FFANY‘s August event may be lighter than the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America’s (FDRA) other three seasonal market weeks, but that didn’t stop industry leaders from coming out to shop the latest products for spring 2025.
“It was an active few days for market and it’s always just good to be together,” said Matt Priest, president and chief executive officer of FDRA, which hosts the seasonal FFANY trade show. “I think the mood is always positive. We have a positive industry. So that’s good, but there’s also a ton of uncertainty in the marketplace.”
Priest noted that the upcoming presidential election appeared to be on the minds of many brands and retailers who are weighing how the results could impact tariffs, the supply chain and the economy.
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“We’re analyzing what that looks like and playing out different scenarios and helping our members better prepare,” Priest said. “But our industry is very resilient. So it wasn’t necessarily hand wringing. It was more like, ‘How do we prepare? What are the contingency plans? How do we navigate through this uncertainty?'”
Despite the uncertainty, brands were overall excited about the momentum they see heading into the new season.
Chief executive officer of Ground Up International Jack Gindi said that the New York-based footwear company has seen positive trends following a slower start to the back-to-school season.
“The customer is really gravitating toward great value, not necessarily price,” said Gindi, whose company specializes in creating licensed shoes for brands like Disney and Mattel and sells products in stores like Walmart. “They really want to feel like they’re getting their money’s worth, quality at the center of that. So that theme seems to be pretty consistent throughout so far. That said, we’re seeing real enthusiasm, excitement and momentum from our retail partners for our products going into 2025.”
At Anne Klein Shoes, the Steve Madden licensed label tried something different this market week. On Monday, the company hosted a “Sip and See” event at its New York City showroom with the intention of gathering real-time consumer feedback on its new spring/summer 2025 women’s shoe collection.
According to Paula Koumoundouros, creative director of Anne Klein Shoes, approximately 20 women attended Monday night’s event where they were able to explore the brand’s new shoe collection and highlight wins and misses in the line.
“There’s always something to learn,” Koumoundouros told FN before the event kicked off on Monday night. “Not only are we studying designer brands because we want to be aspirational, but we’re studying our customer because she has evolved from where we were a few years ago. We want to evolve with her, and we pride ourselves on being customer centric. So, we thought that this Sip and See was such a great way to engage with our community and build our relationship with them.”
Katy Perry Collections also tried something new this FFANY market week. The company decided to pop-up at The Luxury Collection hotel in midtown to show its spring/summer 2025 collection to buyers in town for the week.
For newly appointed president Allison Bennett, being present during market is all part of the plan to bolster the brand’s wholesale business. “We really have an excellent wholesale distribution, so we want to maintain that business, but there’s big opportunity to grow it even more,” Bennett told FN. “So, we see international as a completely untapped market for us. We just opened up Mexico, and we have someone helping us get into Asia – which would be a really big new market for us. So, we’re really trying to expand globally.”
