Lee Jeans to launch footwear in Europe

Lee Jeans is expanding its product offering into footwear for the first time with a new collection of casual shoes and sneakers for men, women and children.

The debut collection will launch for autumn/winter 2023 in the EMEA market and will be produced under a license by The Brandsplus Group, which creates footwear collections for fashion and sport lifestyle brands including O'Neill, Champion and Pantofola d'Oro.

Simon Fisher, EMEA managing director at Kontoor Brands, which owns Lee Jeans, said in a statement: “We are thrilled to expand the Lee portfolio to offer high-quality, on-trend footwear options for our consumers in EMEA.

“Working with The Brandsplus Group and their superior sourcing and production capabilities, we are excited to begin delivering comfort and style to retailers across the region with the launch of the Lee Jeans footwear collection, which will offer the perfect complement to the Lee apparel already available in market today.”

Dimitri Van Leuven, chief executive at The Brandsplus Group, added: “We are proud to partner with Lee Jeans to bring the brand’s pioneering spirit and heritage styles to life through a high-quality footwear collection. Adding the iconic Lee brand to our footwear portfolio further illustrates The Brandsplus Group’s ambitious expansion strategy.”

This is the latest product expansion for Lee Jeans. In October, the heritage denim brand launched a childrenswear range for boys in the European market for autumn/winter 2022. The kidswear launch inspired by Lee Jeans signature styles is produced under license by Brand Machine Group and will include a girl’s range for spring/summer 2023.