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The rapidly growing collagen industry is changing the economics of leather production. Bovine hide splits are increasingly being bought for the production of collagen used in supplements, beauty products, food and medical applications. The result is reduced availability and rising prices for split suedes widely used in affordable and mid-range footwear.
The Swiss company Bally is one of the world’s oldest still existing luxury shoe and leather goods brands. After several difficult years, the company now appears to be facing its most serious crisis yet. Bally is under the supervision of the bankruptcy office, its Swiss production has ceased, and the owner has rejected an offer to acquire the entire business.
For some, this headline doesn’t mean much. For those in the know, this headline is massive. Most likely no other factory in the world has made Goodyear welted shoes for more men’s shoe brands the past years, making for everything from big players to small MTO-based brands. After new owners last year took over the Sendra factory in Almansa, Spain, they now will stop making shoes for external brands.
The ways to become a shoemaker has changed through the years, as education moved from the shoemaking firms who hunted for talents, to talents who are hunting for the possibility to learn shoemaking. Sort of. Hear bespoke shoemaker Sebastian Tarek with years of experience in teaching shoemaking at colleges and other places talk about the past, present and future of shoemaking education.
The British shoe manufacturer Tricker’s recently had a new majority owner in James Fayed of the Fayed family, and now they are heading in a new direction as a company by taking home more and more of their sales themselves, with more focus on direct-to-consumer business.
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The European Union and Indonesia have signed a free trade agreement that will remove 98% of all duties in both directions immediately after it’s been implemented, which is expected to be next year. In the quality shoe world there’s a big potential for more of the fine handmade boots and shoes that are made in Indonesia will be sold by European retailers.
Now American customers have to pay customs and duties on all orders from abroad, also those below $800, as the de minimis exception has been removed. A big change for many US citizens who were used to the favourable rules, and also for many shoe companies in especially Europe and Asia who sell a lot to America. However, the termination of de minimis actually makes a lot of sense. But it’s messed up by other things.
Looking back five or ten years almost all new shoe brands were so called D2C brands, Direct to Consumer, and often made a big point of being such. Now it seems like the pendulum is about to swing as many of these brands ditch their original set-up and also use traditional retailers. Are D2C shoe brands becoming a thing of the past?
This week the Trump-administration in the US has stirred up a lot of uncertainties domestically and internationally with their new wave of proposed tariffs. In this article I go through how this will affect shoe industry, and also straighten out some common misconceptions. In short: American companies selling shoes made abroad will likely need to raise their prices, in some cases a lot, while private individuals buying shoes from abroad will still have no customs if price is below $800 and products aren’t from China or Hong Kong. For now.
The saga of one of the classic British sole manufacturers seems to be all. The owners of Itshide, perhaps most famous for their Commando rubber soles, has gone into liquidation, and all things points to this being the end for the over 100 years old Northampton-based company.
