Zalando enjoyed efficiency and productivity gains thanks to AI in 2025
Zalando announced that it used AI to ”drive efficiency and productivity gains across its entire business” during 2025 and expects to achieve its target of €100 million in synergies from the acquisition of About You as soon as 2028, a full year earlier than planned.
Yue Yuen 2025: Manufacturing stable, retail weighing on earnings
The world’s largest contract footwear manufacturer posted a 1.8 percent sales decline to $8.03 billion in fiscal 2025. Weak China retail weighed on results.
Geox expects sales to continue falling in 2026
After a more than 8 percent decline in 2025, Geox expects sales to continue falling this year, albeit at a slower rate. The Italian footwear group has maintained its expectations of an improvement in the operating margin thanks to cost efficiency measures, but is due to release new estimates in ...
Otto to axe nearly 460 jobs to reduce costs
Otto Group will cut nearly 460 additional full‑time jobs, largely at its Hamburg headquarters, as part of a sweeping restructuring program aimed at lowering costs and responding to weakening consumer demand and growing international competition.
Roots explores a possible sale
Roots has initiated a strategic review that includes the possibility of being sold. The Canadian lifestyle brand has hired J.P. Morgan Securities Canada Inc. as its financial advisor and Torys LLP as its legal advisor for the review.
Aeffe receives expressions of interest from investors, plans to pick a buyer by end May
Aeffe, the troubled Italian fashion group that owns the luxury footwear brand Pollini, has received several non-binding expressions of interest from Italian and foreign investors with experience in the fashion industry. Aeffe also owns the high-profile brands Alberta Ferretti and Moschino.
Primark appoints a Chief Commercial Officer
Primark has appointed Filip Ekvall to the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer, with effect from Sept. 1. The new role of Chief Commercial Officer will bring “together the product, retail, digital and customer functions to further integrate and strengthen Primark’s consumer proposition across channels and markets,” said Associated ...
Bally appoints a new CEO
Bally, the Swiss luxury brand, has appointed Mario Grauso as its new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Ennio Fontana and marking another step in the company’s ongoing transformation under its new owner, the US investment firm Regent.
Shoe Carnival’s CEO steps down
Mark Worden, Shoe Carnival’s President and Chief Executive Officer, has stepped down and resigned as a member of the board of directors, effective Feb. 24. The US footwear retailer will commence a search for a permanent successor.
Italian shoemakers finally see their revenues rise in Q4
In 2025, revenues of Italian footwear manufacturers fell by 2.8 percent year-over-year to €12.84 billion, in line with expectations, according to a survey carried out in January by Confindustria Accessori Moda among members of the Italian footwear association Assocalzaturifici.
German footwear manufacturers’ sales up 3.2% in 2025
In 2025, sales by German footwear manufacturers rose by 3.2 percent year-on-year to €2.33 billion. Domestic sales were 6.0 percent higher at €1.73 billion and exports declined by 5.9 percent to €493 million, according to HDS/L, the German association of the footwear and leather goods industry, citing data by Destatis, ...
Brazilian shoemakers express concern about growing imports
After a record year in 2024, Brazil’s footwear imports continued to rise sharply in January, setting a new record for the month, according to data released by Abicalçados, the Brazilian association of footwear manufacturers.
Portugual’s 2025 footwear exports rise 0.8% in value
The Portuguese footwear industry exported 68 million pairs of shoes in 2025, up by 1.8 percent in volume compared with 2024, for a total value of €1.718 billion, up by 0.8 percent, according to data compiled by the statistics office Ine and released by Apiccaps, the Portuguese footwear association.
