The footwear market is booming more than ever despite the economic devastation of the pandemic. Companies of the world's favorite shoes - from the chic, stilettos of Christian Louboutin to Kanye West's Yeezy's - are resulting in huge paydays on Wall Street. As more folks look to online vendors when purchasing their new favorite pair of kicks, the shoe industry remains strong.
While the coronavirus may have demolished countless enterprises across the world, luxury shoe brands are steadily growing and making their investors richer. After major transactions in the NYSE - for instance, L Catterton buying Birkenstock for a value of $4.8 billion (making him $69 billion richer from the profit) - a sea of big spenders followed suit to enter the booming shoe business. Most recently, billionaire family, the Agnellis purchased around a quarter of red bottom brand, Christian Louboutin's SAS.
"The luxury sector has outperformed over the past year and proved how versatile every category can be in downturns," says an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, Deborah Aitken
Aitken goes on to attribute the boom of shoe sales to the e-commerce market. Online vendors receive an increased influx of sales from homebody folks trapped in quarantine.
"Chinese consumers made up about a third of the global market for luxury goods before the pandemic," she continues, "Now they’re unable to travel and you have a massive explosion in e-commerce at the same time."
Another big-time winner in the shoe game is the mogul himself, Kanye West. Bloomberg reports the sales of Yeezy's collaboration with Adidas growing 31% last year - that's close to $1.7 billion!
This collab, which is linked to a partnership with GAP, had the estimated value of an enormous $3.2 million to $4.7 million. His story of success is quite serendipitous, seeing as he used to work at a Chicago GAP store in his youth. In a public statement last year, global brand head for the Gap, Mark Breitbard praised West for his stunning successes with Yeezy X Adidas.
"We are excited to welcome Kanye back to the Gap family," the brand head says, "as a creative visionary, building on the aesthetic and success of his Yeezy brand and together defining a next-level retail partnership.
With the shopping market shifting more and more to the visual world, the sales of luxury items continue to skyrocket. As the market flourishes, investors and brands alike rack in the dough.
Sources: Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Business Wire