INTERVIEW
‘IF YOU THINK BAREFOOT SHOES ARE STILL NICHE, THINK AGAIN!’
In this exclusive article, Jack Cheeseman explores the rapid growth of the Barefoot footwear concept, and talks to Rob Sewell from El Naturalista about the brand’s latest collection of Barefoot styles.
O
riginating from the La Rioja in Spain, El Naturalista was created in 1998 as a sustainable footwear brand and its ethos continues to flow through all of its products today. Part of The Art Company, El Naturalista started working with Barefoot products more than four years ago. This casual styling was more in-keeping with the brand’s DNA and less technical looking than some styles on the market at that time. However, it still features the Barefoot attributes, which are: Zero Drop, Flexibility and Wide Last.
The first styles were available in Spring/ Summer of this year but it was when Autumn/ Winter came around that retailers really started to notice the trend took to the collection with significantly greater forward orders. The Barefoot collection was growing from 200 SKUs in AW25 to over 350 for SS26! Some retailers have truly embraced the
Barefoot concept, and to promote it in their stores the team at El Naturalista asked retailers to create a specialised Barefoot corner using brands that they might already buy from, such as Pikolinos and JOSEF SEIBEL, to sit alongside. This was a great success, as Rob Sewell from El Naturalista explains, and the results have been far above what was expected.
Last month the UK’s first ever Barefoot Shoe and Foot Health Expo took place in Solihull, proving that Barefoot footwear is thriving, fashionable, and in demand. Over 900 attendees flocked to the event, and that was before adding in all the exhibitor staff! “We took El Naturalista to the Barefoot Expo to support our retailers,” adds Rob Sewell, “and we showed a selection of styles, which the public were able to try on. Then, we directed them to retailers who had bought that style. The show was extremely busy for us and I know many retailers have benefitted from us presenting there.”
The Nomada boot by El Naturalista The Origen shoe Tinfish Shoes, Leicester
Barefoot is flying
Rob says that the Barefoot concept is flying, with new product launches for AW26 being unveiled at the Footwear Today Live show next February! “The Footwear Today Live show in August was very good for El Naturalista as we were able to present the whole Barefoot concept; this resulted in us finding new retailers for the brand but also bringing customers back to the brand as well.” El Naturalista has an extensive collection of casual of shoes, boots and sandals adopting Barefoot technology. For example, the Nomada boot family for AW25 and the Horizon sandals and clogs for SS26 have enjoyed considerable success, reports Rob, but the first repeats were actually from fashion footwear boutiques for the Origen shoes. The brand also has a ‘back to work’ collection which has been quite popular. “It seems that the public have some knowledge of the Barefoot concept, probably stemming from the children’s brands promoting it, such as Bobux,” Rob continues. “It has also gained momentum thanks to brands such as Vivobarefoot which has been developing this concept for over a decade.
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