UAE is a growing and developing nation in varying sectors including the fashion and footwear sectors.
I noticed that after attending many fashion events or expos here that there was always a small amount of footwear vendors scattered about in the event space which didn’t draw that much attention from the visitors.
The well known APLF leather exhibition https://www.aplf.com/2023/03/30/aplf-24-to-return-to-hong-kong-home-base/
hosted their yearly trade fair here in Dubai in March for the first time but will return to it’s home in Hong Kong for it’s regular scheduled events
I would suggest any new footwear brand trying to break into the UAE industry must do serious ground work to let the local community get to know you because the lack of multi brand footwear shops and vendors makes it difficult to gain accounts in this region if you are a new brand unless you secure an account with the known chain department stores.
Otherwise you have to make a pretty big name for yourself in order to gain interest in your brand and get locals to buy from you due to brand awareness and not simply on the basis of your design, style and diversity.
I believe that the UAE and Mena area in general will eventually develop an actual footwear industry where local talent will be recognised, and more multi brand footwear shops will open with growing knowledge of shoes, industry, diversity etc by the local market.
There is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs who have a love of shoes to create businesses that sell exclusive footwear from individual brands in their shops, but what must be present from the local market is interest, knowledge, sense of diverse style, awareness of international talent apart from luxury or mainstream brands etc.
There are challenges for every market that you enter, but when trying to break into a developing nation who’s local market are not familiar nor accustomed to buying a brand just for it’s style and talent nor is there a multitude of local multi brand vendors willing to house them then that presents a huge disadvantage for the new designer brand trying to get discovered.
These are pictures from footwear trading in the west, where shoe shop owners come out to find new designers to house in their boutiques, department stores, atliers etc…
The designers typically set up their stalls, and gain accounts with vendors from all over the world who want to carry their shoes and introduce the brand to their customer base.
Style Diversity 