Footwear Insight

s &OOTWEAR )NSIGHT ^ *ANUARY&EBRUARY THE FOOTWEAR EYE I s the end of sport-specific shoes coming? Shane Downey thinks so. Downey took over as the senior product director for footwear at The North Face last May, after launching and shepherding Brooks' foray into classics as the global brand director for Brooks' Heritage collec- tion that operated from 2014 to 2017. The chance to jump into a brand that operates in both the performance and lifestyle sphere was a draw, Downey says — but that as outdoor footwear evolves, that line between the two categories is getting less and less important. "We do find that expectations aren't all that different from the top of the mountain to a city commuter," he says. "Rather, it's about the extremes and how we address those niche needs when need be. This highlights the increasingly blurred line between what was technical versus casual lifestyle and the value of taking a compre- hensive approach to delivering footwear that can achieve both." Downey says that the brand's Fall '18 line is the beginnings of a line sorted by different underfoot experiences: lightweight, maximal cushioning, responsive. These basic categories, he says, will use different upper treatments and color stories to fit different needs and different consumers. Technologies, he says, will be shared across categories. For example, a new engineered woven fabric adds targeted abrasion protection in the Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX and tells a tonal pattern story on an update to the lifestyle Back-to-Berkeley franchise. But evolving the line doesn't mean scrapping the existing one, he adds. "We need to maintain the existing North Face customer and then it's innovating around the future consumer," he says. "But where I've been focused is bringing that buyer to the brand." And Downey says we'll only see more crossover going forward, as Millennial and even younger shoppers buy with versatility in mind. "Even viewing footwear as athletic or non-athletic is an outdated mindset: the modern explorer is con- stantly seeking performance and lifestyle, expecting them to be synonymous with one another," he says. "The single biggest shift is gravitating away from sport-specific need to more adaptable foot- wear that can serve a user's needs from morning to night. We know our biggest opportunity for organic growth is footwear, and it's imperative to deliver that underfoot experience for that trail consumer, regardless of trail use." And Downey says he thinks the industry is ready. Months of travel to visiting retail partners have left him with one impression, he says: "I think everybody – every buyer and merchandiser – has been looking for evolution in outdoors." — Jennifer Ernst Beaudry FOOTWEARINSIGHTCOM Performance? Lifestyle? Wrong Question. OUTDOOR TRENDS Who knew a stability insole could be comfortable? We did. insoles-sorbothane.com sorbothane.com 800.838.3906 I N T R O D U C I N G ! THE EXCLUSIVE COMBINATION OF STABILITY & SORBOTHANE ® Ultra PLUS STABILITY INSOLE "Viewing footwear as athletic or non-athletic is an outdated mindset. The modern explorer is constantly seeking performance and lifestyle, expecting them to be synonymous with one another." SHANE DOWNEY, THE NORTH FACE

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