I wore sandals to the beach. There were lots of sharp stones. It was a mistake.
Unless your sandals are made of steel, the stones on the beach will rip apart the soles. I wore them for as long as I could until eventually the soles completely gave way and I was essentially barefoot. It was time for some new footwear.
At LemonStand, we love eCommerce stores that have a unique design. As I searched for footwear online, I came across some sites that immediately stood out because of their professional, agency-built designs. These stores are proof of what we’ve been saying all along, that custom designs are far more effective than purchasing pre-made themes. Take a look at these 10 examples and get inspired by them!
ETQ
Founded in 2010, ETQ is an Amsterdam footwear retailer with a focus on elegant, timeless and quality shoes. Like their products, their store was designed to look elegant and timeless. Their agency, Build in Amsterdam, designed it with the mindset of creating a new digital experience with smooth animations.
From the boldly minimal homepage to their About page, the site oozes class. The Shop section is dedicated to images, placing the emphasis on shoe design. As you click through to the product pages, that emphasis becomes even more apparent with their sleek zooming features. For a truly unique shopping experience, take inspiration from this design.
Satorisan
Satorisan was founded in 2010 by a team of footwear professionals. They started out with the aim to create unique and comfortable footwear that gets more beautiful with age. Their mantra is ‘Footwear with a soul’.
The shoes themselves have a premium feel to them, which isn’t reflected by their logo and website branding. Plus I’m not a big fan of the carousel on the homepage. However, the design, made by Ingamana and David Navarro, makes the list because of the interactivity. For example, the ‘Shop’ section has this neat dragging feature where you can horizontally scroll through their products. There’s also a filter at the bottom and helpful tooltips that appear when you first land on the page.
I also like how the product pages place the focus on the shoes. With high-quality product images, the design brings to shoes to life and makes you want to buy.
Love Jules Leather
Ok, I might be a bit biased with this one. First off, like LemonStand, they’re a Vancouver startup. Actually, that sentence doesn’t do justice to their story. Head over to their site and read the full thing for inspiration. Secondly, the site is designed by Port 80 Web Design, a LemonStand Partner Agency, also based in Vancouver.
But don’t let that take anything away from the actual site. It deserves to be on the list because of the beautiful, on-brand design. It gives off a very hand-crafted vibe, just like their products. I like the silent video on the homepage, which tells a better story than a carousel.
Greats
With the idea of creating better sneakers for less, GREATS was launched in 2013 and quickly became an instant hit. They’ve shaken up the footwear industry with their direct to consumer model, and their website, designed by Wondersauce, is a reflection of this disruption.
While they too insist on using carousels, I like their use of whitespace. They manage to fit in lots of products on the homepage without making it look cluttered. I also like their custom fonts on product pages, because it adds personality to their brand and products.
Reebok
Reebok Work is a separate line of shoes from their regular product lines, hence the different URL. This line of shoes features durable boots meant for people who work outdoors a lot. The site is designed by Unidev and accurately reflects the rugged nature of their products.
I really like the animations you see as you scroll through the site. For example, the top image looks like the boot is kicking up dust and really brings it to life. It gets a little cluttered in the middle but after that there are more animations, like the dropping bricks.
OluKai
OluKai is all about the ocean lifestyle. They embody the Aloha spirit and their website clearly reflects that. Designed by Cuker, the site draws you in and invites you to explore their products and story.
The grid layout on the homepage allows you to see what’s most important to them. When clicking through to the product pages, the fonts and colors add personality to their products. The emphasis, however, is on content. They’ve got powerful copy, lots of videos and stories, and beautiful images that add meaning to their footwear.
Sneaker District
Sneaker District is a footwear company from Amsterdam that sells some of the top brands around. Their site was designed by Lama Lama, an agency also from Amsterdam.
Because they sell well-known brands, Sneaker District gets straight to the point. They have a clean layout showcasing all their products and a sleek sidebar with filtering options. I like how the shoes float when you hover over them. The product page is also pretty interesting and gives ample room to product images while also keeping important elements like copy and CTAs above the fold.
Reef
Reef has an interesting back story. They were started 30 years ago by two brothers who loved to surf. They wanted to create a brand that incorporated the surf lifestyle, and so they started with a sandal in Sao Paolo in 1984. Today they’re a thriving company and they have an amazing online store, designed by Libre Design, another LemonStand Partner Agency.
What’s unique about the site is how they mix in videos in their category pages. I also like their use of images in the dropdown navigations.
Wootten
Wootten is an Australian footwear company with a strong heritage. The legacy upon which the site, designed by Guvnor, was built is plain to see. The homepage clearly communicates their philosophy of creating high-quality leather goods at affordable prices.
I also really like the way the options are designed on their product pages. Instead of the same old dropdowns, they’ve gone with a visual array, making it much easier for customers to customize the shoes.
Sneakerbaas
This is another Dutch store that offers the latest and coolest sneakers on the market. There’s a strong sense of branding across the site and it was clearly designed to give it a modern and trendy feel. The store is designed by e-Activists, a digital branding agency from the Netherlands.
Are You Inspired?
Hopefully, this showcase of beautifully designed footwear stores inspires you create a unique design for yours. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and I’m sure there are many other well-designed footwear stores out there.
Let us know your favorite designs in the comments. Or feel free to suggest other stores that you think should be on this list!