CONTENTS
FROM THE EDITOR I
London Shoe Show Save the date 13th – 15th September 2015
t’s May and the major trade shows of the Autumn/Winter season are over for another year, at least in Europe. The last show of the season in the UK, the London Shoe Show, is one of the most popular. Held twice yearly at London’s Copthorne Tara Hotel, a five minute walk from Kensington Underground Station, the three-day event has become a ‘must attend’ event for boutique owners and independent footwear retailers alike.
One cannot fail to be impressed by the variety and quality of the
footwear ranges on offer from some of Europe’s finest shoe factories at the London Shoe Show this season. On the day that I visited the London Shoe Show, the aisles were busy and the footwear agents on the stands were clearly writing orders.
The timing of the event, held at the end of the season, after the major shoe shows are over, allows buyers an opportunity to make their final orders in a relaxed environment, with free refreshments, tea, coffee and biscuits, available throughout the day.
At the recent show in March, there were 19 exhibitors showing
around 30 brands over two floors in one building. The proximity of exhibitors makes product comparison simpler, an important consideration for the retailers I met up with at the show in March. The next London Shoe Show will be held from 13th – 15th September 2015 at The Copthorne Tara Hotel, Kensington.
Hopefully, your customers are already in the mood for summer.
With their sunshine holidays shimmering on the horizon, you will need to have your answers ready for what they need for some practical, but fashionable, holiday kit...
Comfort no longer has to be sacrificed on the altar of style, and looking good on holiday doesn’t necessarily mean enduring the ‘breaking-in’ of your chosen sandal and the sticking plasters this requires. Advances in shoe design and technology have led to a new generation of healthy footwear brands, which keep you in shape and also look pretty cool!
In this issue, we beach-test some this summer’s hottest styles –
including some elegant, yet supremely comfortable sandals for the girls and the guys that will take them painlessly from the beach to the nightclub, but won’t break the bank! All the styles featured in this month’s Holiday Kit (pages 28-29) have received a big thumbs-up from our editorial team at Footwear Today.
While, in our Editor’s Choice pages this month we are featuring
the cream of the crop in Men’s Footwear from the major autumn/winter shoe trade shows.
Kind regards, Cheryl
Cheryl Taylor, Editor, Footwear Today Magazine,
Email:
cheryltayloreditor@googlemail.com Tel: 01622 862962
IFRA, BFA and Society of Shoe Fitters all support Footwear Today as a valuable forum for the footwear industry, helping to promote trade and keeping retailers informed about the latest products and developments.
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NEWS RIVA PREVIEW FOOTWEAR FOCUS COMPANY PROFILE AJ’S STUDIO Q&A FASHION TRENDS LONDON SHOE SHOW REVIEW EDITOR’S CHOICE (MEN’S BEST IN SHOWS) RETAILER OF THE MONTH BEST SELLERS HOLIDAY KIT MONEY SHOP
FRONT COVER: GROOCOCKS MAY 2015
“Not only have we launched our new Padders Collection, but we’ve started production on our flagship collection of waterproof footwear, made here in Northamptonshire...
we have also introduced the Aerosoles footwear brand to the growing Groococks family”
Contact: John Bligh or Graeme Jenkins 01536 534 970
john@groococks.co.uk or
graeme@groococks.co.uk Inside this issue:
Editor’s Choice: Men’s Best in Shows • Footwear Focus: Skechers Fashion Trends • Best Sellers • Retailer of the Month: Cooshoo Holiday Kit & Money Shop
www.footweartoday.co.uk
EDITOR Cheryl Taylor:
cheryltayloreditor@googlemail.com FASHION LAWYER Stephen Sidkin FEATURE WRITERS Bryony Andrews • Henry Harington • Dawn Smith • David Gummers • Vicky Kember • Joe Maggio • Emma Cooke • JOURNAL MANAGER Sue Wiseman: 01622 699185
swiseman@datateam.co.uk DESIGNER Steve Parks CIRCULATION
datateam@capsule-group.com PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Paul Ryder:
pryder@datateam.co.uk
Published by: Datateam Business Media Ltd, London Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8LY. Tel: 01622 687031 Fax: 01622 757646 email:
footwear@datateam.co.uk website:
www.datateam.co.uk
Subscription Prices 2014 Footwear Today Magazine Number of editions per year: 10 ISSN: 1475-8601 UK: £58 Overseas: £109 The Publishers cannot accept responsibility for any discrepancies either in copy or between products and/or services listed. Nor can they be responsible for illustrations and/or copy for products which lead to infringement of copyright.
MAY 2015 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
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