Which shoe in the stores right now would you highlight?
“I would say ECCO Elli. It’s a girl shoe made for a feminine universe. Sharpening the profile on girl shoes is something that we are working on right now. From ECCO Kids you will henceforth see more shoes dedicated to girls. This will strengthen our range of shoes.”
How would you describe your target group – kids?
“They are extremely honest and very straightforward. There is absolutely no filter when you ask kids about a new shoe. They will tell you exactly how they feel about it. As a designer it’s fantastic to have so open and honest an audience. Sometimes, I visit ECCO stores just to watch how the kids react to our shoes. It’s very inspiring and good knowledge.”
What are the similarities and differences between designing shoes for kids and grownups?
“Well, we start at the same place by choosing the last we want to work with. Then we design the sole, which actually is the part that takes the longest because it has a lot of standards that we have to meet; like functional and technical standards. After that we design the upper and then our paths parts. In Kids our size range is much more complex and we have far more proportion work to do. Kids’ feet changes as they grow and kids treat their footwear different than grownups. As a designer, you have to bear in mind how kids in different ages use their shoes; e.g. how are their motor skills.”
How would you from an overall perspective describe ECCO Kids?
“Each shoe is unique. Each shoe is thoroughly prepared on fit, feel and materials. We have high standards for the materials we use and we use a lot of leather. Our shoes are renowned for quality and fit, but also on design you will notice that we changed; adapting to the Scandinavian design philosophy of simplicity and functionality that ECCO works from.”
How would you describe the development of shoes for kids over the last years?
“They have become less detailed. If you go back a few years, shoes for kids often had motifs, decorations or some kind of other accessory. Today we see much simpler shoes and often shoes that are scale downs from grownups shoes.”