Portuguese Shoes – The Sexiest Industry in Europe

With brands such as Cubanas, Xuz, Fly London, Dkode, Felmini, Green Boots and many others establishing a new level in good quality and admirable innovation in the world of shoes, it’s no wonder that Portuguese shoes are so successful in the international market. See on today’s post how Portuguese shoes ended 2015 on a high note!

A new record high has been reached! Portugal’s now exporting more than 600 million euros in shoes than six years ago, i.e. since 2009, the sales of Portuguese shoes increased more than 50%. This news was announced by the Portuguese Footwear, Components, Leather Goods Manufacturers’ Association, or APICCAPS, which confirmed with the data of the National Statistical Institute that Portuguese shoe exports ended 2015 with a “slight growth” of 1%, which corresponds to 79 million pairs worth 1,865 million euros, all “made in Portugal”.

As we mentioned before on a previous post about online shoes in Portugal, this exports trend has been increasing and it doesn’t seem that it’ll slow down any time soon and today Portugal exports 95% of its production. And as you can see in the chart below, obtained from APICCAPS, the discrepancy between exports and imports is also clearly evident.

Portuguese shoes are currently exported to 152 countries in five continents. Because of their proximity, countries like France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom were the main receiving countries of this export, but in 2015 there were other relevant growths in Europe, for example, in Denmark, but the most surprising of all was the growth in sales outside of the European Union, like in Australia, Canada, China and United Arab Emirates. However, what stood out the most was the sales increase in the USA by 48%. In fact, the truth is that sometimes we receive request from people that ask us if we ship to America. Can you guess one of the Portuguese brands chosen by these people? It’s Fly London! I don’t know if you knew, but this brand even opened a store in New York. You can tell that there’s high demand!

These fantastic results were mainly due to APICCAPS’ motivation to bet on international markets, through the “The Sexiest Industry in Europe” campaign, something that they promote since 2009. This year’s campaign is led by Victoria Guerra, Portuguese actress and model, who together with model Bruno Rosendo, will present Portuguese shoes to the world by sending calendars to more than 93 countries.

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Do you want to know the best of all? There wasn’t only an increase in exports but also in quality of Portuguese shoes! According to a study conducted by the Catholic University of Oporto during Micam’s last edition, a consumer is theoretically willing to pay 34 euros for a pair of men’s Portuguese shoes and 31.50 euros for a women’s pair. But only if they’re unware of their origin. So, what was concluded in this blind test is that Portuguese shoes are the favourites is every category, but after finding out their origin, their appreciation decreases, being overtaken by Italian shoes. Therefore, it’s an image problem not a quality one. When questioned about the Portuguese products, the participants of this blind test used words like “good quality”, “modern”, “innovation” and “sexy” to describe Portuguese shoes.

And in this Micam 2016, 95 Portuguese companies were present, a number only topped by Spain. Among these brand, you’ll be able to find some very well-known, like Cubanas Shoes, Dkode, Felmini, Fly London, Xuz and the new brand, Green Boots.

Now you know. When in doubt, always bet on Portuguese shoes, since the proof is in the pudding! And do you know where you can buy Portuguese shoes online? All your favourite models are here at EscapeShoes, where you can find the brands mentioned before as well as many others, and who knows even more in the future. And with the arrival of new collections, it’s best to pay attention to our website. I promise that it’s worth it . 😉