How shoppers order for SS27: A visit to the hiking shop The World of Walking

When her father retired in 2021, Sanne Dirven took over the family business The World of Walking in Made, Netherlands. Her grandfather, a shoemaker, founded the business in 1953. The store features technical outdoor clothing and hiking boots, selected with an eye for style and function and a passion for sport. FashionUnited speaks to her in the middle of next summer’s shopping season.

Your grandfather founded the company in 1953, and today you are the third generation to run it. How did you come to succeed him?

Exactly, my grandfather started it almost 75 years ago, he was a shoemaker. My parents ran the business for about 40 years and I took it over with my partner Ward. I would never have thought of it in my life, but now it really fulfills me.

Hiking has experienced an enormous boom during the Corona period. We were extremely busy in the shop and I started helping my father. One thing led to another. He had been trying to sell the business for a while, but ultimately it stayed in the family. I did study in the industry – I attended TMO Fashion Business School – but I had never done anything with it until then. Now my children sometimes help out on Saturdays. That’s life.

How would you describe your store’s identity?

We want to create an atmosphere in which people feel comfortable. It’s a cozy shop, but not cluttered so you lose track. We attach great importance to visual merchandising and receive compliments for it. We have many employees on site to provide advice. That’s the most important thing.

When it comes to the offer, I try to find a balance: it has to work technically, but ideally it also has to look fashionable. This is a real challenge in the outdoor area.

What does your purchasing process look like?

Purchasing is an art in itself, especially in the outdoor segment. You buy a good year in advance. The shopping periods are from May to July and from October to December. We have now started spring/summer 2027.

There used to be a lot of trade fairs, but that has become really minimal since Corona. There’s still the brand event preview at the Sport Business Center in Leusden and a few small events – but that’s about it. So I have to rely more on my own expeditions and the inspiration I gather there.

Where are you currently gaining momentum for the order?

I do a lot of trekking tours and expeditions. You come across practical clothing or equipment that makes you think: Oh, this is something new that offers added value. I was just in Sweden and climbed Kebnekaise. That was at minus 20 degrees and strong winds.

I noticed that people wear completely different clothes in Scandinavia than in the Alps. Sweden is flatter and there is a lot of cross-country skiing. To do this, you need pants that won’t break on the inside with repeated movement. I also noticed that people in Scandinavia are much more concerned with sustainable materials than in the Alpine countries.

What role do data and sales figures play in your purchasing decisions?

I love data and seriously consider it when purchasing. Nowadays it’s no longer possible without it. Our range is so extensive – if I did it purely based on feeling, it wouldn’t work. But I don’t buy things that I would never wear myself. And I also think about things like colors: Does a fashion color really suit all people with different skin tones?

Are there brands that appear again and again in the collection?

Icebreaker is such a brand: lots of wool, technically good, sustainable. We have been selling them for at least 25 years and are fans ourselves. Meindl and Lowa have the highest sales.

But I’m always looking for new things. We started Patagonia last year and it’s going like clockwork. The Patagonia effect cannot be underestimated – people want products that are proven to be sustainable.

Sometimes we also remove a brand from the range, such as Arc’teryx. For reasons of sustainability. You were in the headlines because of a fireworks display in the Himalayas – and I don’t want to contribute to that with my company. I only sell brands that I fully support. Then I also have the courage to make such a decision.

So sustainability is a fixed requirement?

Yes. It was a challenge at the beginning – it’s a jungle of labels and certifications. If you really look into it, you see all sorts of grievances. I try not to get into a negative spiral in which nothing is possible in the end. Now all of our brands are Blue Label certified, and that’s saying something.

The sustainability gap is widening. Either people don’t care at all or it’s extremely important to them. But I see that people are willing to make sustainable decisions and pay more for them.

What challenges do you particularly often encounter in purchasing today?

New models are often not delivered until April or May. But people want to buy hiking boots in January so that they can be broken in for a four-day hike or a hut tour in the summer.

We solve this by maintaining our inventory and ordering a year and a half in advance. So we have enough goods in the early months, but the system is actually not consistent.

Has anything changed in the last few seasons?

I notice that some brands actually want to move away from retail. But if you really want to position a brand well, you have to do it together. This means training for employees and thinking about the presentation together.

I also see that many brands are being taken over by Chinese investors. Then you watch how a brand slowly changes. That happened with Arc’teryx too, and that’s why we stopped doing The North Face earlier. We sold this brand a lot. But if you look today at who is wearing a North Face jacket, they are different people than our customers back then. We have always sold them as a technical brand.

Do you already have a feeling for the fashion of the next seasons?

I see a trend towards even more functionality. Zip-off pants have been in high demand for several seasons, even though no one wanted them for years. They fit into the broader gorpcore trend – outdoor meets fashion. People define their identity by what they wear. With a Patagonia vest you radiate something: I have an awareness of the environment.

A bigger change since Corona is that work and leisure time merge much more into one another. People no longer want to sit in an open-plan office for eight hours. Going outside for a moment has become normal, and this is reflected in the (home) office looks.