FFANY Market Week Kicks Off ‘Hopeful’ and ‘Optimistic’ Fall 2024 Season

Stephen Garner
·4 min read

Overall sentiment was positive amongst shoe retailers and brands during the FFANY footwear market week in New York City earlier this month.

According to Sandi Mines, vice president of corporate engagement at Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) and FFANY, attendees were “pretty optimistic” and felt that inventory issues were under control. “The mood this season was a bit more upbeat and positive than it had been just this time last year,” Mines told FN.

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As for who was in town shopping the market, Mines said that DSW, Academy Sports, Famous Footwear, Journeys, Shoe Show, Rack Room, Zappos and Nordstrom were among the majors present this month. “Those are pretty big retailers that can move the needle and have a great impact on business,” she added.

The turnout was great considering February is a smaller market, with June and November editions typically coming in at least 30 percent larger, Mines noted. “There was also a lot of newness from brands this season, which was really exciting to see.”

Here, FN recaps some of the moments, collections, and events we saw during FFANY market week this month.

Rebecca Minkoff Relaunches Shoes

New York-based designer Rebecca Minkoff relaunched her shoe collection in a major way earlier this month. The new fall 2024 collection features 30 styles across 75 SKUs and showcases standout constructions with Rebecca Minkoff’s downtown, rock inspired design elements seen throughout the line.

“Before our sale to Sunrise, we did a very small amount of shoes after Covid hit just to keep the lights on,” Minkoff told FN in an exclusive walkthrough. “So after the sale, it was all about what comes next and developing our big growth areas for the brand. Footwear was the clear choice since handbags and shoes are the two categories that our customer loves. We spent the last year after the transition on getting everything smoothed out. We’re ready to go big now.”

So far, Minkoff has shown the collection to a few major department stores at her New York showroom but plans to make the official wholesale debut at Atlanta Shoe Market next week.

Caleres Presents Latest Innovations

Caleres held its fall 2024 preview event during FFANY earlier this month. The St. Louis-based footwear company showed buyers and press the latest innovations from its roster of brands including Allen Edmonds, Dr. Scholl’s Shoes, Franco Sarto, LifeStride, Naturalizer, Rykä, Vionic, Vince, Veronica Beard, and more.

At Allen Edmonds, executives showed the men’s brand’s new luxury “Reserve” footwear line. Featuring premium leathers and materials, the elevated line is being targeted at upscale, luxury retailers. Over at Vionic, the team was showing its comfort-driven fashion items like the Uptown loafer and Walk Max sneaker.

Naturalizer, Caleres, FFANY, fall 2024
Naturalizer shows off its full range of calf sizes. Stephen Garner / Footwear News

At Dr. Scholl’s, which is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary later this year, attendees got a glimpse of some of the brand’s best-selling staples like original wooden sandal and its viral Time Off sneaker.

As for Naturalizer, the label was boasting its range of calf sizes for its boot assortment. The brand is launching a new extra wide calf size option due to the success of its wide calf boot. With this addition, Naturalizer now has four calf sizes in its boot range.

Minnetonka Celebrates Its Redesigned Thunderbird Moccasin

Minnetonka held an event in Brooklyn during market week to celebrate the redesign of its signature moccasin – the Thunderbird. Renamed the “Animikii,” which means “Thunderbird” in the Ojibwemowin language, the shoe is being recreated by Red Lake Nation Anishinaabeg designer Lucie Skjefte and shares the name of her son. The new design of the original 1955-released classic features the same look fans know and love but with new, authentic beading designed by Skjefte.

This redesign is part of Minnetonka’s ongoing journey to honor and uplift the Native American community. The company said that for every Thunderbird “Animikii” pair purchased, a product lifetime royalty will be paid to Skjefte for her original design and a donation will be made to a Native American organization of Skjefte’s choice.

“The desired feeling while wearing this design is one of eagerness and excitement,” Skjefte said in a statement. “It should evoke a sense of pride – rocking a fresh design that honors the Anishinaabe way of life, in a good way.”

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