While visiting brands during Day 1 of Outdoor Retailer in Denver today, a few trends emerged that consumers will soon experience as fall ’18 footwear hits shelves. Here’s what fans of the great outdoors can expect from the industry’s top labels.
Outdoor Goes Lifestyle
The market has embraced fashion-friendly styling for a couple years now, but the casual looks have dissipated in recent seasons. However, the casualization of outdoor models will return heavily for fall ’18. Brands including Pajar Canada, with its Pearson for men, and Kamik, with its men’s Velox and women’s Rogue, are great examples of companies delivering must-have lifestyle boots for the season.
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Price Points Will Drop
The marketplace will still be inundated with pricey footwear with enough tech to satisfy the outdoor faithfuls, but brands are also releasing models built for the trails and mountains at an entry level price point. For example, Hi-Tec has several looks, including its updated Wild Fire for men (the Wild Fire Thermo), that won’t force shoppers to empty their bank accounts.
More Athletic-Inspired Looks
At the final Outdoor Retailer Summer Market show in Salt Lake City last year, there weren’t a a ton of athletic-inspired looks. It was light hikers that stole the show. But for fall ’18, there will be plenty of models with sport influence to choose from. Brands such as Khombu have lifestyle silhouettes that are equipped with athletic elements, and performance labels with a fast feel (Salomon, Altra) will deliver robust trail-ready offerings with tech synonymous with athletics.
