Top Shoe Brands in India

Majority of the top shoe brands in India are overseas entities like Reebok, Nike, and Adidas etc. It has been predicted in a study that the Indian footwear industry will become worth INR 38,500 crore in 2015, considering the increasing levels of awareness regarding fashion and trends among common people. Top shoe brands in India

Major companies such as Bata, Reliance Footprint, and Liberty have been increasing their stores in a frenetic pace in the last couple of years. They have also started to open larger outlets in the smaller locations. The biggest retailer of shoes in India is Bata India. Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, the organizations MD, has stated that the greater competition has led to the companies to improve their offerings at a quicker pace compared to before. At present Bata and Liberty are opening hundred stores on a yearly basis. In the last 3 years Metro Shoes have opened approximately 200 stores, while Louis Philippe has come up with 20 to 25 outlets in that time. Reliance Footprint has been opening around 9 stores per month and for Woodland the yearly rate is within 60 to 70. Insiders in Indian footwear industry are saying that the speed of opening stores has increased at a significant pace. Normally men purchase a pair every 3 months while women do so after a couple of months. The MD of Lifestyle International, a chain of department stores, Kabir Lumba, has said that people are now looking to change their shoes in tune with the changes in their clothes. Lifestyle International has grown by 50 percent, on an average, from 2008 onwards. Following are the leading shoe brands of India:

Reebok
Reebok is one of the leading global brands for lifestyle and sports products. It has a commendable tradition and is one of the most authoritative brands in this domain. The brand is focused on creating products, which show the wish and originality needed to constantly come up with new challenges for the established norms. Its shoes are available in the following categories:

Mens Girls Womens Sports Boys Classics

Bata
Bata India is the biggest maker and retailer of shoes in the country and belongs to the Bata Shoe Organization. It was established during 1931 as Bata Shoe Company Private Limited. Its Batanagar manufacturing facility is also the first of its kind in India to have been given the ISO: 9001 certification. Its major product categories are:

Women Kids Men

Nike
Nike is a global footwear, accessories, apparel, services, and equipment brand that is based at Portland, Oregon. It is the global leader in athletic apparel and footwear as well as sports equipment. Its revenue is presently US$ 24.1 billion and it has at least 44 thousand employees around the world. Its present worth is approximately US$ 10.7 billion making it the top sports business brand in that regard. It is a Fortune 500 company as well. Nike offers shoes in the following categories:

Men Mens training Women Womens training Kids Golf Running Skateboarding Basketball Snowboarding Football Surfing Soccer Tennis

Adidas Adidas is one of the most popular shoe brands in India and its sneakers, fashion oriented, and sports shoes are highly sought after. The company was founded by Dassler brothers Adi and Rudolph who came up with the first soccer shoes that had studs. Its shoes are available in the following categories and more:

Women Adventure Men

Outdoor Girls Sneakers/canvas Boys Sandals Casual Slippers Sports Chappals/sandals

Liberty Liberty Shoes has been in the business for more than 5 decades and is globally known. At present its yearly revenue is at least INR 600 crore and it is one of the leading 5 global makers of leather footwear. It operates in 25 countries including France, Germany, and Italy and has 150 distributors, at least 6000 multi brand showrooms, and 400 exclusive outlets around the world. It has also received the ISO 9001:2000 official recognition. Its shoes are available in the following ranges:

Men Boys Women Girls

Woodland Woodland is owned by Aero Group that has been in the business of outdoor shoes since the early 50s. The brand was introduced during 1992. At present, the brand has 350 exclusive outlets across the world and is present in at least 3000 multi brand stores in several countries. The major product ranges of Woodland may be enumerated as below:

Boots Casual Shoes Travel Sandals Climbing Slippers Trekking Mens Hiking Womens

Valentino Valentino is the brainchild of Guru Shoes Tech Private Limited. The companys head offices are

situated at Agra and it was set up during 1985 by Moti Lal Daultani. It offers the following sorts of shoes:

Casuals Evening wears Boots Semi formals (Only for men) Business shoes Slippers & sandals (Only for men)

Converse Converse, a leading American brand, deals with athletic apparel and lifestyle fashion in addition to footwear. It is presently owned by Nike and was set up during February 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts. At present its head offices are at North Andover in the same state. Its shoes are available in the following ranges:

Collections Kids Men Sales Women

Lancer Lancer is one of the leading shoe makers in India. The organization was incorporated during 1989 and its head offices are at Udyog Nagar, Delhi. It offers products in the following range:

PVC footwear Air slippers Sports shoes Belly Sandals Moccasin School shoes Canvas PU slippers Kids range

Lotto Lotto is one of the leading global brands in footwear. It offers a wide range of shoes comprising the following:

Laceless Shock-Off ReactiveArch

Stitched Outsole Syn-Pulse Longlast 40 Heel Control Dry Out Tech Side Stability Support Puntoflex Foot Arch Support Reactive Insole Dual Density

RedTape Red Tape is famous for its unmatched comfort, and wide range of styles. It is owned by Mirza International Limited and it was launched during 1996. It is represented by Bollywood star Salman Khan and is now the leading lifestyle brand of India. In addition to footwear it deals in accessories and apparels. It primarily deals in mens footwear that comes in 3 ranges - casuals, slippers and sandals, and fashion formals. Hitz Hitz was established during 1990 and its head offices are at Agra. It deals in mens shoes and following are its major ranges:

Brutni Splash Churchill Zara Goldy Puzo Kangi Philp Pearl Lotus Rubby Crazy

Puma Puma is one of the world leaders when it comes to sports and lifestyle products such as footwear, accessories, and apparels. Apart from the Puma brand, the synonymous parent group owns Tretorn, and Cobra Golf. Its registered offices are at Herzogenaurach in Germany. Its footwear comes in the following ranges:

Men Sport Women

Motorsport Lifestyle

Paragon Paragon was introduced during 1975 and its head offices are at Kerala. At present it operates through 16 depots across the country and 300 distributors, who form the backbone of the company. Apart from shoes, the organization also deals in school bags and solid tyres. Following are its various footwear brands:

Rubber Based Max Solea Walkie Vertex Escoute Slickers Meriva Stimulus Fookids Para Lite School Worth

Relaxo Relaxo started operations during 1976 and officially became a company during 1984 and went public during 1995. The company earned in excess of INR 8700 million in 2011-12 and has a current daily manufacturing rate of 3 lakh pieces. Its 9 manufacturing units are located in northern India. Following are its major brands:

Hawaii Sparx Casualz Flite Schoolmate Elena

Action Action Shoes are owned by Action Group, one of the top conglomerates of India. Action Shoes have been in the footwear industry since 30 years and has millions of consumers across India. Following are its various brands:

Campus Flotter Dotcom Hooha

Milano Fun Time Chanchal Micro Florin Easy Line Roaming Fly Float School Time Health Plus Eva Flotter Synergy Shoes Mausam

Tirubala Tirubala is one of the leading footwear makers of India. The company operates with designers from Italy and Spain and focuses primarily on summer footwear. It also works for European retailers like Esprit, Bershka, Zara, Topshop, and Mango, as well as brands such as Gioseppo and Mexx. Its footwear related products may be categorized into the following:

Ladies footwear Boots Gents footwear Kids footwear

Fila Fila is one of the biggest brands of the world when it comes to sportswear including athletic shoes, accessories, and clothing. The company was established during 1911 in Italy and at present its head offices are at Seoul, South Korea. It operates in 11 countries across the world Inblu Inblu was established in Surat, Gujarat during 1997 as Condor Footwear (India) Ltd in association with Condor Trade SRL, one of the leading footwear companies from Italy. At present, the company has a manufacturing capacity of 40,000 pairs each day. It offers sandals and slippers for men, children, and women in addition to related accessories.

Other Leading Shoe brands in India

Following are other leading shoe brands of India:

VKC Coolers Forest Force 10 Sharon Fermani Italiano Lues Club Loochi Lues Alberto Amblin Khadims Genius Cyke Mainly Vans Beneto Vivobarefoot Subtraction G Sports Montee Cairo Globalite Green Waves Big Boon Stiflex Valentino Wood Style Alberto Torresi Aria Language Womenz Collection Style Centrum F9 Kook N Keech Catwalk Sole Threads Nine West Havaianas Gliders Timberland United Colors of Benetton Tiptopp

Indian Footwear Industry Mens footwear comprises 55 percent of the entire industry in India thus making it the dominant segment. The footwear for kids makes up 15 percent and that for ladies accounts for the remaining 30 percent. Indian footwear industry is labor intensive and approximately 70 percent of the same operates as an unorganized sector and employs close to 15 lakh people. The organized sector comprises the total industry and has at least 5 lakh professionals working in various roles, as per the Assocham study. The unorganized footwear sector is worth approximately between INR 17,500 and INR 20,000 crore and its yearly growth rate is between 10 and 15 percent. The leading companies in this sector have often stated that their growth rate is within 25 to 30 percent. The mens segment rules the roost with 60 percent of market share and the leather products are highly preferred. The segment for kids and ladies is growing at a fair clip as well and this has attracted several retailers to the market. Smaller cities like Sangli, Bathinda, Dehradun, and Patiala are showing greater demand for these products. The segment for luxury shoes is growing well too. Jimmy Choo, which is famous for its heels encrusted with Swarovski are worth more than INR 1 lakh in retail. During 2010-11 their yearly growth was 30 percent and since 2008 they have opened at least 3 stores. Genesis Luxury has launched Jimmy Choo in India. Its creative head Deepika Gehani says that handbags was previously the point of entrance for customers who aspired to enter the designer markets but now it has been replaced by shoes. KPMG is a leading management consultancy of India. Its associate director, Anand Ramanathan, states that in spite of fashion trends propelling the footwear industry it is a safer proposition compared to the apparel business. He states that the footwear industry enjoys a significantly greater ticket size for per square area and its exposure levels to alterations in markets are lesser as the product has a long shelf life. Liberty and Reliance Footprint opine that casual and sports footwear are seeing the quickest growth. However office wear brands for men like Hush Puppies have a loyal customer base and this led to Bata opening 11 independent showrooms for the brand during late 2011. Rafique Malik, who works as the MD of Metro Shoes that owns the Mochi brand, says that women in Bangalore prefer 3 inch heels while in Kolkata 2 inch heels rule the roost. This shows the awareness of retailers regarding preferences in individual regions. Malik states that while Punjab primarily prefers shoes in lively colors, white shoes sell all around the year in Tamil Nadu.

Indian Footwear Industry: Growth

The growth of the shoe industry in India in the recent years owes much to the tendency of Indian customers to spend on clothes and shoes especially for special occasions. This trend has helped the various segments like the following:

Formals Sportswear Casuals Adventure wear Home wear Beachwear Wedding wear Lounge wear Club wear

It is estimated that between 2006 and 2011 the aggregate worth of the Indian footwear industry has increased by 200 percent to go up to almost INR 20 thousand crore. This has also led the retailers to increase the number of their stores in an urgent manner. This is one of the few industries where growth is the watchword and not much thought is spared for recession, which is slowly affecting some other areas of the Indian economy.

India Footwear Industry: Customer Preferences

Women customers normally prefer factors like good color, and design, as well as heel sizes such as kitten heels and ballerina flats. Men, on the other hand, normally go for shoes that do not skid, are made from waterproof materials, and are biodegradable. A significant amount of customers are nowadays more worried about looks of shoes over other factors like resilience and ease. This is the opinion of Jacob John who operates as the brand head of Louis Philippe, a major apparel organization that forayed into footwear during 2010. Louis Philippe presently earns almost a tenth of its revenue from its footwear business. It started a store focusing on mens sports footwear during 2011 in Pune and its owners are Madura Fashion & Lifestyle. The MD of Liberty Retail Revolutions, Anupam Bansal, opines that approximately 8 to 10 percent of an Indians income is spent on accessories and footwear. Shailen Amin, who serves as the CEO of Be Stylish, a multi brand shoe website, states that the young and employed are gradually going for branded footwear from the unorganized sector and this is fueling their growth.

Future of Indian Footwear Industry

Leading Indian industry body Assocham has stated that the present worth of the footwear industry is around INR 22 thousand crore. DS Rawat, the Secretary General of Assocham, has stated that the increasing levels of expendable income among the middle class people in urban areas have also contributed to the present status enjoyed by the industry. The survey has also stated lower costs of production, big market for consumption, and lot of availability are the major distinctive aspects of the footwear market in India. It has also revealed that several leading footwear brands are right now venturing into the tier III and II cities, which comprises 55 percent of the footwear industry in India.