Mirage-
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2021
- Messages
- 608
- Reaction score
- 633
I think the brand expanded, opened up new stores (it now has 13, including 3 abroad, which is a lot for a brand apparently born with DTC model in mind), and decided to sharply increase margins (both directly by prices, and by cutting corners on the product) to sustain growth and probably much stronger marketing.Any updates from long time owners?
I was walking around the East Village of NYC yesterday and came across the store having never heard of the brand. I stopped in and spoke with a very nice woman who explained about some of the lasts used on different shoes. Unfortunately I was in sneakers and shorts so I did not have the opportunity to try on anything and decided to check-in here first before I go back o the store.
After reading through all 16 pages, it seems that a few years ago the shoes/boots were well priced, good quality, and great value for money but now they are almost double the price and the quality is not as good. Is this correct? Could this be due to the pandemic? Any other reason?
It also appears the owner, Enrico, stopped participating in 2017 and his account no longer exists.
And feedback would be greatly approeciated.
You can find several articles and case studies on the net (most are behind paywalls though) analyzing its rapid growth; this one (in Italian, sorry) claims the brand registered +80% growth in Q1 of 2020 AND 2021, in good part due to expansion outside Italy. It also claims Velasca is preparing to launch other kinds of products besides shoes, i.e. presumably become a full-fledged clothing brand.
You can also look into the new (launched in 2021) women section, which hilariously removes all the technical details about the leather and shoes (apparently reserved for us nerds) and is instead full of "editorial content", in a style that mimics fashion magazines aimed at teens. This is only a prelude btw, if you buy a pair (I have firsthand experience) you get even more of that content as a sort of product guide, in the package. I swear, it's bizarre.
Some of that "teen language" effect might be lost in translation with the English version though.
Anyway...it is a bit sad, it was the single affordable Italian shoe brand, that I know about, that was worth buying. But it no longer is in my book. So it looks like I will have to keep not buying locally, at least until I can afford something like Bonafe.