World Industries Skate Footwear S/S 2026 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Skate Footwear S/S 2026 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: World Industries
Interviewee: R.P. Bess Brand Director

MARKET
What do you think the impact of Trump Tariffs will be on the European skate footwear market?
More shoes coming from outside China.

Is there still a space for smaller footwear brands in the current market?
We see new brands emerging from time to time. I don’t think it’s any different. So with that thought I think there is some room for smaller brands. They just have to make their mark and get noticed.

Are your price points increasing?
Prices have increased in the US market just a bit, but we’re trying to hold prices for international markets. We’ve moved production from China to help offset the US tariff issues. However, we don’t anticipate that affecting the EU market. Although prices in general tend to creep over time.

What stories and collection themes are you pushing this season?
We’re still following the trend of chunkier footwear at the moment with a new vulcanized style in the works. We’re still seeing graphics doing well for us. Although we are discussing throttling it back in the coming seasons.

DESIGN – Answered by World lead designer
What design trends are you noticing for this season?
Back in the day seasonal design for ecasts were a must. These days designers need to think two or three seasons ahead. Depends on your market. We tend to follow skate groms and apparel fashion to see into the future with product design, graphics, and marketing tools.

Are you releasing any new Pro models/ colourways?
Not in Spring, but looking to do a shoe with one of our riders sometime in 2026.

Any brand collaborations to look out for?
Yes we have brand collaborations in the works, but not in the footwear category and we’re not able to talk about it. It’s in apparel and skateboards. We anticipate it helping up with all categories we’re involved in.

Does your footwear brand have a sustainable element? Vegan shoes?
Yes! All of our footwear is 49% vegan leather. Safe for the environment and good to recycle. We are the process of developing 100% recycled materials for future seasons.

Must have styles for SS26?
We are always creating new styles. For SP26 we have a lot of new designs detailed with our traditional World Industries graphics. To highlight a few, we are dropping new technology. Classic cup sole design with a unique memory foam insert for added comfort. The Crux is a mix of skate with hiker trend details on our new memory foam tooling. The Prime is also on our new memory foam cup sole with our classic large logo look. We are also seeing a rise in mid and hit tops. The Echo is a blast from the past with retro sidewall printing with modern upper pattern complimented with pop graphics.
Prime $70USD MSRP
Crux $65 USD MSRP
Echo $65 USD MSRP

Key Products:

Prime Gray Black Red: