Footwear Brands at Coterie and Magic New York Are Optimistic Going Into Spring 2024 Season

The mood at Informa Markets Fashion’s Coterie and Magic New York trade shows this week was optimistic, with many brand execs expressing confidence that inventory excesses and wholesale problems are finally easing up.

Exhibitors convened at the Javits Center in New York City between Sept. 19–21 to show off their spring ’24 products to retailers.

Kelly Helfman, president of Informa Markets Fashion, noted that there were 1,040 exhibitors at Coterie this season, with over 70 footwear brands on the floor. According to Helfman, 20 percent of the footwear brands at Coterie were new to the show this season. The executive also noted an increase in international brands joining the trade fair, up 27 percent year-over-year to 410 total brands from countries like Spain, Italy, Denmark, France, Japan and Colombia.

“It’s really important for us to consistently bring in new brands for our buyers to shop,” Helfman told FN in an interview. “Then when you fold in our growth of international companies, it sets us apart from our competition in what we offer our retailers.”

Over at Magic, pre-registration numbers were up this year and the trade floor featured more than 400 brands, with 30 percent of them new to the New York show. This comes on the heels of its Vegas show last month and the announcement that Magic will launch a new Miami event this January focusing on the in-between-seasons immediates market. The move to Miami plays off the small, local format Informa launched in 2022 with its Nashville show, which plans to make its return in 2024.

“The No. 1 reason retailers come [to Magic] is to find new resources,” explained VP of Magic Jordan Rudow in an interview with FN. “They love working with existing brands, but they’re really trying to find the next new trend, the next new resource.”

One of these new brands on the Magic floor this year was D’Amelio Foowear, the recently launched shoe venture from Charli, Dixie and the whole D’Amelio family made famous from TikTok. Their new label made its trade show debut at Magic Las Vegas in August.

“We want to familiarize people with our brand,” Marc D’Amelio, father to social media stars Dixie and Charli, told FN in an interview on the show floor. “The misconception is that with a lot of influencer brands, they just do licensing deals, or they stamp their name on it. And we’re different. We started from the ground up and hired a designer and a head of production.”

Overall, brands on the floor of Magic and Coterie said retailers seemed eager to get their hands on new products at the show this year. Here’s what they had to say:

Bernie Richfield, account executive, Cougar:

“Our business for spring booking is up a little bit from a year ago, which is a good sign,” said Richfield, noting that some styles, like Cougar’s waterproof sneakers, have had to been reordered multiple times to keep up with demand.

Richfield also noted that many retailers placed orders for the current fall season as they look to fill holes in the inventory they carried over.

“Overall, people are in a good mood,” Richfield said. “Spring/summer business was very good for most of the retailers that I spoke to.”

Stewart Goldman, COO and president of sales, Chinese Laundry

Goldman said that the brand is seeing strong orders from retailers looking for unique products that fill specific consumer needs.

“It’s about finding the whitespace and the needs,” Goldman said. “Right now, a lot of people have a glut of inventory because of COVID and backlogs they’re selling through and dollars are beginning to free up in certain areas. And it’s really just finding the right items and what is needed.”

Vicky Lee, head of marketing, Soda:

“Over the last couple shows, I think people have been more excited to buy,” said Lee, who was representing Soda in the brand’s first showing at Magic New York. “People, obviously, are buying different things than when we go to Dallas. People will tend to choose a lot of the trendier shoes that we have here.”

Jenny Foy, VP of sales, Marc Fisher Footwear

Foy said that most of her customers are very optimistic going into the spring season following years of stress from the pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation.

“Right now, buyers are waiting for the weather to turn cold so that their boot business will kick in, but other than that, business seems to be doing great,” Foy said. “They are actually chasing product now and placing reorders, which is always great. And some of our fall styles are already sold out.”

Steven Weinreb, president, Gola Classics

“We’ve seen buyers coming back for our heritage sneaker styles that are really resonating with consumers right now,” Weinreb said as he walked through the latest collection. “Bright and interesting colorways are what set us apart, as well as our court-style silhouettes. New, lower-profile soles are also sparking interest from our customers.”

Alberto Ciani, chief marketing officer, RE49

For a brand that relies on storytelling, the company’s main challenge this season is educating buyers on the sustainable aspects and benefits of buying the collection.

“We have new, bright and colorful options for spring, but it seems buyers that are looking for a more sustainable sneaker are gravitating to our more subdued color palette,” Ciani said.

The brand, which is in its second season at Coterie, is making more headway internationally with retailers in Europe and Asia, with a new account possibly opening up in New York.