US and UK figures confirm decline in leather shoe styles
09/04/2015
For women’s shoes, which have been monitored since March 2014, the number of styles containing leather has fallen by 7% in the UK and 5% in the US. This is particularly stark as the average 1% decline per month has taken into account the winter season.
The number of men’s styles containing leather in the US has fallen by 27% since August 2014. At the same time, the number of leather children’s styles in the UK has decreased 22%.
The figures, while not giving an indication of volumes, do back up what our Leather Pipeline editor has been saying for at least a year: that footwear manufacturers are moving away from leather after prices rocketed.
Our new columnist, David Peters, has also suggested that with a finite number of hides available, an increasing number will be snapped up by the automotive industry, while shoe makers might turn to skins.
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