles are given less work to do which helps them recover
more quickly and lead to less injury.” Kar-thas added that the material itself – its OOfoam™ that is “a perfect combina-tion of feeling cushioned, but also stable” – allows for greater surface area of contact with the foot through cushioning while still holding its structure and preventing excess movement. “The result is more even pres-sure distribution and less stress to the joints and muscles, which can translate to better injury resistance and faster recovery.”
The brand noted that its unwavering consistency has allowed it to receive certi-fications such as the APMA seal of Accep-tance across every product and be adopted by medical professionals, high-performing athletes, and artists such as NFL veteran Alex Smith; Olympic Gold-Medalist/World Ski Champion Ashley Caldwell; Professional Triathlete Matt Russell; Boston Ballet Prin-cipal Dancer Chyrstyn Fentroy; and Bas-ketball legend Dawn Staley, among many others.
OOFOS told FN, “With our consistent approach of using the same footbed and OOfoam™ technology in every design – from sandals to clogs to boots and slippers – we are able to bring recovery into anyone’s life(style) with a proven solution.”
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P O W E R E D B Y
OOFOS discusses its OOfoam™ performance absorbent technology and trendsetting role in the recovery segment.
Footwear Forecast: The Future is Foam
Shrewd brands and retailers are already riding the wellness wave – but companies such as OOFOS, a recovery footwear brand, are a
standout in the segment for their technology that delivers a gratifyingly effectual experi-ence for the wearer.
Distinguished for its proprietary perfor-mance absorbent technology that cocoons the contours of a foot, OOFOS told FN that its footwear indeed possesses wholly unconventional properties. “Our propri-etary OOfoam™ technology is what makes the experience of our products so indescrib-able and separates OOFOS from other per-formance and cushioned footwear.”
“OOfoam™ del ivers enhanced impact-absorbing properties that have been
shown in studies to reduce load, more effec-tively distribute pressure and alleviate stresses on the body – helping aid in recovery and eliminate asymmetry and imbalance.”
Considered by some to be a new cate-gory in footwear, the recovery sector includes well-cushioned shoes embedded with tech-nical support, alongside other advantageous performance qualities. OOFOS’s technol-ogy absorbs 37 percent more impact than traditional foam footwear, positioning it as a prime choice for professional athletes, physical therapists and medical practitioners seeking products that alleviate stress on feet and joints.
“Technology is the thing that makes OOFOS different from other ‘comfortable’ footwear and elevates us to a scientifically
proven recovery solution. It’s this technol-ogy that provides the perfect combination of soft and stable, enabling the feet & body to move more optimally – like it would on a soft, natural surface such as grass. It’s not just soft, it’s OOfoam™ and it’s only from OOFOS,” the brand said.
REIMAGINING RECOVERYThe only way to understand OOFOS’s
unique performance qualities is to put them to the test, according to Arnie Kander, a physical therapist and strength and condi-tioning coach in the NBA, namely for the Detroit Pistons and “Bad Boys of Detroit”.
“In the sports world, any competitive edge – whether its one percent or more – is significant! We are always looking for the
various things that can support those gains and often do not share this with the compet-itors to keep that edge to ourselves,” Kander told FN. “I really feel that OOFOS could be a game changer to not just high-level athletes, but anyone who slides them on their feet.”
Kander explained that in the sports sphere, it is common to see similar modal-ities and concepts in strength, balance, power, movement, and other aspects of per-formance. “Even in recovery, most every-body uses compression, stretching, soft tissue and fascial work, cryotherapy, acupuncture, infrared technology, and other modalities. One of the most missed concepts is what do we do to recover throughout the day. OOFOS helps to address this by creating
the perfect shoe to assist with reducing the inflammatory burden as we are moving or standing which is one of the keys to opti-mize recovery.”
And OOFOS has been dedicated to the recovery cause since its inception, and its roots enable the brand to be uniquely posi-tioned to lead recovery footwear innovation and trends in the sports performance space.
“OOFOS has been focused solely on recovery since the start when we launched The OOriginal – recovery footwear. Using a combination of our proprietary technology – specifically designed to support recovery – and combining it with a patented foot-bed design that maximizes the properties of OOfoam™, we laid the foundation for the broadest line of recovery footwear avail-able,” the brand told FN.
Podiatrist and marathon runner Timo-thy Karthas, DPM, told FN that after trying hundreds of different shoes and sandals for recovery, OOFOS’s footwear were the only shoes he didn’t want to take off. “[OOFOS’s shoes] improved areas of chronic pain in my feet and ankles almost immediately. To this day, whether it is after exercising or just walking at home on hardwood floors, I’m hardly ever without a pair on my feet.”
And all this is due to the level of comfort that comes from the “combination of struc-ture and cushioning that just feels good on tired and always injured feet like mine,” he explained, adding that in the recovery space, “there isn’t another sandal or shoe brand with this level of comfort and support, but what makes the OOFOS brand truly stand out is their determination to both improve and back up their products with research.”
STRIKING A BALANCETechnically speaking, according to Kar-
thas, accelerated recovery outcomes from OOFOS’s footwear is due to the elevated arch that is apparent when the shoes are first put on. “This allows for reduced pressure in the ball of the foot and the heel where injuries are common. It also helps to reduce excess motion and strain on the large ten-dons that help to stabilize the foot and ankle. After vigorous exercise, the muscles become fatigued, resulting in asymmetries and imbalances in gait and posture that can result in injury,” he said.
“By improving stability by design through arch support and a slight heel cup to stabilize the heel, the muscles are given less work to do which helps them recover
more quickly and lead to less injury.” Kar-thas added that the material itself – its OOfoam™ that is “a perfect combina-tion of feeling cushioned, but also stable” – allows for greater surface area of contact with the foot through cushioning while still holding its structure and preventing excess movement. “The result is more even pres-sure distribution and less stress to the joints and muscles, which can translate to better injury resistance and faster recovery.”
The brand noted that its unwavering consistency has allowed it to receive certi-fications such as the APMA seal of Accep-tance across every product and be adopted by medical professionals, high-performing athletes, and artists such as NFL veteran Alex Smith; Olympic Gold-Medalist/World Ski Champion Ashley Caldwell; Professional Triathlete Matt Russell; Boston Ballet Prin-cipal Dancer Chyrstyn Fentroy; and Bas-ketball legend Dawn Staley, among many others.
OOFOS told FN, “With our consistent approach of using the same footbed and OOfoam™ technology in every design – from sandals to clogs to boots and slippers – we are able to bring recovery into anyone’s life(style) with a proven solution.”
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ST Y L E D I R E CTO R S H A N N O N A D D U C C I
P H OTO G R A P H S BY J O S H U A S C O T T
E D I TO R I A L AS S I STA N TTA R A L A R S O N
AS EVERYDAY LIFE CONTINUES TO REINVENT ITSELF, THE UBIQUITOUS LEGGING REMAINS THE SINGULAR ITEM TO TRANSCEND WORK AND PLAY, SPORT AND LOUNGE — AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.
CALZEDONIA active leggings withJIMMY CHOO Saeda suede pumps with crystal ankle detail
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P.E. NATION houndstooth bike
shorts with LOUIS VUITTON Archlight
sneakers, ALO YOGA socks and MARIA LA
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PAR
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TORY BURCH high-rise Sculpt chevron leggings with NIKE Air Zoom SuperRep 2 trainers and MARIA LA ROSA mesh socks
SPLITS59 Janis high-waist Techflex color-block leggings with CHLOÉ Nama embroidered sneakers
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NIKE Dri-Fit One luxe buckle leggings and crew socks with DOLCE & GABBANA mixed-material Space sneakers and JENNIFER FISHER chain-link anklets
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LEMON faux fur-lined leggings with BY FAR Freya
mule and mini bag and JENNIFER FISHER chain-
link cuff and brass ring
S H O E T O K N OW 47
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Q & A 48 O F F I C E V I S I T 50 U P C L O S E 51 F I R S T L O O K 52 B U Z Z 53 CAS E S T U DY 54 F I V E Q S 55 S P O T L I G H T 56
WHAT TO EXPECT Ryka conceives a shoe collection made for
expectant moms. 52
GO ALL OUT Why recovery brand Oofos is making a play for the outdoor market. 48
For the launch of its much-anticipated footwear collection, Lululemon took a women-focused approach. The activewear brand relied on measurement data and foot scans to o� er a shoe specifi cally designed for the female foot instead of adapting existing men’s styles. The collection kicks o� with the women’s Blissfeel running shoe, available for purchase March 22. Two more training shoes, the Chargefeel (pictured) and Strongfeel, plus a slide for recovery, the Restfeel, will also launch later in the year, followed by men’s footwear in 2023.
LADIES FIRST
47
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L I S T
Recovery footwear is having a
moment, and few companies are
capitalizing like Oofos.
Since COVID-19 hit stateside, the
brand has tapped former NFL stars
Deion Sanders and Alex Smith as
ambassadors and delivered several
silhouettes for people seeking
recovery and comfort.
One recent new style is the
OOcandoo, a closed-toe look made
for the outdoor adventurer, another
consumer group that grew as a result
of COVID.
Oofos president Steve Gallo
told FN its foray into the outdoor
market grew from customer demand.
“We’ve seen an explosion of people
getting outside to experience the
environment, with COVID getting
people who want to exercise more
and want to hike. We’ve had a
lot of people that are asking for a
product that they can wear in that
environment,” he said.
Gallo added that interest in
recovery shoes ignited during the
pandemic due to the stresses of life
and people working from home.
But it continues to gain steam for
many reasons. “People are starting to
understand the concept of recovery,
what it means in your life,” he said.
“The defi nition around it for footwear
and relaxation [is] I want to stay at
my best to keep doing the things I
love at the level I want to do them at.”
The brand is also making
inroads with new retail channels.
“We interact with other stores and
get feedback on what’s doing well,
and by far they all say, ‘You need to
have Oofos,’” said Bekah Metzdorff,
co-owner of specialty run stores
Mill City Running and Saint City
Running, which started carrying
Oofos mid-February. “For us, it’s
about serving the customer, and if
people love them and want more,
then we’ll carry more.”
Here, Gallo talks about
maintaining momentum amid
challenges.
How do you ensure people are still seeking Oofos as COVID restrictions loosen and a sense of normalcy returns?SG: “The answer is we’re more than
comfort. We’re recovery. We have
a licensed proprietary technology
called OOfoam that we keep under
lock and key. What that provides the
consumer is beyond comfort.”
How has the supply chain backlog impacted Oofos?SG: “Like most people, we missed
sales through the summer months,
but we’re in very good shape. We’re
fortunate our factory in Vietnam
did not shut down 100%. It was 50%
capacity, so we still had products
coming in. One thing with the port
congestion, transit time from our
factory to our warehouse in the U.S.
has been a big challenge. But our
operations team has done a great job
working with different folks. And like
many, we’ve had to air freight some
product in. We’re a small company,
so it can certainly get expensive, but
it’s helped us a lot.”
Oofos has signed Deion Sanders and Alex Smith, as well as women’s college basketball coach Dawn Staley. What do you look for in an ambassador?SG: “Those relationships with Alex
and Deion are authentic. They
found the product, they utilized the
product — Alex during his recovery,
he had a tough injury to deal with,
and then Deion the same thing, he
had multiple surgeries on his feet
and loved what the product provided
him. Authenticity is a key value in
our company and we make sure the
people who work with us from an
ambassadorship perspective believe
in the product. We also have Dawn
Staley, the South Carolina basketball
coach. She’s another one who found
Oofos. I love when she tells the story
about how she has Oofos in her car
and Oofos in her foyer, under the
desk in her offi ce. The other one who
works with us is Guy Fieri.”
Aside from the OOcandoo, what other styles are slated for 2022?SG: “[In January, we launched] an
indoor winter slipper called the
OOcoozie. We [heard] people saying,
‘My feet get cold in the winter
wearing your sandals in my house,’
so we developed the fl eece upper.
There’s a mule and a slip-on. We
recently launched the OOcoozie Low,
one of our most consumer-requested
products to date. It’s an indoor/
outdoor slip-on that pairs soft sherpa
uppers with our OOfoam footbed.
This spring, we will launch a men’s
and women’s mule version. We are
continuing to expand the recovery
footwear category with new styles
that bring functional footwear into all
the places our customers need [it].”
What is still missing from the Oofos product assortment?SG: “We’re going to focus more on
sport-oriented models. We’ve got
plenty of product, there’s a lot of
momentum in closed-toe product,
like the OOmg eeZE and those type
of shoes. We get a lot of people that
say, ‘I’ve heard great things about
your brand, do you have a shoe?’
so people are starting to gravitate
toward that. We’re updating colors
and so forth. We’ve also got a
winter recovery boot called the
OObootie. Those are coming back in
stock and we’re excited about that
as well.”
Q & A
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Why Oofos president Steve Gallo wants to venture into the outdoor market.By Peter Verry
LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
Steve Gallo
The new OOcandoo for outdoor adventurers
DIGITAL EVENTS
FAIRCHILD MEDIA GROUP
MARCH 16, 2:30PM ET
REGIS TER TODAY:
WEBINAR
How Athletic Footwear Brands are Leading with Customer-First Technologies
P R E S E N T E D B Y
Footwear’s Future is Digital:
There’s no question that digital is driving the heat in the athletic space — from product to marketing and from online to in-store.
With every brand and retailer racing to keep up with the latest technology, what are the most important areas to focus on in 2022? How do you make sure your message resonates with consumers at all touchpoints?
Our group of brand leaders and experts will give the tools to help navigate the year ahead. Topics include:
■ How digital tech evolution helped the athletic industry thrive during the pandemic and the biggest ways companies and brands evolved their tech platforms during this critical time
■ How brands and retailers are using automation, personalization and predictive analytics to improve customer experience
■ Why mobile should be the biggest focus going forward to maintain consistent messaging, from email to social to in store
MODERATOR:
Shoshy CimentBusiness EditorFN
Audra BeutlerCRM and Email Marketing ManagerBrooks Running
Monica DeretichRetail Industry AdvisorSailthru
Kat HachmeyerDirector of Growth MarketingFila North America
FEATURING:
For assistance or attendee questions, please contact Abbie Baron at [email protected]
FN_Webinar_Sailthru.forFN.indd 1 3/8/22 5:40 PMUntitled-1 1 3/9/22 1:19 PM
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O F F I C E V I S I T
Ecco USA president and CEO Tom Berry
The light-fi lled showroom space
The architect was Shea Inc. and the
contractor was Salt Construction
The Ecco studio was designed in-house
Brooklyn has a new resident.
Danish footwear brand Ecco has
unveiled an offi ce and showroom
in the redeveloped Brooklyn Navy
Yard, an industrial complex that
has become a technology and
manufacturing hub.
The modern, light-fi lled Ecco
Studio at Brooklyn Navy Yard was
completed at the end of 2021 and is
now the home base for members of
Ecco’s design and development team,
as well as its new U.S. president
and CEO, Tom Berry, who joined
in January.
“We’re dramatically increasing
our footprint in Brooklyn to get more
serious about the U.S. marketplace
— and also because Brooklyn is a
global leading market,” said Berry, an
industry veteran who previously has
worked with Levi’s, Tecnica, Salomon
and The North Face.
The brand is also adding a
“consumer center of excellence” in
the building in the next six months.
Those teams will be focused
on Ecco’s direct-to-consumer and
e-commerce operations, as well as
sales, marketing and PR. “We want
to make sure we bring a strong
consumer point of view, and
the best way to do that is by getting
much closer to the consumer,” said
the CEO.
Berry also emphasized the
advantages for recruitment and the
ability to tap into Brooklyn’s young
and more diverse talent pool. And
by having a presence in New York,
Ecco will have greater access to retail
buyers and potential collaborators.
In addition to its global
headquarters in Denmark, Ecco will
continue to maintain its offi ces in
Londonderry, N.H. Berry said the
addition of the Brooklyn location
is part of a hybrid business model,
which will allow employees more
fl exibility in their work locations.
HELLO BROOKLYNAs Ecco puts down roots in the New York borough, a look inside its new studio and showroom. By Jennie Bell
OFFICE VISIT
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Since husband-and-wife Jeremy and
Lila Stewart founded Hari Mari a
decade ago, the couple have steadily
grown their Dallas-based fl ip-fl op
brand by expanding fi rst into casual
sandals, then closed-toe footwear
and in 2021 they launched an
apparel line.
Now with Hari Mari’s spring ’22
collection, the brand has kicked o�
a new sustainable category, HM Eco.
Its debut style, the Sonoros for men
and women, boasts a vegan leather
upper made from cactus fi bers, as
well as a recycled rubber outsole and
recycled EVA cushioning. It launched
this month online and with key retail
partners, retailing for $75.
“The cool thing about this [upper]
material — as it pertains to fl ip-
fl ops — is obviously a cactus can
withstand heat,” said Lila Stewart.
“It can withstand water and all the
things that you’d want in a fl ip-fl op.”
Stewart said the leather
alternative was developed by a
company in Mexico that Hari Mari
met through its factory in León. The
material is made from Nopal cactus
(best known as prickly pear), and
the fi bers are harvested only from
mature leaves without damaging the
plant itself.
“When we started our company 10
years, this kind of stu� didn’t exist,”
said Stewart. “It’s fun to think what
could continue to change in this
category. And we want to continue to
push the envelope and o� er products
that are sustainable.”
Stewart said Hari Mari has been
in heavy growth mode the past
two years, seeing major gains in its
digital business. And recently the
brand has added more retailers to its
roster, including new partners Urban
Outfi tters, Evereve and Orvis.
To help manage growth, Hari Mari
hired Jake Szczepanski as president
in January 2021, the former co-
founder and CEO of Billy Reid.
Szczepanski is tasked with scaling its
internal operations and supply chain.
He’s also spearheading Hari Mari’s
apparel collection and oversees its
brick-and-mortar retail strategy.
In May 2021, Hari Mari launched
its fi rst fl agship in Dallas’ recently
revived Knox District. Stewart said
more store openings could be on the
horizon, in cities like Charleston or
Nashville, but the rollout would be
slow. “We don’t have the desire to
open hundreds or even dozens of
stores, that’s not on our agenda,”
she said.
L I S TU P C L O S E
The desert provided a key ingredient for Hari Mari’s new product expansion. By Jennie Bell
The eco-friendly Sonoros fl ip-fl op
TURN UPTHE HEAT
UP CLOSE
The Texas-based brand turns 10
this year
TWO TEN SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS
ARE NOW OPEN150
TWO TEN SCHOLARS$614,000
IN SCHOLARSHIPS
TWOTEN.ORG/SCHOLARSHIPSTo complete an application To learn about our current Two Ten scholars
TWOTEN.ORG/CURRENT-SCHOLARS
across 32 states to footwear employees and their families
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L I S T
FIRSTLOOK
L I S TL I S T
Ryka is living up to its mantra of “made for
women.” The athletic label, a division of
Caleres, is launching the fi rst maternity shoe
collection, called Xpectfi t, set to hit stores in time
for Mother’s Day. It consists of three styles:
the Love Life sneaker and Laid Back mule for everyday wear and the
Lovable sneaker for more active moms to be. All
the shoes are equipped with OrthoLite foam
insoles and the brand’s proprietary Rezorb-
Lite cushioning, as well as high-traction rubber
outsoles. But most importantly, the
styles are designed to adjust along with a
woman’s changing feet. — Jennie Bell
F I R S T L O O K
RYKA XPECTFIT
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TARGET CONSUMER: PREGNANT WOMEN
PRICE RANGE: $100-$120LAUNCH DATE: MAY 2022
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T H E B U Z Z
T E A M I N G U PKane Footwear has released its fi rst collaborative design. The 1-year-old active recovery shoe brand tapped fi tness lifestyle infl uencer and founder of HPL Training Brian Mazza to create his own version of its signa-ture Revive sneaker. Mazza’s colorway sees the style in earth tones, a nod to Mazza’s need to get back to the root of who he is as a person. And on the sole of the shoe is a logo featuring Mazza’s motto, “Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes,” which acts as an accountability check each time you put on the shoe, Mazza said. The fi tness guru start-ed working with Kane three months before its o� cial launch last year. Meanwhile, the brand also inked a sponsorship deal last month with Hilary Knight of the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team, who took home her fourth Olympic medal from the Winter Games in Beijing.
O P E N S E A S O NVionic is introducing two new recovery san-dals for men and women, set to hit shelves in mid-May. The styles include the Rejuvenate, a
slide with an adjustable upper that comes in four colors; and the Restore, a thong sandal o� ered in fi ve colors. Both will retail for $80 and are equipped with Vionic’s Three-Zone Comfort system that provides stability, arch support and cushioning in order to deliver natural alignment. The sandals are meant to serve a range of recovery needs, including after sports, post surgery or following any taxing activity. The sandals are targeted to the brand’s current retailers.
B L E N D I N G I NHoka One One has given its popular all-gender Ora recovery slide a camouflage update. A trio of camo colorways launched online this spring in black, white and dune/oxford tan. The sandal, retailing for $50, is built with a dual-layer construction featur-ing a soft EVA top layer for instant comfort and a durable oversized midsole/outsole, as well as the brand’s early-stage Meta-
Rocker innovation to offer the wearer a smooth ride. Also, Hoka added strategic groove placement, meant to provide both comfort and traction.
THE BUZZ
Vionic’s Rejuvenate recovery slide
Brian Mazza models his Kane shoe collab
Hoka One One camo-print sandals
For sponsorship opportunities contact [email protected]
Monday, June 6 pier sixty, NYC
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When Glenn Barrett founded his
OrthoLite insole company in 1997,
the inside of a shoe was “a hot
and smelly and sweaty place,” the
CEO recalled recently to FN.
“I was introduced to a new
material by a chemist in Taiwan —
an open-cell breathable PU foam that
wicks moisture and we put anti-
microbial [features] in it. I fi gured
this is an absolute natural to make
it to be an insole,” Barrett told FN
about the company’s origins.
His gamble has certainly paid
off. OrthoLite now supplies footwear
insoles to more than 350 brands,
from athletic giants like Nike and
Adidas to fashion players such
as Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole and
Sam Edelman. And its business
continues to grow amid the market-
wide shift toward sneakers and
comfort-focused footwear.
Throughout the fi rm’s two-and-a-
half decades, Barrett said innovation
and sustainability have been two
pillars of his strategy, illustrated
by OrthoLite’s decision in 2008
to manufacture its own material
formulations and by its move
at the start to incorporate recycled
rubber in its products.
This month, the company took
a major next step on both fronts
by launching Cirql, an eco-friendly
midsole foam that the company says
is biodegradable, recyclable and
industrially compostable. “Cirql is the
world’s fi rst true soil-to-soil solution
for footwear,” said Barrett during a
press conference this month.
The foam — which will be
manufactured in the company’s
new Cirql factory in Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam — is made
from a biopolymer that has never
been used before in footwear.
According to Rob Falken, VP of
innovation at OrthoLite, it is
“made from responsibly sourced,
GMO-free plants and other
biodegradable materials, which is
then formed in a chemical-free, zero-
waste process with no curing.”
He added that unlike traditional
EVA foams, which contain 10 to
15 ingredients, Cirql is a “mono
material” foam with a single
bio-based ingredient. “EVA foams
have very little, if any, option for
end-of-life for several reasons, but
chiefl y among them is because they
are chemically cross-linked during
their manufacture, and those many
ingredients cannot be separated once
foam,” said Falken.
By contrast, he explained,
Cirql foam can be ground up and
recycled to make new midsoles
without any degradation to the
quality of the material.
Andy Polk, SVP at the Footwear
Distributors and Retailers
Association, said the need for
such innovation is paramount. He
estimates that 427.5 million pairs
of shoes are thrown into landfi lls
each year. “Those shoes are full of
plastics and materials that don’t
really degrade and cause greater
environmental harm for decades
to centuries. If we can start to use
materials that can safely degrade
and create a net positive for the
environment — that is a huge win
for our industry, consumers and
the Earth,” said Polk.
He added, “If [OrthoLite’s foam]
can be reused indefi nitely with the
same performance, that is mind-
blowing — that is getting us to
actual circularity.”
According to OrthoLite, its
technology can be used to create
midsoles for any type of footwear.
The company hopes to begin
collaborating now with brands and
tier-1 factories with the goal to start
product development in 2023.
Matt Smith, GM and VP of Cirql,
who will lead the new division out of
Vietnam, said the facility currently
has the capacity to produce 150,000
pairs of midsoles per month, or 1.8
million pairs per year. “We have
room to scale up capacity on-site,”
he added. “And the partners that
build our machinery have capacity to
produce enough machines to reach
an additional 20 million-plus pairs
within a year.”
During his presentation, Barrett
noted that partners have been asking
for years why OrthoLite — with all its
expertise in foam for insoles — didn’t
make midsoles or other cushioning
components. “If we were going
to introduce our fi rst midsole foam,
we were going to do it right,” he
said. “OrthoLite Cirql delivers on our
impeccable standards for comfort,
performance and sustainability.
And by focusing on an end-of-life
solution, it brings a truly sustainable
footwear future within reach.”
C A S E S T U D YL I S T
OrthoLite aims to solve the footwear industry’s big waste problem with its fi rst midsole technology. By Jennie Bell
BACK TO THE EARTH
CASESTUDY
FDRA estimates 427.5 million pairs
of shoes go into landfi lls each year
Glenn Barrett
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5 Q S L I S T
The director of product and energy at K-Swiss breaks down the brand’s collab push for this year. By Peter Verry
FIVE QS08
SCOTT BOULTON01 What is the K-Swiss collaboration strategy for 2022?“K-Swiss has been a sleeping giant for so long. The strategy is to educate the consumer. Collabs are key for brand elevation and reaching our target consumer. Brand collaborations utilizing key partners will help us engage and connect through the clean executions of our products. That will build our trend equity.”
02 What would mark success in the greater sneaker landscape this year?“Becoming more visible in that top-tier distribution. That is my goal because whilst dropping collaborations, I also want to have a presence 365 days a year. Collabs are in and they’re out, they educate the consumers, but then underpinning that is a true top-tier collection that these stores can hold from K-Swiss 365 days a year.”
03 What gives you confi dence that today’s sneaker consumer — who buys from a small group of major brands — will buy K-Swiss?“I believe we have some true iconic models — not just one, we have a plethora of models, which we can bring out and we can have a full rollout program. That will then cascade down to the mass market. We’re moving into a world that is more personalization, customization, and the consumer is starting now to look outside
of the big brands. They want something di� erent, they want something unique. That’s why customization, personalization is becoming such a big part of not just sneaker culture, but also of the fashion landscape. As consumers look outside of the big brands, K-Swiss will be a true heritage viable option for that for that consumer.”
04 Where do you have the strongest following today?“Currently, it would be on the West Coast. K-Swiss is a California classic brand since 1966, and now we’re starting to look back but look forward. We really need to start to build our trend equity again. That’s my goal, to start to build [that] across the globe. Currently, our hotbeds would be L.A. because it’s our backyard, but we’ve also got touch points in Chicago, New York and Miami.”
05 What markets are you targeting this year?“We’ll be targeting three macro markets. One will be New York, one will be Chicago because we will return to Leaders 1354 again at the back end of the year, and also Stadium Goods. And then we’ll look to bolster with some more localized collabs in the L.A. area.”
K-Swiss’ fi rst collab of 2022
was with retailer Leaders 1354
Our corporate donors generously support our mission
to ensure we can continue taking care of our industry.
THANK YOU
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56
The fi rst home of Stadium Goods is
now a bit larger.
Since 2015, Stadium Goods has
maintained a presence in New York
City’s SoHo neighborhood, occupying
space at 47 Howard St. Last month,
it opened the doors of its renovated
storefront, which includes a new en-
trance at 305 Canal St., allowing for
a continuous fl ow of consumer traffi c
from street to street. (When Stadium
Goods debuted, the 305 Canal en-
trance was home to its market center
for sellers. That moved to 307 Canal
two years ago.)
Its SoHo store now encompasses
2,860 square feet of retail space.
The expansion of Stadium Goods
— which has quickly become a des-
tination for many hard-core sneaker
fans to secure coveted styles — comes
amid a boom in the sneaker resale
business, which Cowen forecast
could be $30 billion market by 2030.
“Providing sneaker and streetwear
consumers with a luxury retail
shopping experience was one of the
foundational principles of Stadium
Goods, and this is an opportunity to
expand on that,” Stadium Goods VP
of retail and geographic expansion
Phung Truong told FN.
He added that the store’s of-
fering has expanded signifi cantly
since 2015. “We now carry our own
in-house apparel brand, Stadium,
along with other apparel brands,
collectibles and accessories — and
the expansion allows us to give those
products a merchandising home
built just for them,” said Truong.
In addition, the retailer is develop-
ing experiential programming for
the newly updated space to further
engage its community.
This renovation is the
second major brick-and-mortar
undertaking of Stadium Goods in
roughly two years. The company
opened in October 2020 a two-level
store in Chicago spanning more
than 6,000 square feet in the city’s
Magnifi cent Mile shopping district,
at 60 East Walton St. It also opened
an intake center at 1719 North
Damen Ave., in Chicago’s Wicker
Park neighborhood.
As for the SoHo door, new
additions with the renovation
include a 360-degree circular cash
wrap area inspired by LED screens in
arenas. The cash wrap also features
a sock bar with a colorful display to
highlight the 50-plus hues available.
Elsewhere, there are three new
museum-quality display cases to
showcase specialty items, an updated
trophy case with mirrors to offer
an expansive feel and more. The
company also sought to show the
community’s rich history with a
storefront that refl ects those
historically found on Canal Street.
What’s more, Stadium Goods will
reserve a portion of the additional
space to merchandise apparel, in-
cluding its private label Stadium.
“Apparel is an important and
expanding part of our business,”
Truong said. “We’ve always sold our
own branded apparel, and last year
we launched Stadium, a standalone
luxury line that’s been successful.
Part of the motivation for the
renovation was wanting to a place
where we could show the breadth of
our apparel offering.”
With the renovation, Stadium
Goods also debuted its new
Stadium 2 collection, a range
that includes a Varsity Letterman
Jacket, a Heavyweight Tricot Jacket,
the workwear-inspired Barn Coat,
a french terry Oversized Cardigan
and more.
“Stadium 2 is an anniversary
celebration of sorts. We debuted at
this time last year with Stadium 1, a
collection of premium, foundational
essentials that evoked luxury
fashion and our roots in sneaker
and streetwear culture. Stadium 2 is
an evolution of the concept. There’s
a new version of our now-ubiquitous
Varsity Jacket; there’s a bomber and
a number of other pieces that can
be either centerpieces or building
blocks, depending on the mood,”
Stadium Goods VP of brand creative
and head designer Greig Bennett
told FN.
R E T A I L S P O T L I G H T
As the resale market booms, New York’s popular sneaker destination ups its game.By Peter Verry
GOT THE GOODS
The 360-degree circular cash wrap area inside Stadium Goods in NYC that was inspired by LED screens in arenas
RETAILSPOTLIGHT
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P I C K
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HONORING UKRAINEThe crisis in Ukraine was at the forefront of everyone’s mind at Paris Fashion Week, but most especially at the Balenciaga runway show, where creative
director Demna Gvasalia sent models trudging through a man-made blizzard wearing his signature spandex looks, including two in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The show came with a powerful and deeply personal message from the designer. Recalling his own experience fleeing war-torn Georgia as
a child, the designer called his show “a dedication to fearlessness, to resistance and to the victory of love and peace.”
FN IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. COPYRIGHT 2022, FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A., VOLUME 78 NO 3, MARCH 14, 2022. FN (ISSN 0162-914X) is published monthly by Fairchild Publishing, LLC, which is a division of Penske Business Media, LLC. Principle Office: 475 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10017. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY and other additional mailing offices. Canadian Post: Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich Hill, ON L4B 4R6. Postmaster: Send address changes to FN, PO Box 6357, Harlan, IA 51593.
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