White Shoes Color Alternative Category

ATLANTA- As performance athletic companies continue to add more color-pops to help their performance styles stand out among what was once a wall of white shoes, alternative brands-like Skechers and Lugz-have countered with a wider assortment of solid white athletic styles for summer and fall delivery.
"All white shoes have had a resurgence during the past six months," said Keith Daly, senior vice president/GMM of Footaction USA. "Clean white shoes hook up and coordinate well with anything. After a trend to brights and direct hook-ups with apparel, the all-white shoe is an alternative today to the explosion of color that existed in 1998."
Mark Nason, VP at Skechers, said it was only a matter of time before white-based footwear made a comeback. "When new trends happen, they are never really new," Nason said. "They are recycled. When Khaki happened, white was something that hooked up and became a uniform. The trend went to either solid white or to black dress shoes and we're seeing strong sales in both those areas."
While returning to basic looks, alternative companies are also converting to more basic marketing approaches as well. Lugz, for example, has moved away from using high-profile athletes in some off-field endorsement deals that will reach its core consumer closer to home.
"What we've found is that kids are spending more time in barber shops. It's a new hang-out," said Larry Swartz of JSSI, maker of Lugz, which is seeing explosive growth in its fashion-based athletic collection. "They don't make an appointment-they just go and wait their turn and its kind of become a cool place to hang-out. We're outfitting a number of these barbers, from head-to-toe, to wear Lugz," Swartz said.
Swartz noted Lugz has already sponsored eight barbers in New York City, eight in Chicago and will have barbers in 10 to 15 markets by the back-to-school selling season when it will begin to promote its barbers program. (Footwear)