With sales of 2.7 billion US dollars, how do ugly shoes attract young people?

After the release of the movie "Barbie", a pair of "ugly shoes" Birkenstocks became popular. Why do these shoes, which sold for 2.7 billion US dollars, attract young people? In this article, the author deeply analyzes the reasons for their popularity and the aesthetic trends behind them. Let's take a look.

A pair of pink high heels representing a perfect world, and a pair of Birkenstocks representing the exploration of the true meaning of the universe, which pair of shoes would you choose? This is the choice given to Barbie by the weirdo Barbie in the movie "Barbie". In the movie, Barbie pointed her finger at the former without hesitation.

But at the end of the movie, when Barbie stepped into the real world, she was wearing a pair of pink Birkenstocks. This pair of Birkenstocks, which looked a bit ugly at first glance, became one of the most popular shoes this year. Many consumers who watched "Barbie" had "aftereffects" - they wanted to buy a pair of Birkenstocks as soon as they left the cinema.

Image source: Stills from "Barbie"

This summer, a very obvious consumption trend is that ugly shoes have captured the hearts of those born after 1995 and even after 2000. Not only Birkenstocks, but also the "old internet celebrity" of ugly shoes - Crocs, have also captured the hearts of young people again with DIY elements such as shoe flowers and shoe buckles, and have become popular again with "fine decoration".

The ugly shoes that were once wildly despised have spawned a niche business. Some people earn tens of millions a year by selling decorations for hole shoes. Young people who love hole shoes have even created a large "gang" - Dongmen, which has become a new cultural genre. Taobao even has a special "Dongmen" event.

Why have ugly shoes become a new fashion among young people? What consumer codes are hidden in this? Is the "ugly aesthetics" trend triggered by this trend a short-term fad or a long-term business trend?

1. Billions of dollars in sales, ugly shoes ushered in a new era

Before Barbie became popular, Xiao Ke, an employee of an Internet company in Hangzhou, had already fallen in love with Birkenstocks. Since 2020, her shoe cabinet has been occupied by Birkenstocks. "I spent a lot of money on a pair of ugly shoes because this brand is really friendly to flat feet," Xiao Ke told the New Consumption Think Tank.

At that time, many of her friends were divided into two camps: one camp thought that being extremely tacky was trendy, while the other camp thought that it was really ugly. She said, "In the past, some friends couldn't understand why I wore this kind of shoes everywhere, but after the movie became popular, more and more friends around me started wearing Birkenstocks."

Young people like Xiao Ke are not isolated cases. For experienced Birkenstock users, comfort is the key to their choice of Birkenstocks.

Birkenstock appeared as a foot orthotic product. The principles of ergonomics were applied at the beginning of its design, so that it can provide perfect strength support when people are standing or walking. The soft soles and elastic feel of the feet have imprinted the formula of "comfortable sandals = Birkenstock" in the minds of customers.

In the Chinese market, Birkenstocks have always been a niche item and have never become popular.

Barbie became an important opportunity for Birkenstocks to go viral. In the last scene of the movie, Barbie was not wearing any fancy, dazzling fashion. She was just like every other girl walking hurriedly on the street on weekdays, wearing jeans and Birkenstocks, ordinary but not mediocre.

For some young people, the contrast between Birkenstocks and pink high heels gave Birkenstocks a sense of "liberation" and "rebellion." It was not until then that people suddenly realized that this ugly shoe with a rebellious spirit actually has a history of more than 200 years.

The origin of Birkenstock can be traced back to 1774, when the German Birkenstock family was engaged in making shoes for the royal family. It was not until 1963 that the first Birkenstock slippers, the Madrid Model, were officially launched, and Birkenstock began to enter the mass market. In 2021, L Catterton, a consumer investment fund under LVMH, acquired part of Birkenstock's shares.

Although they are called "ugly shoes" in the Chinese market, Birkenstocks are a fashionable item in Western countries. In 2017, the global sales volume of Birkenstocks exceeded 250 million pairs.

Regarding the controversy over the ugliness of Birkenstock shoes, Rick Owens, an American designer who has long collaborated with Birkenstock, said in an interview, "For Generation Z, who are obsessed with selfie culture, traditional aesthetics are already aesthetically fatigued. They tend to look for a more modest and holistic aesthetic system, and Birkenstock is such a representative."

Now, ugly shoes are finally having a spring. In 2022, Birkenstock's revenue grew 29% to $1.3 billion. According to statistics from Foot Locker, an American shoe retailer, searches for Birkenstocks have increased 225% since the release of Barbie, and the brand's sales are expected to see strong growth.

With the double blessing of the movie and the Clean Fit style, Birkenstocks have also become popular in the Chinese market. In the Birkenstocks Taobao flagship store, the popular styles of Birkenstocks are out of stock.

According to media reports, L Catterton may launch Birkenstock's initial public offering in September, and this move is expected to value the brand at more than $8 billion.

2. Millions of pieces sold, a new seasonal hit

Birkenstocks are not the only popular shoes this summer. Crocs, which is known as the "three ugly shoes" along with Birkenstocks and UGGs, has also made a comeback.

While people are still debating whether Crocs are beautiful or ugly, Crocs has come back again, officially announcing that popular stars such as Yang Mi, Zhou Yutong, and Bai Jingting are its spokespeople. Under the influence of the star effect, more people have become interested in "Crocs".

With this operation, Crocs delivered a satisfactory answer in the first quarter of this year. The first quarter financial report of 2023 showed that the brand grew by 33.9% year-on-year to US$884 million, and the main brand Crocs contributed US$649 million, a year-on-year increase of 19.0%. Among them, the revenue of the Chinese market increased by more than 110% in the quarter.

According to public data, Crocs' revenue in 2022 was 2.7 billion US dollars, which means that last year, the two ugly shoes, Birkenstocks and Crocs, sold a total of 4 billion US dollars.

If the celebrity effect provided the primary driving force for hole shoes, then the emergence of shoe flowers added fuel to the resurgence of hole shoes. The shoe flowers, which cost from a few cents to a few yuan each, pushed the popularity of hole shoes to the peak.

A pair of ordinary hole shoes is called a "rough house", while decorating the shoe holes with shoe flowers is called "fine decoration". Decorating shoe flowers on hole shoes has become the greatest pleasure for "Dongmen" believers.

On social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, there are more than 50,000 notes about shoe laces and more than 1.78 million related products. "Can I see everyone's shoe laces?", "Dongmen members report, copy shoe laces for me", "DIY shoe laces, versatile and cute.", "I buy shoe laces while throwing them away, and I never get tired of it"...

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Related topics such as "Dongmen Forever" and "Dongmen Outfits" received tens of thousands of likes, and many people shared their experiences in wearing hole shoes and matching shoe styles. In the related notes, comments asking for links and tutorials can be seen everywhere.

Using shoe flowers as a decorative carrier, it interprets the artistic fashion and unique trend cognition of Dongmen, which has also become a show for young people to show their aesthetics and imagination. This small shoe flower has released huge business opportunities.

According to the "Taobao 2023 Crocs Trend Report", 16.59 million people searched for Crocs on Taobao in July alone, and the transaction volume increased by 48% over the same period last year. At the same time, more than 1 million people searched for shoe flowers, and the transaction volume increased by more than 118% year-on-year.

On August 8, Taobao also held the 2023 Hole Shoes and Shoes Flower Awards specifically for the shoe flower product, and hundreds of thousands of people watched this unique show simultaneously.

Chen Meng is one of the Taobao shop owners who has benefited from the popularity of shoe flowers. As a new store that has been open for less than a year, her cumulative sales from shoe flowers have reached over 700,000 yuan.

Chen Meng also has a deep understanding of the popularity of shoe laces. "I feel that shoe laces suddenly became popular when summer was approaching, and suddenly there were more orders. I have an advantage in the Yiwu market, and new products are released relatively quickly, so I also made some money."

When talking about the changes brought about by the shoe flower, Chen Meng said: "In the past, there were less than 50 orders a day, but now there are hundreds of orders a day."

Unlike Chen Meng who caught the trend unexpectedly, Zhu Wei had long set his sights on the small business of shoe laces and opened a Taobao store specializing in various shoe laces as early as last year.

In just one year, Zhu Wei's store sales have reached 1 million. Especially during the 618 shopping festival this year, at the peak, he could place more than 500 orders a day.

Behind the counterattack of "ugly shoes", young people no longer give in to comfort. Beautiful things are all the same, while "ugly" things are rare.

Whether it's the Birkenstocks that symbolize the exploration of the true meaning of the universe, or the Crocs that symbolize the eternity of the cave door, the counterattack of these ugly shoes seems to confirm a point of view - people's standards of beauty are becoming increasingly undefined.

The reason behind the popularity of ugly shoes is, first, the "declaration" of young people to break the inherent formula of aesthetics. They don't care about the beauty or ugliness of the shoes, but the personalized expression of the product; second, young people are increasingly advocating pragmatism, and the demand for comfortable shoes and clothes has increased. People increasingly hope to create a sense of relaxation and laziness through shoes and clothes. Ugly shoes can easily match the current popular clean fit or mountain style.

In fact, the counterattack of "ugly shoes" is just a microcosm.

There is even an Ugly Things Protection Association group on Douban, which has more than 240,000 members. The group's promotional copy clearly states that "every ugly thing that is not surprising can be protected and cared for by the members."

3. Why do the younger generation craze about ugly shoes and ugly things?

1. Curiosity

"I want to see how ugly it is" has become one of the reasons why many young people choose ugly things. For them who are used to seeing beautiful things, ugly things are a kind of "visual offense" that can bring a strong sense of freshness and excitement.

2. Ugly things are inherently social

"I don't want to talk to people without Crocs anymore." Although this is a joke on the Internet, it is obvious that ugly things are like a switch, the easiest way to trigger young people's connection and satisfy their needs for a sense of identity and belonging.

From a commercial perspective, young people's pursuit of ugly things has also become a new business opportunity for some brands. Ugliness itself has a strong topic effect and communication value. Some brands produce ugly products that are partially out of traditional aesthetics, package ugly elements into consumable symbols, and lead the trend of ugliness.

In the fashion world, there is a concept called "ugly chic", which was proposed by Miuccia Prada, the helmsman of Prada. She combined ugliness and fashion to express the concept that ugly things can capture people's hearts.

Today, young people's pursuit of ugly things also confirms her words: "Because of its novelty, ugliness is more attractive and more exciting."

Fashion is always changing. Whether it is Crocs, Birkenstocks, or these so-called ugly things, as long as the item makes people feel comfortable and does not require the body to give in, it is a good product.

Perhaps a pair of ugly but comfortable Crocs, Birkenstocks, shoe boots, or dad shoes can bring young people to every corner they can reach.

Author: New Consumption Think Tank