{"id":15104,"date":"2015-05-20T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T14:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=15104"},"modified":"2015-05-20T06:48:21","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T11:48:21","slug":"birkenstock-trend-shows-no-sign-of-letting-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/birkenstock-trend-shows-no-sign-of-letting-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Birkenstock trend shows no sign of letting up"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sara Shouhayib<\/p>\n

When 15-year-old Joy Pasin walks through the doors of North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka she sees many of her classmates sporting the same shoes\u00a0\u2013 Birkenstocks.<\/p>\n

And last week she finally got a pair of her own for her birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see at least 10 girls wearing them everyday, and my high school only has 250 people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The two strap soft-soled sandal associated more with Woodstock than with Chicago\u2019s North Shore became popular at Pasin\u2019s school about a month ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a super popular junior at our school wearing them, and then the trend caught on,\u201d Pasin said. \u201cMy mom used to have some when she was younger, and she finds it hilarious that they are popular again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shoes that were popular during the hippie-crazed 60s and again in the 90s have enjoyed an unexpected resurgence in the U.S. over the past two years. Chicago shoe store owners said they see no signs of it letting up.<\/p>\n

\"Joy<\/a>
Joy Pasin said Birkenstocks are popular at her school because they\u2019re comfortable and fit within the dress code. (Joy Pasin\/Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA little bit of fashion and vintage and heritage,\u201d said Richard Price, manager of Alamo Shoes in Andersonville, about the brand\u2019s success this year. \u201cAnd then the other is the practicality. It still has one of the best arch supports in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price said sales of the German-brand shoes are up 44 percent for the year ended March 15 compared to a year ago.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0said there is a broad base of customers buying Birkenstocks from different lifestyles and demographics, and that about 60 percent of his customers are female and 40 percent are male.<\/p>\n

High-end department stores are carrying Birkenstocks, including Nordstrom and Barneys New York, which has a grey python-stamped leather pair for $295. Even J. Crew offers a line of the shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is surprising that they were adopted by the fashion set since they sort of represent anti-fashion. But, there is an iconic vibe about the brand that makes it a bit timeless,\u201d said Neil Stern, senior partner at retail consulting firm McMillanDoolittle.<\/p>\n

\"Anna<\/a>
Anna Janke, a student at Newman Catholic High School in Wausau, Wisconsin, wore Birkenstocks to the Cubs game on Friday. \u201cI feel like all of a sudden it was almost like a fad and everyone had them,\u201d Janke said. \u201cThey’re comfortable and practical and they go with a lot.” (Sara Shouhayib\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Birkenstock USA declined to discuss sales figures, but Matt Hundley, the public relations and events manager, said popularity picked up for the family-owned German shoe company even before the shoes appeared at the Celine Spring 2013 runway show in the fall of 2012.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>A senior customer service representative for Birkenstock USA said the company\u2019s last upswing 10 years ago mirrors the one today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of tapered off through the years and then it just recently, you know, within this last year, we\u2019re back to where we were ten years ago,\u201d said Elayne Rosson. \u201cThe phenomenon right now is that all of the high school and the college students all want Birkenstocks and we just love that.\u201c<\/p>\n

Williams Shoes-The Walking Spirit in Evanston has also noticed young girls catching on to the Birkenstocks trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting a lot of interest from high school students. That seems to be where the trends and the fads usually start, in high school. And then adults started asking too,\u201d said Richard Iverson, the store manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a fairly small line of what we used to have before, but it\u2019s going to take a while to build that up again,\u201d Iverson said.<\/p>\n

The store\u2019s owner, Michael Lembeck, said Williams Shoes-The Walking Spirit has sold 195 pairs of Birkenstocks over the last year compared to \u201cclose to nothing\u201d in 2013.<\/p>\n

Although Stern believes the fashion may eventually fade, he is optimistic that the brand\u2019s comfort and durability will drive\u00a0its success in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a private German company–family owned,\u201d Stern said. \u201cThey are built for the long haul and should do fine even as the \u2018fashion\u2019 phase dies down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: The Arizona sandal, with a retail price of $135, is one of the most popular Birkenstock styles sold at the Williams Shoes-The Walking Spirit store in Evanston. (Sara Shouhayib\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sara Shouhayib When 15-year-old Joy Pasin walks through the doors of North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka she sees many of her classmates sporting the same shoes\u00a0\u2013 Birkenstocks. And last week she finally got a pair of her own for her birthday. \u201cI see at least 10 girls wearing them everyday, and my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":15158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,27,436],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-business","category-spring-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nBirkenstock trend shows no sign of letting up - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/birkenstock-trend-shows-no-sign-of-letting-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Birkenstock trend shows no sign of letting up - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sara Shouhayib When 15-year-old Joy Pasin walks through the doors of North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka she sees many of her classmates sporting the same shoes\u00a0\u2013 Birkenstocks. 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