Teen agers and youngsters looking out for footwear that is sporty and casual; have just the right thing for them, the new Adidas Style Essentials. The line has designs like Revive which are 100% youthful. The line offers shoes that look sporty but at the same time it is not meant for playing a sport. It gives a cool and casual look even when the wearer does not intend playing. Nike and Puma have in the past decade manufactured shoes that are trendy and casual. Fashion was never important and was even considered a bad word when it came to sport shoes and would give the company a bad image. But now especially with recession this is one area where business is likely to grow.
The new Adidas line’s Vice President Michael Birke says that it became cool to be wearing sportswear on a regular basis. It is a rage that has caught on with everyone irrespective of gender and all across the world. The North American headquarters of the company is in Poland. The Style Essentials line took 2 years to get into production. This kind of sporty casual shoes is not new to the Adidas brand as they already have the Y-3 and Originals line. One would ask what is the requirement for another one? This is what Birke has to say “To target fun-loving teenagers who can’t spend a fortune on shoes.”
The line is available at a price range of $50-$70 at stores like Kohl’s and Famous Footwear. They were introduced in the market in the US last year and made its debut worldwide only a few weeks ago. The U.S line would see a clothing line added to the present one in winter and fall.
For a very long time consumers used to have shoes for at least one sport that was making news. Even if they never played they would definitely possess it; maybe jogging shoes, basketball, tennis or aerobics. Puma was probably the first to make the shift from athletic shoes to sporty casual shoes. These shoes can be made at a much lower cost and do fantastic business. Market for the casual sports shoes expanded whereas ones for actual sports showed a flat trend.
Top sportswear companies are finding tough competition from companies such as Skechers. Mark Powel, Analyst of SportsScanInfo is of the belief that Adidas took far too long to make the switch giving its competitors a head start. Past President, Adidas America, Rob Langstaff says that earlier fashion was a taboo word in Adidas. But things started to change before he left in 2007. Even though large companies believe totally in sports shoes only, when trends change one needs to change with it.
Kori Perten the 19 year old writer of The Fashion-y Blog (modernmagik.blogspot.com) is a total sneaker person. She wore it long before it became fashionable. She says the more options available, the better it is. There are various loud and clean colors to choose from. Both you and the one sitting next to you might wear sneakers and yet look completely different. So what are you waiting for? Get one quick and sport the cool look.
