fashion - general - cosmetics
Marketing & Development
Report 017 / 2020-06-24
The Lockdown, a renewed interest in nature and more open air socialising resulted in a trend towards Bare Feet. The Black Lives Matter movement will push this trend even further. This tendence includes opportunities for the shoe (yes even the shoe industry), cosmetic, accessories and publishing industry.
Although bare feet seems like a ‘simple’ trend, or nothing new, it is quite a statement in the western culture and it brings along new business opportunities for the cosmetic shoo and accessorie world
Five influences in The Lockdown and The World After, that pushed Bare Feet.
The lockdown changed our shoe habits and our shoe “DNA”
- More often Bare Feet (at home) than before
- Much less time spent on the streets and in public spaces, less shoes needed
- Spending more time in nature (shoe restrictions; no heels and practical shoes)
Health
Preference for social contact in the open air to minimise risk of infection from corona resulted in more social events in the open air, in parks and at the garden at home. (shoe restrictions; no heels and practical shoes)
Limited access to restaurants and bars
Limited access to restaurants and the preference for open air socialising for medical reasons, resulted in social events in gardens and nature, such as picknicks in the park and dinner parties at home, in the gardens. A combination of shoe restrictions, no heels and practical shoes, with a more laid-back ambiance resulting in a less informal dress code.
Renewed interest in nature
The lockdown revived the interest in nature, and pushed social events into nature. When out in the wild, or even a park, we have restrictions on what we can wear. High heels are very impractical.
Black lives matter - black culture matters
There is a renewed interest in African and Indian cultures, where bare feet are a socially accepted part of life, and can often be the norm. We are making more stylistic choices based on these cultures, and will start to see bare feet more and more in western cultures.
Inspiration
Black Fashion, Indian Fashion
Brigitte Bardot (bare feet on the street)
Slim Aarons (men with bare feet / high end)
Product and Business opportunities
Cosmetics
We can start to see new feet-care products, such as grooming items for men’s feet. Pedicures will start to rise, for women and men (new focus Men feet grooming!) and last but not least food care products will go up. Taking care of your feet will become important when you are showing them off to the people around you.
Shoe industry - men
A new angle to bare feet is bare feet on men
A less familiar site, especially in the world of fashion, with the exception of Slim Arons, who has some shots highlighting men with bare feet.
The next step will be sandals for men (high end, how lovely will that be, finally sophisticated sandals for men)
Shoe industry - women
Flat shoes with a minimum of material; almost bare feet Lots of visible skin, skin tones, straps, ribbons.
Accessories
Toe rings (also high end) and ankle chains
Magazines
Editorials with bare feet Men! and Women
Note
Even though we’ve come to think of shoes as a vital part of our lives, not everyone around the world wears a pair. It’s good to realise wearing shoes is not always the norm. In Western societies, shoes are necessary in certain situations, the benefits of going shoeless are clear; it promotes more flexibility, strength, and mobility of the feet. Going bare feet promotes a natural walking style, and eliminates the hard strike on the heel we experience while wearing shoes. This generates less force and stress on the foot and lower legs.
Wearing shoes is exclusive to humans. Shoes can limit the flexibility, strength, and mobility of the foot, and can lead to higher incidents of ‘flexible flat foot’. They provide short term protection against cuts, bruises or annoyances from objects on the ground or even the texture, but can lead to an unnatural walking style long term.