Sneakers may get pricier again as oil pushes up synthetics, rubber and freight costs

Higher oil prices are pushing up the cost of making and shipping shoes, and consumers may face further price rises next year, WWD’s Footwear News reported on 16 October.

Why oil matters for shoes

• “Input costs for lifestyle and athletic brands are rising year over year, and oil is the big driver,” said Matt Priest, president and CEO of the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (FDRA). Synthetic materials used in nearly every sneaker are up, as are rubber and factories’ energy bills.
• Freight is also getting more expensive, with bunker fuel lifting trans-Pacific shipping rates and diesel raising trucking costs. Leather, by contrast, has eased in recent months.
• Increases are currently in the single digits, Priest said, but if oil stays on a higher plateau they will keep working through the supply chain from this autumn into spring 2027 and could build further by next summer.

The numbers

• FDRA data show US footwear prices in September rose 3.4% year on year: men’s shoes +4.5%, women’s +3.9%, children’s +0.4%.
• One offset: the landed, duty-paid cost of an imported pair of shoes has fallen year on year for four straight months, helped by lower duties and a stronger dollar.
• Stifel analyst Peter McGoldrick estimated that higher input costs could cut operating margins by 175 basis points before mitigation, or about 90 basis points after offsets. He named Birkenstock, Deckers, Crocs and On as relatively insulated, and Under Armour and Nike as facing greater risk.

How long the pressure lasts “depends on oil, and on how quickly shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and refinery capacity get back to normal,” Priest said.