Drapers Announce Winners of Their Footwear Awards 2011

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, May 14, 2011 (Press-News.org) The prestigious Drapers Footwear Awards Success, held at the London's Grosvenor House Hotel, was a successful night for many within the footwear industry.

The event, which was hosted by stand up comedian Alun Cochrane, honoured independent retailers, specialist chains, fashion multiples, promising designers and established brands. The variety of awards on offer meant the makeup of the crowd was very diverse.

There were several success stories on the night, including former Clarks Director Peter Bolliger who was given a Lifetime Achievement Awards for his dedication to the footwear industry. Jessica Brown, Executive Editor of Drapers, commented "It's been a great year for footwear sales thanks to some really hot fashion trends from shearling boots to clogs. The shortlist was particularly strong this year and Drapers received entries from many businesses new to the awards indicating that the footwear sector is in good health."

The winner of brand of the year, 'FitFlop', show just how ever changing the footwear industry is. The FitFlop brand, whose popularity has come from their unique technology which increase muscle activity as the wearer walks, has taken the industry by storm. Several leading footwear brands have followed suit, and attempted to bring their own version of these toning shoes to the market. As is often said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Another highly contested award was Etailer of the Year. The online retail of shoes is an industry that is constantly expanding with shoppers becoming more and more confident with the purchasing online. The award went to independent shoe etailer Cloggs.co.uk, who fended off large brand names such as Jimmy Choo and the multi-store Clarks. Cloggs stock a wide variety of high street brands including, Dr Martens, Havaianas and brand of the year FitFlop.

Matt Jeans, E-Commerce Manager of Cloggs.co.uk, said "We're truly honoured to have received this award; our dedication to customer focus has shown us to be one of the best etailers on the Internet." Whilst Cloggs is relatively small when compared to other companies at the event, Matt was keen to mention that site already has a strong presence in both France and Germany, by selling Dr Martens and FitFlop.

It will be interesting to see what the next 12 months brings for the footwear industry and if Cloggs.co.uk will do anything special to defend their title at next year's awards.

The Drapers Footwear Awards is annual event run by the association behind the fashion magazine 'Drapers'.

Website: http://www.cloggs.co.uk