Source: The Wall Street Journal Online
By RAY A. SMITH
June 30, 2007; Page P7

Men browsing expensive shoe aisles this fall may notice a new line of luxurious oxfords with pre-aged leather and hand-stitched detailing for $150. The exotic new entrant: Hush Puppies, a brand best known for 1950s-era, brushed suede shoes that sell for $40.

As part of a general move upmarket, many midtier shoemakers are adding touches more commonly found in luxury brands. Bostonian, where top-of-the-line shoes previously cost $140, is debuting a new Luxe line, which is made in Italy with “antiqued leather” and costs $170. Johnston & Murphy’s new handmade Italian shoes start at $225 — more than double its usual starting price. At Rockport, which made its name selling comfortable casual shoes, 40% of its fall collection will be dress shoes, up from 20% this spring.

Some of the new shoes are so similar to their more expensive counterparts that they can be hard to tell apart. Johnston & Murphy’s new Italian line is made with burnished European calfskin leather and stitched medallion-shape detailing, and looks like a close cousin of an $830 shoe from J.M. Weston.

Left to right: Rockport “Farren,” $110. This shoe has hand stitching on top and leather made to look vintage. Johnston & Murphy, $295. This line is made in Italy and is the most expensive-looking of the midpriced lines. Hush Puppies “Epic,” $150. Distressed leather, sheepskin lining and hand “puckered” stitching the company says is considered fashionable.

Many of the new shoes are designed with the sleeker profile typically associated with expensive footwear. Some, such as Kenneth Cole New York, whose shoes cost between $175 and $295, are beginning to use a sophisticated method of attaching the sole to its upper known as Goodyear welting, considered one of the finest in shoe construction.

Shoes in the luxury category, such as those by Church’s, John Lobb, Berluti and Edward Green, have traditionally been handmade in England, France or Italy and priced above $500. Higher material and labor costs in Europe factor into the prices. Priced just below those are U.S. makers such as Allen-Edmonds and Alden, usually in the $200-to-$500 range. Moderately priced brands, including Rockport and Bostonian, typically have less handwork and are made in the U.S. or in low-cost countries like Mexico and China and are priced less than $150.

A random sampling of men elicited mixed reactions. Evaluating the Hush Puppies model, Eric Rizk, a conflicts analyst for a financial advisory firm, was surprised by the cost of the pricier shoes by Hush Puppies and Johnston & Murphy. “This stitching looks cheap,” he said, evaluating the Hush Puppies model. “It doesn’t even look like leather.” He thought Johnston & Murphy’s $295 shoe also should be priced less, at about $150, calling the look and stitching merely OK. But some men thought the shoe was worth it. “I’m surprised it’s just $300,” says Trevor Knott, an accountant.

Jim Zwiers, president of Hush Puppies’s USA division, says the new shoes are made with Italian leather and the “puckered” stitching is considered fashionable now. A spokeswoman for Johnston & Murphy says the company’s shoes offer good craftsmanship for the price.

At Allen-Edmonds, which has a new line made in Italy with an average price of $500, or about $200 more than its regular range, the goal isn’t simply to get current customers to spend more. The company hopes to attract new customers “who never thought of us with regards to more sophisticated elegant products,” says Mike Rancourt, product development director at Allen-Edmonds.

Overall, sales of men’s dress shoes are outstripping their more casual counterparts; sales rose 13.5% in the 12 months ended in April, compared to a 0.6% jump in the dress-casual category, which includes shoes with rubber soles, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Retailers and designers say some of this is being driven by the resurgence of high-end suits. “If you’re going to be buying a $1,500 Canali suit, you need the beautiful leather shoes that complement it,” says Kevin Harter, men’s fashion director at Bloomingdale’s.

Some retailers are moving upmarket as well, expanding their men’s shoe departments to include more high-end dress shoes. They say sales of higher-end shoes are growing at a faster rate than midpriced brands.

At Lord & Taylor, the opening price for men’s dress shoes this fall will rise to $150 from $95 this spring. The retailer dropped brands with opening prices of $70. Nordstrom has seen a “significant” increase in sales of handmade shoes from Santoni even though, at $900, they cost $500 more than the rest of that line, says John Hall, national merchandise manager for men’s shoes.

At Bloomingdale’s, Mr. Harter says men’s dress shoes now range from $195 to $695, compared with $195 to $495 last year.

 

–Ying Wu contributed to this article.

Write to Ray A. Smith at ray.smith@wsj.com¹

URL for this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118314987186053447.html

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