Footwear CEO links material choices to survival
The chief executive of Spanish footwear group Pikolinos, Juan Manuel Perán, has said a more sustainable approach to making and using materials will be an essential part of the footwear industry’s recovery from covid-19.
In a recent interview with media in Spain, Mr Perán said that surviving the pandemic was no guarantee of ongoing success for footwear firms, adding that essential work to transform the business model of many companies had to begin now in the time of recovery.
Pikolinos was founded by Juan Manuel Perán’s father, Juan Perán in Elche in 1984; he now runs the group, which includes leather finishing plant Pies Cuadrados, with his sisters Rosana and Carolina.
In his comments, the chief executive said he saw little point in shoe business trying to recreate the business model of five or ten years ago. He said a new business model for the twenty-first century was required.
Part of this, he said, will be a different approach to making and using materials. Mr Perán said that, until recently, shoe companies’ only concern regarding materials was what they looked like and were they on trend. The reality now, he explained, is that finished product manufacturers’ material choices have to be in keeping with a commitment to making the world more sustainable. “Otherwise,” he said, “no business will be able to keep going.”
