“Color is permating throughout footwear and apparel, with the colored denim trend taking off in a big way from jeans to pants to shorts to footwear and accessories,” he said. While visiting the showroom of fashion-forward footwear firm Steve Madden during the recent FFANY shoe show last week, Lyon noted a higher percentage of flats and sneakers, both featuring color and embellishments. He said the move more towards casual began emerging late last year — after a two-year, dress cycle featuring heels and pumps — when flats, ballet flats, smoking shoes and sneakers began being featured.
While Madden’s core customer is between ages 13 and 24, Lyon believes the casual trend will also migrate toward the older demographic groups since “everyone wants to look younger.”
Lyon also left open the possibility of socioeconomics at work: “We are four years out of the recessionary period and are slowly grinding our way out of this. Maybe there is some sort of correlation [toward the new fashion trend].”