Finally able to post my latest adventure from Europe which produced some exciting new styles, colorways and all kinds of good tid-bits. It was a whirl wind in and out type of trip but well worth the effort. Went to London, Barcelona, Cologne, Amsterdam and Copenhagen and gathered all kinds of great pictures/samples and came away with 3 big themes: The Chuck Stops Here/Rock the Boat/Slip One On! Enjoy the read and get lost in another report which hopefully finds you out and about sporting one of these great trends! Next up China and Vietnam...you'll get to see how all this research gets put to use...enjoy and be well! ZWood-
Europe Shopping Report - March 2010
London/Cologne/Amsterdam/Copenhagen/Barcelona
"The Chukk Stops Here”
- Suede, suede, suede and a little leather are the most dominate materials
- Burnished, oily, grubby and waxed finish on every brand
- Dark brown, caramel, charcoal and navy are the top 4 colors
- Plaid lining and collar hits are still showing as a secondary detail
- Traditional stacked heels showed well amongst more and more EVA and molded constructed outsoles
- Cream and off white outsole colors are a fresh spring update
- Moc toe type booty’s were popular as well with traditional oxford wing tips almost a close second behind the chukka
- Wing tip booty heights are also growing in popularity
- Seeing more and more canvas and twill material updates in this category then before
- Vulcanized chukka’s also seemed to pop up once in a while which makes for a nice transition from a traditional vulcanized day shoe to the dressed up vulcanized chuckka
“Rock the Boat”
- If you’re only going to own three styles of shoes this summer then the boat shoe needs to be one of them
- All types of materials this season: leather, suede, twill and canvas with canvas being the most popular
- Navy is the biggest color with brown in a close second
- More color and material blocking from the vamp to the outside collar
- Some plaid and gingham detailing but again solid linings and socks were more popular
- Plenty of traditional height/shaped patterns but seeing more booty heights enforcing the point that mid height shoes are on the rise
- A newer trend for this category is the lace-less/slip-on style boat shoe
- Sperry still owns this traditional category but brands such as Timblerland, Born, Bedstu, Sanuk and Vans have taken their interpretation and showed that this is no longer a shoe for your dad but for the more fashion minded
“Slip One On”
- The newest category to hit the streets in terms of quantity is the uber fashion Tom’s like slip-on
- By far was surprised to see this many different types of slip-ons
- Canvas is clearly the only material for this style
- Definitely a brightly colored package but with navy and white being the most popular colors
- Jute-wrapped/Espadrille midsoles are also making a comeback for the more fashion confident consumer
- Several brands have a lace up vamp or even a tasseled vamp for a different type of look
- Traditional flat sheet stock outsoles were shown but vulcanized and a few shell molds made the cut as well
“Key Material…Canvas Country”
- Canvas dominated the casual category from vulcanized, cement,to sport casual
- Biggest patterns were CVO’s, lace-to-toe and Tom’s like slip-ons
- Did not see any Vans like slip-ons
- Grey, charcoal, brown and navy were the top 4 colors
- Saw a larger presence of denim type materials, mainly navy with a few black/charcoal ones
- Almost every pattern was a solid canvas, seeing less and less color blocking
- Some plaid and striped linings were noticed but mainly solid colors
- Green and a variation of navy/bright blue were the 2 strongest secondary color hits, especially in the lining and or o’sole color.
- Contrast stitching is also a popular detail, especially if it had a moc toe
“Boots to Boot”
- Tons of boots were still out this time of year over there
- Cap toe, moc toe, plain toe, side zip, Chelsea side gore were among the favorites
- Less military/rugged types…more Redwing moc toe and wingtip styles
- Burnished and oiled suede’s were popular, still plenty of rugged type leathers
- Some material blocking with canvas and leather
- Brown, chocolate, toffee/caramel and charcoal outweighed all over black uppers
- Cream colored rubber and or EVA blocker outsoles were also shown in every style in every city
“Ready to Wear - Apparel”
- The preppy plaid/American look was very popular in every country visited
- Navy and red plaids stood out amongst the tonal colorways
- Larger buffalo style plaid is down trending while the smaller gingham remains strong both in apparel and shoe linings
- Camouflage is still prevalent and is being shown in new non traditional patterns: Hawaiian prints, floral patterns and computer digitized
- The new print of the month is the “Fairisle” organic/tribal pattern combination on heavy fabrics for sweaters, jackets and long sleeves
- A fair amount of collegiate jackets, cargo shorts and American t-shirts adorned the window displays along with West Coast-California/L.A. type sings and displays
- Tailored/skinny jeans are the top choice in London but regular cut became evident as we travelled further away
- London by far had the most fashion conscious consumer wearing jeans that ranged from extremely skinny to regular cut with scarves and funky styled hats. You can tell they actually think about what they’re going to wear every morning
- The Modern Vintage look consisting of military style jackets, plaid shirts, faded jeans and chukka boots also stood out across every city as well.
- Garment dyed apparel is up and coming especial in the denim/chino department with colors as mint green, pale yellow and bright toffee.
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| London's Oxford St. |
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| Downtown shopping in Cologne Germany |
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| Bikes and Boats:the only 2 ways to get around Amsterdam! |
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| Typical 20 degree day with the frozen causeway in Copenhagen! |
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| Salami heaven at the quite large local market in Barcelona |
