Squid Game mania has shoppers snapping up Vans' white slip-on shoes
The Netflix series Squid Game is played on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken September 30, 2021.
PHOTO: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Illustration
PUBLISHED ONOctober 23, 2021 3:24 AM
White slip-on shoes are becoming a hot commodity thanks to the wildly popular South Korean survival drama Squid Game, with sneaker maker reporting a small increase in demand for its Vans brand.
The series, which became a global sensation and the No.1 program on Netflix, shows hundreds of cash-strapped players competing in hyperviolent games, sporting shoes resembling Vans' all-white slip-ons.
"We saw a nice spike — well, I'd call it a small spike, but I'll promise this is not a damned annual event," VF Chief Financial Officer Matt Puckett said on Friday (Oct 22), adding the apparel maker would use this moment to build on Vans' connection to pop culture.
VF Corp missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue and profit on Friday due to global supply chain disruptions and production shortfalls in Vietnam.
The Made in Korea green tracksuits and pink boiler suits worn by characters in the show have proven a pre-Halloween bright spot for the South Korean garment industry struggling during the health crisis.