Holiday Reading

This week, we wanted to keep it light.?

We have put together a list of 5 great books to unwind with whilst increasing your knowledge of footwear/fashion industry.

The books and thoughts on them are based on our personal experience.

1 - Fifty Shoes that Changed the World - Michel Czerwinski

This is a great small book. It doesn’t take more than hour to get through. However, you will keep coming back to this resource when looking for inspiration.?

It covers one page stories that gave legendary status to each style. We were stumped to learn for example that the converse style is now more than 100 years old. How TODS made its humble driving shoe an international sensation. The heritage of Salvatore Ferragamo’s espadrilles.

This is one book that you will be happy to have in your office.

2 - The Emperor of Shoes - Spencer Wise

This book for people who enjoy reading fiction or watching a movie. The writing is fluid enough that you will feel like you are watching the scenes unfold in front of your eyes.?

There is a reason for that,?this book is written from the writer’s own experience of running a shoe factory in rural china.?It covers the stress of filling a production line, of living in china, dealing with internal politics, intergenerational conflicts and worker suppression.?

For good measure there is also an interesting twist in the middle and at the end.?

Although this book has become quite?rare,?we highly recommend it if you could get your hands on a copy or have a kindle.

3 - Shoedog - Phil Knight

This book is not rare at all. In fact it is a blockbuster, an undeniable page turner. We have read a fair number of biographies and none will inspire your as much as Phil Knight’s story.?

The details are given without holding back on explaining the failures.?We learn the excruciatingly slow process to get the right product out to the right customers.

Along the way you will get to learn how the company was initially run from former runners, accountants and lawyers. How they used it as a medium to engage in innovation.?

This includes the one where co-founder Bill Boverman used a waffle iron to come with what we would now call a TPR outsole. They were first to recognise the?power of endorsing?future winners. Among the first to recognise the potential of manufacturing in South East Asia.?

By the end of this book you are most definitely going to find a?renewed energy?and we congratulate you for that.

4 - Outsiders - Willam N. Thorndike, Jr.

Outsiders is a collection of business stories. It’s not footwear related or even fashion related for that matter. It focus is rather one key unfashionable ingredient that (according to the author) persists in a successful and sustainable business. That ingredient is?Capital Allocation.

It’s the same process that a buyer enages in when she decides to invest in a product. When a factory decides to invest in a new line or category.?Every critical function in our business requires us to make important capital allocation decisions.?

This book provides a valuable guideline and set of concrete benchmarks to get better at this business skill.?With each chapter we see how these same set of traits were used in different industries by individuals that understood these concepts inherently.

Like the first book from the list this is short one and you will be glad to have this reference.

5. Ogilvy on Advertising in a Digital Age - Miles Young

In this sequel to the founder’s seminal book on the art of Advertsing, this one is an updated version.?If you are struggling with navigating the new medium of brand building through social media, then this book is for you.?

It’s basically a textbook so it will take you time to get through it. We recommend you to give it time since each aspect of digital marketing is covered in detail.?

But this also means you don't have to read it cover to cover. Rather, use it for advise when you need some answers.