Saks Fifth Avenue opens new men's footwear area

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Jul 19, 2019

Saks Fifth Avenue has opened one of the largest luxury men's shoe destinations in the country, as part of the continued 'grand renovation' of its New York City flagship, at 611 Fifth Avenue at 50th Street.

Located on the sixth floor, the new men’s shoe space covers a whopping 8,000 square-feet, and has opened with over 60 luxury brands, 15 of which are new to Saks. The area includes over 2,000 SKUs and 160 exclusive styles, encompassing sneakers, casual footwear, made-to-measure dress shoes, boots and more.

Featured brands include Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brunello Cucinelli, Burberry, Celine, Common Projects, Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Gucci, John Lobb and Off-White, among others. 

Adding to Saks’ vision of an elevated footwear shopping experience, the space also offers shoe repair stations, extended sizing, 30 multilingual men's shoe ‘style advisors,’ and merchandise personalization.

The expansion comes as menswear sales continue grow, according to industry research. Sales growth for menswear has consistently outpaced womenswear since 2016, according to Euromonitor. That trend is set to continue, with men’s clothing sales predicted to grow 1.9% in 2021, versus a prediction of 1.4% for women’s.

"Luxury footwear is the gateway for men's customers into fashion and the new shoe experience is just the beginning of exciting things to come for our menswear offering,” said Marc Metrick, president of Saks Fifth Avenue. “Men's is a growing category at Saks, where we have seen a consistently positive customer response both in our stores and online."

The men’s shoe floor design was a collaborative effort between Saks’ store planning and design team and architecture, engineering and interior design firm, Highland Associates. Design highlights include a blackened metal and stone staircase, custom chandeliers, a large, central seating area and mirrored columns with a dark blue gradient.

In the future, the floor is set to host a variety of special events, including an upcoming panel discussions and a launch of Puma sneakers by Alexander-John with appearance by Upscale-Vandal scheduled for August 8.