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As models in sweeping floor-length dresses, capes and long tailored trousers walked out onto the runway for Roksanda’s Autumn/Winter 2024 show at the Tate Britain art gallery in London, a man stepped forward to help those in high heels down the stairs. But some models didn’t require any aid, because mixed in with the sky-high stilettos were, unexpectedly, a number of more practical flip flops and clogs — a marked departure from the designer’s usual aesthetic.
It was the teaser for a new collaboration with FitFlop, the ergonomic shoe brand launched in 2007 by serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore (founder of businesses including Beauty Pie, Bliss and Soap Glory). The first drop, shown on nine of the models during the show, is a curated edit of existing FitFlop styles in colourways selected by Roksanda founder Roksanda Ilinčić, which will be available to buy from September. The second drop will be designed by Ilinčić and developed by the FitFlop team. “As designers, it is always fun to experiment and explore. FitFlop’s technical knowledge and scientific research have provided a wonderful dialogue with my own brand language,” says Ilinčić.
With this collection, FitFlop is returning to a tried and tested playbook of using unexpected fashion-footwear collabs to cause a stir. Functional shoe brands like Ugg, Crocs, Birkenstock and Timberland have all tapped a similar approach during recent fashion weeks to broaden their reach and appeal, driving an “ugly shoe” revival. FitFlop has experimented with fashion collabs in the past — think its 2009 tie-up with designer Anna Sui — but is now reinserting itself into the conversation.
Amid increasing competition for the comfortable footwear customer, FitFlop’s USP remains that every product is biomechanically engineered to complement the wearer’s joint alignment and natural body movement, says Kilgore. However, the Roksanda collab comes alongside a brand refresh: FitFlop is targeting younger consumers by emphasising its ergonomic design with more of an activewear slant through a new spring campaign called “Smart Moves”. The refresh is part of plans to expand the brand globally after it secured a five-year $30 million revolving credit facility last year (FitFlop expects to double its store estate within the next few years — it currently has 145 stores globally). Here, Kilgore unpacks the strategy.
Vogue Business: FitFlop has always had a clear point of view. Why was 2024 the right year for a brand refresh?
We have this incredibly loyal customer: an intellectual customer who values her health and values comfort, but loves really good style as well. We’ve never really gone after a fashion customer, we’ve gone after somebody who just wants to feel good and have that comfort engineered into their footwear because they know how important that is for their daily existence. And we may not have communicated that as much as we could, given that we have this really unique stance in the marketplace. So we wanted to reinvigorate how we spoke about our technology: we’re an engineering company that happens to make footwear.
Vogue Business: Where is growth coming from?
The beginning of the pandemic was a disaster for us, as it was for any apparel company, because we had $50 million worth of shoes on boats coming from factories and there were no stores open. But we came out of it with a tremendous amount of momentum. People really understood the importance of mental wellness and taking care of yourself. The priority shifted from dressing a certain way to be in an office all day.
We’re actually a much larger company than most people realise. We’re relatively global. We have a big business in Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, as well as South Korea and Japan. EMEA, Asia, the UK and the US have always been almost equal for us [in terms of market size].
Vogue Business: How and why are you targeting a younger customer?
Most of my brands are not really targeted at a specific age or demographic — it’s about attitude. At FitFlop we get a certain demographic because we’re focused on the health aspect of it: who is going to care about having good body alignment and want to pay £36 for flip flops? But we found that, while it was mostly the 30 to 40-year-olds who were buying in, their kids were stealing their mom’s shoes. Now, we have a younger customer buying into our cushioned flip flops. But the $180 leather wrapped toe-post [sandal] is still going to be more for a customer who can afford it and that’s usually somebody who’s a little older.
Vogue Business: Tell us about the Roksanda collaboration. How did it come about?
Our creative director knew someone who was working there, and I had always been a fan. We’ve always done collabs with people who are fun and futuristic thinking. Look at the Zipflop by Ron Arad [a collaboration with the designer and artist in 2012]. It’s totally crazy. It never launched because it kept coming undone. We didn’t really care about trying to be fashionable. But Roksanda is such a visionary. She understands what modern women need and what works for them. If you look at her dresses, the reason they’re so great is because they are practical to wear, as well as beautiful.
Vogue Business: So it’s not necessarily important for the products to be commercially successful?
It depends on who it is, and how crazy they want to go. For something like the Anna Sui collab, we sold maybe 3,000 pairs. So it wasn’t big. But they were really cool, gave us a lot of press and something to talk about. The average person is not going to buy the craziest looking shoe. Black is still always our bestselling colour. So you have to just look at it and think, OK, what is the purpose of it? Is it there to inspire people? When you think about Japanese fashion, they’re so far ahead. They dress for themselves. They are cool, but also comfortable. We haven’t necessarily reached that in the West yet.
Vogue Business: Have collabs been beneficial in terms of bringing in new customers to the brand?
You know, I’ve actually never thought about it that way — I guess that’s a bit of a spoiled view. I just want to work with people who are inspiring. [Music producer] Rick Rubin says that if you make your art for yourself, and it inspires you and it’s beautiful, then it will be successful. I always think that if I would buy a product myself, then I will sell it.
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