optimising footwear fashion Lloyd Shoes

oPtiMising footWear fashion

Lloyd Shoes is a market leader in the design and manufacture of premium fashion shoes. The company’s latest collections set the trends in the industry for both sport and business shoe styles. Philip Yorke reports on a company that continues to see strong growth and further global expansion.

Lloyd is a well-established European shoe brand that was founded in 1888 in Bremen, Germany and has been headquartered in Suligen, Germany since 1942. Under the management of Poul Haugard Petersen, Andreas Schaller and Jorg Wetzel, it has seen consistent growth and in 2016 generated consolidated sales of more than €132 million, with export sales accounting for almost 30 per cent of its total revenues. Currently over 7000 pairs of shoes are manufactured every day by Lloyd, which has 14 subsidiaries and more than 1500 employees worldwide.

Probably the best-known Lloyd identifier is its famous red stripe, which was introduced in 1968 to signify the unique quality and design of Lloyd shoe collections. In 1983 the company moved into the sport shoe sector, motivated by the boom in training shoes. Soon the company’s sport brand ‘Rocky’ took the market by storm and remains a leading brand to this day. Pioneering footwear comfort

Trainers have always been an important element of footwear fashion and not just because they can be easily coordinated fashion-wise, but also because they are hard to beat when it comes to creative styles and comfort. In addition to its range of innovative trainer ranges, seasonindependent styles such as Light Chelsea, ankle or desert boots form an equally important part of the collection, as well as stylish courts, classic ballerinas and summer footwear such as sandals and mules.

It is acknowledged that the trend towards casual business shoes has been long established in the fashion world. Today office footwear has taken on a more relaxed look with ballerina flats, lace-ups, loafers and sneakers marked by unrivalled comfort without sacrificing the crucial fashion element. New sole developments pioneered by Lloyd have established new trends in both style and form. Optimal comfort is the new luxury offering, providing a perfect fit

coupled with ‘high comfort finishing’ such as cushioning for the ball of the foot, soft impact inner soles and lightweight micro-cellular outsoles all blended with the special passion for design that is unique to Lloyd.

Building on export success

In August 2017 Lloyd opened two new ‘Concept Stores’ in Beijing, China under the aegis of its partner, Lloyd China Limited. The company made a strategic decision to build upon its past success and pursue an ambitious growth programme in Asia in the coming years. The special feature that is common to all its new stores is their automatic storage system which was adapted from technology developed by Lloyd in Germany, when it added an automated outer-box warehouse to its logistics and supply chain systems a few years ago.

Each new store’s fully automated storage system is located behind a glass wall within the sales rooms and therefore visible to all the store’s customers. With the expert advice available from the sales assistant, the customer looks for the model of his or her choice, which can then easily be called up from the storage area by means of a shuttle.

This system has proved to be very popular as it means that the customer does not have to wait while the sales assistant vanishes into a storage room at the back of the store, thereby interrupting the sales process and often irritating the customer if the style is not sourced quickly. In addition, the customer has the option to pay via ‘WeChat’ on his or her smartphone and can have the goods delivered directly to their homes. “The new store concept is innovative even for China, and demonstrates that Lloyd thinks one step ahead of the competition in not only fashion terms but in technology and logistics too,” said Andreas Schaller, the company’s managing director.

This ambitious company is also planning another store opening under the same principle this year, as well as a mobile pop-up store for malls, airports and train stations throughout the 2018 season.

Creative material mix

Fresh styles and creative material combinations set the scene for the company’s forthcoming Spring/Summer collections. From various types of leather finishing and surface structures such as snake prints through to white, hand-dyed crust leather, the latest collections not only promise exciting new visual effects but also unique, built-in craftsmanship. Here the colour spectrum is widely faceted with gleaming satin-like shades in powdery rose, beige, milky white, subtle lion prints and shiny metallic surfaces.

These unique variations in style are inspired by some of the iconic images of the 60s and 70s, such as beads, bows and velour themes. Despite the latest Lloyd collections for ladies being so varied, all the models have one thing in common: high-class design, masterful finishing and the unmistakable red stripe located in the heel.

expanding global footprint

As part of the company’s ongoing strategy for global expansion, it recently signed a ten-year contract with a leading Chinese distribution company, Kingwood. This compliments Lloyd’s existing presence in China and offers the company another high growth opportunity. Kingwood was founded in 2001 and has over 15 years of relevant expertise in the distribution of high quality European brands of footwear in the Chinese market.

Here Lloyd’s focus is on the re-launch of its men’s and women’s collections. It also reinforces the company’s goal to establish a broad, sustainable network in China.

For further details of Lloyd’s latest creative collections and services visit: www.lloyd-shoes.com