Sebago’s Marco Tamponi Talks the Boat Shoe Comeback, His Ambitious Retail Strategy + Returning the Brand to Its American Roots
Stephen Garner
Senior Editor
As boat shoes continue to trend among the fashion crowd, Sebago is ready for what’s next.
In fact, when the American footwear company was purchased by BasicNet from Wolverine Worldwide for $14.25 million in 2017, almost 90 percent of its sales in the spring/summer seasons came from boat shoes, Sebago global brand manager and creative director Marco Tamponi told FN in an interview.
“It’s clear that the next trend seems to be the boat shoe, thanks to some of the most important luxury brands who have shown them in recent collections, including Miu Miu and many others,” Tamponi said. “I mean, the Miu Miu boat shoe is clearly inspired by a Sebago shape from the ‘80s, but we are very happy to inspire them, and we are starting to see the trends translating into sales in our Docksides’ business.”
According to Tamponi, the company has been in the midst of an ambitious store opening plan in Europe. “When we acquired Sebago in 2017, we waited a couple of years to start opening our retail stores because we had to better understand the real aesthetic and how to merchandise the product,” Tamponi said. “We also wanted to wait until we had a full lifestyle offering to share between footwear, apparel and accessories. So, in 2019, we started to open retail shops to better communicate the full brand experience.”
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Currently, the executive noted that Sebago has 14 stores in Europe, with most of them located in Italy – including its Milan flagship, a store in Torino, Rome, Genoa and Bari. Also, there’s two seasonal stores in Sardinia and Sicily that open for six months out of the year. Outside of Italy, there are locations in Spain, France, Belgium and Portugal. Plus, there are three stores in South Africa – one in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
New for 2025, Sebago is slated to open its first London store at the end of January. Tamponi told FN that it will be located on Kings Road. And more are on the way.
“By the end of 2026, we will open two more shops in Italy, and we are also focused on some of the better locations in France that we are missing, such as Bordeaux, and we are also missing Monaco,” Tamponi noted. “Retail is a big portion of the new strategy of the brand, so we are really focused on where we open next.”
Meanwhile, in the U.S., things are a little quieter for Sebago.
“It’s always been a challenging market in terms of retail, and in the last six to seven years the situation got even more difficult for brick-and-mortar businesses,” Tamponi admitted. “Costs are incredibly high, and it’s very difficult to decide where to open a flagship shop. Of course, there’s Manhattan, but we’re not sure if that’s the right visibility for the brand. So, we are thinking it’s still an ongoing discussion with our partner there about how to put the brand back in its natural habitat.”
And even though Sebago may now be run by Italians, Tamponi and BasicNet are certainly making sure to tap into the brand’s American roots. The executive noted that the company is looking for a coastal location in the Hamptons or in New England to set up shop.
“I think having a store back in the roots of the brand is incredibly important,” Tamponi said. “But in the meantime, our direct-to-consumer business in the U.S. is great. We just need to understand further what the best strategy is in order to put the brand back on the streets of America. Perhaps it’s not in the bigger cities at all. I think it needs to be surrounded by the people who already live and understand the lifestyle of Sebago.”
Looking ahead, Tamponi foresees a busy 2025. “We are set to launch three major collaborations next year,” the executive revealed. “We are also placing more focus on our Asia business – especially in key markets like South Korea and Japan – while also making sure to engage and to reach more American consumers and to communicate more about the evolution of the brand over the last few years.”
