Ideas
Explore the world's #1 largest database of ideas and innovations, with 480,987 inspiring examples.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,297 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 103,708 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Consumer Insights
Uncover major shifts and emerging opportunities with our exclusive PRO research.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,297 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 103,708 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Trend Reports
Get fast, customized trend reports, presentations and deep dives 20x faster than traditional research.
Plans
Get started today with a free consultation, our self-serve tools, or a dedicated program.
Articles & Magazine
Get inspired with our 4,233 innovation strategy articles, keynote, videos and innovation tools.
Innovation Awards
Trend Hunter’s Innovation Strategy Awards recognize the best innovation tactics gathered from our interviews with some of the world's most notable business leaders, authors and change makers.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Innovation Assessment
Enhance your innovation potential with a deeper understanding of your unique innovation archetype and how your organization benchmarks.
FuturistU
Prepare for the years ahead with 100+ lessons, tactics, tools and frameworks with our full learning database.
Innovation Books
Join 20,000,000 people getting better and faster with our New York Times Bestselling books and keynote videos.
Jeremy Gutsche
Ignite your event or virtual event with our CEO, a NY Times Bestselling Author and one of the top innovation keynote speakers.
Our Team of Speakers & Virtual Presenters
Inspire your group with our most popular speakers on innovation, trends, change and futurism.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Custom Masterclasses
Join the world's leading brands who leverage our custom programs to accelerate innovation.
FuturistU 5-Day Program
Become a Futurist with our immersive 5-Day program at Future Festival World Summit.
Online eLearning
Learn the fundamentals of futurism and trends with 100+ online courses about innovation.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Contact
Get in touch to learn more, ask a question or submit a tip.
About Us
Learn more about Trend Hunter and how we accelerate innovation.
Follow-Us
Join our 3,500,000 social media followers, on the cutting edge.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
FAQ
Get answers to common questions about Trend Hunter.
Community
Stay on the cutting-edge with the help of the Trend Hunter community.
Team
Meet the team trusted by hundreds of leading businesses worldwide.
Jobs
Find opportunities to accelerate your career with the #1 Trend Firm.
News
Catch up on noteworthy Trend Hunter news and media mentions.
Join
Build a portfolio and put your trend-spotting abilities to the test.
Advertising
Supercharge your marketing by partnering with Trend Hunter.
Portfolio
Visit your public portfolio and browse your past articles.
Add a Trend
Write up an article and showcase your trend-spotting skills.
My Trends
Edit your articles and see how they stack up on the leaderboards.
Settings
Edit your profile, connect your social media accounts, and more.
Add a trend, customize your dashboard, or track topics.
Future Festival
Innovation Events
Join the world's top innovators at our in person events.
Free Webinars
Learn to innovate through chaos, navigate the new normal and maintain work culture from home.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Search our database of 480,987 cutting edge ideas.

Customizable Kids' Footwear

Clean the Sky - Positive Eco Trends & Breakthroughs

Plae Sells Affordable Children's Shoes Through a DTC Model

— November 20, 2017 — Fashion
Purchasing clothing for kids can be a frustrating experience, since they can often be picky about the colors and designs they wear and yet kids also grow so quickly that it's far from frugal to spend a lot on any individual piece. Fortunately, Plae is using a direct-to-consumer model to keep prices down while still allowing kids to have complete control over how their shoes look.

The company has an online design system called Tablab where kids can design every part of their shoes, but as a DTC company, it removes the distributor and thus keeps costs low in comparison to other established competitors. Further, Tablab is interactive, making it a fun experience that helps kids to take ownership of what they wear.

Beyond Tablab, Plae also has an extensive line of shoes in preset colors to keep costs even lower.
Trend Themes
1. Customizable Kids' Footwear - Plae's online design system allows kids to personalize every part of their shoes, providing a disruptive innovation opportunity in the children's footwear industry.
2. Direct-to-consumer Model - Plae's direct-to-consumer approach removes the distributor and keeps costs low, introducing a disruptive innovation opportunity in the retail industry.
3. Interactive Design Experiences - Plae's interactive design system, Tablab, engages kids in the design process, creating a disruptive innovation opportunity in the interactive technology market.
Industry Implications
1. Children's Footwear - The customizable kids' footwear trend presents a disruptive innovation opportunity in the children's footwear industry.
2. Retail - The direct-to-consumer model trend offers a disruptive innovation opportunity in the retail industry.
3. Interactive Technology - The interactive design experiences trend presents a disruptive innovation opportunity in the interactive technology industry.
3.4
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness