A new British sneaker label has been emerging in the market and gaining traction for its versatile, colorful designs and commitment to sustainability.
Dubbed Good News, the brand is the brainchild of two fashion industry veterans, Nia Jones and Ben Tattersall, who held various digital and sales roles in the industry and were exposed to all the waste, the apparel and footwear businesses tend to produce. Good News is the answer to all those industry pitfalls, it’s aim being to “bring the world a little big of good news.”
They are doing so by offering a sustainable product at affordable prices and by building the foundations of their business on “ethical product monitoring, a carefully managed supply chain and collaborations with charities.”
Good News sneakers stand out for their signature thick white sole – made of natural rubber – bold colorways and rich fabrications, such as corduroy and pinstriped canvas.
Watch on FN
Prices range from $71 to $120.
“A lot of our inspiration is taken from Seventies style and sports such as baseball. Bold designs and a lot of Seventies-inspired bold, primary color is at the essence of what we do,” said Jones, pointing to a lack of colorful, fun options in the canvas sneaker market. “We also take inspiration from style and use of color in baseball team kits and vintage trading cards. One of our styles named Style Babe, which is named after [the American baseball player] Babe Ruth is a tri-color design, with the colors picked from vintage baseball cards.”
All styles are unisex and addressing consumers of all ages and background: “We usually say our target market is 18 to 102. My great granfather is 102 and he wears the brand. He is a self confessed dare-devil and jumped out of a plane last year, now holding the world record for this as the oldest person to ever sky dive. That’s good news to us,” said Tattersall.
The label quickly gained a network of leading stockists including Matchesfashion.com, Sefton, Shopbop and Le Bon Marché, which were said to respond to the brand’s honest approach.
Tattersall said that the brand is also focusing on growing its own retail channels, both online and offline, in order to have control of the entire supply chain.
A new range of premium styles and new categories, starting with T-shirts, are also on the roadmap. “We want to build a global lifestyle brand with a positive ethos,” added Jones.
The brand also aims to incorporate a charitable element to its work and has set up the charity Good Luck Shoes, through which they donate unwanted footwear samples to refugee camps such as the immigration centre in Italy, where the refugees have no means to buy a pair of shoes.
