Less is more: sustainable shoes on the attack!

Sustainable shoes? The future says "YES"

According to the opinion of many fashion scholars, once the pandemic is over, there will be a move away from the accumulation of trendy but limited-value footwear and clothes, therefore consumers will be less attracted to fast fashion and will choose models characterized by comfort and environmentally friendly, able to last over time.
This is an evolution that has already been underway for a few years, which was growing steadily, however, with the advent of the pandemic, there has been a speeding up of this trend . In fact, in the period before the Covid-19 pandemic, the exaggerated stocks in the footwear and fashion sectors in general meant that just over 60% of the models were sold at list price. Manufacturing companies must be able to adapt to the new consumer mentality for which " less is more ", i.e. a predilection for comfortable and long-lasting footwear, of higher quality and characterized by a strong focus on sustainability.
As can be seen in the survey carried out, the interviewees who buy shoes on the web are 151 out of 289. Of these 101 individuals they mainly bought sneakers, which thus represents 70% of preferences.
The sneaker manufacturing company New Balance has slowed down distribution to physical stores, trying not to excessively increase stocks in the warehouse and trying to meet the logic that "less is more".

Other footwear companies, such as Premiata , have decided to focus heavily on sustainable models, on the sneaker model called John Low . There is a strong belief that sustainable development must ensure that companies use specific raw materials and try to create less waste. This model is created through the use of regenerated materials, respectful of the most important resource we have, water.

For Hogan , as well as the Tod's group in general, attention to the environment indicates a management of corporate strategies towards the creation of value for all stakeholders in a medium-long term period. Hogan, to outline the sustainability strategy, is based on three pillars, tradition, ethics and solidarity.

These are just some of the possible examples of footwear companies active in implementing business models, trying to keep pace with today's environmental changes.
As regards the digitalisation forced by the pandemic, it must be stated that the interaction between offline and online channels already represents a reality for many companies in the sector. From the manufacturers' point of view, it is about ensuring shops and end customers can see new designs in a digitalized way using cutting-edge technologies. On the shop side, however, physical sales points will increasingly represent shop windows and the relationship with customers will be increasingly personalized.
According to the research "The State of Fashion 2021" by the McKinsey company, together with The Business of Fashion, the fashion sector could return in the penultimate quarter of 2022 to results prior to the outbreak of the pandemic.
Companies that are able to grasp the aspects analyzed above will be able to survive the current recession and exploit all the advantages of the sector's recovery.