Toms' next chapter: CEO Jessica Alsing discusses brand resurgence and global market expansion

Earlier this year, Toms found its new chief executive in Jessica Alsing, the first woman to helm the global footwear brand. Her appointment marked the beginning of a new phase defined by growth, innovation and a renewed take on philanthropic giving, the latter a core pillar in the brand’s legacy.

Upon her appointment, Alsing underlined a focus on “unexpected” brand collaborations, the company’s wholesale footprint, and a marketing strategy led by a community of content creators already well versed in Toms’ community and values. In conversation with FashionUnited, Alsing shared further insight into what can be expected from Toms under her leadership, particularly as the brand approaches its 20th anniversary.

I would love to hear about your journey to Toms. What drew you to the brand?

I really love the legacy of impact at Toms and I’m really excited about the brand energy overall. This is a brand that is so loved across its community. In fact, when I announced this role, I received so much more love towards Toms than I had ever imagined from people in the industry.

I’m really excited to take this brand to more people. The awareness is already very high, but I really want to develop this into a resurgence and drive forward relevance of the brand and product. There’s so much opportunity. In my background, I’ve very much been a growth-focused CEO, so this is something that I’m very excited about taking on at Toms, too.

You also have a background in digital marketing. How will that help shape Toms' strategy, specifically, as you emphasised, its content creator strategy? How do you envision that?

There’s so much going on in the marketplace today, and it’s very hard for brands to be quite innovative in this space. Most of the innovation comes from the community, the people who love the brand – whether they’re painting shoes, putting charms on them or how they are wearing them. Tapping into that community and amplifying their voices is really what’s going to be able to drive our business.

There’s a number of different tools that allow us to do that and reach out to our creators. That’s where we’re going to find the strength of the brand: having real authentic voices amplifying us.

More broadly, what do you see as the biggest challenges or opportunities facing footwear?

There’s a number of different challenges facing footwear overall. Obviously, the macroeconomic conditions are really challenging: with tariffs and political shifts. The emergence of AI and technology, and really how to set yourself apart as a footwear brand within these spaces is going to be challenging in the future.

It’s also imperative to not follow all the changing consumer tastes, but to stick to your own authentic brand voice. There are endless micro-cultures within consumer identities, and a brand can’t and shouldn’t, chase them all. Staying true to your own authentic voice is far more powerful.

I’m really focused on psychographics rather than demographics. The attitudes and behaviours of consumers matter so much more than age. It’s a personal approach for me, as I also like to follow lots of trends that I may be too old for, but I love tapping into them. I’m really a consumer who can grapple with that. People have access to everything these days.

As Toms approaches its 20th anniversary, what were your immediate priorities when stepping into the helm?

What is key for me is recognising the importance and awareness everyone holds for the icon, the Alpargata [Toms’ signature slip-on shoe style, ed.], and thinking about how to reignite the resonance of that specific product.

We’re doing a few things in that respect. We’re launching limited edition drops in early spring. We’re starting those on a level of frequency that helps the fans really tap into something that’s incredibly special and unique. There’s only a limited number of pairs that will be made. What’s exciting about this specific product is it will be numbered, similar to art. That’s one part.

Then for the second, we’re looking at relaunching, on specific days, our ‘One-for-One’ model – something that is part of our legacy and history. We wanted to bring that back to the US for the 20th anniversary. In Europe, we’re looking at launching something with select partners in the late spring or early summer. It’s, as mentioned, a really important part of our legacy, and I’m looking forward to showcasing that for our anniversary.

Indeed, a massive part of Toms’ legacy is its social impact mission. How do you intend to evolve that mission while also driving growth?

The One-for-One campaign was very progressive when it first started [in 2006, ed.], but 20 years seems like a lifetime ago. We have the opportunity to really evolve what ‘giving’ looks like. There’s so many ways that you can give today. Maybe it’s a collaboration with a great partner, where the proceeds go to a common charity you both are fond of, for example. There’s other opportunities aside from cash grants and the One-for-One model.

In the US, we’re thinking about teachers and children in every aspect. That’s the focus of the organisation today. The great thing about children is that they relate to everybody; to mothers, fathers, teachers, nurses, doctors, to everyone. What I really want to do is tap into the people that make a big difference in our communities and we can really give back to.

This will also be reflected in the brand’s new ‘Better Tomorrows’ messaging. Can you talk me through what influence that will have on the wider business?

It’s about questioning how to make an impact. We’re a product company. We want to make great footwear and that’s a priority. But I think we need to do it through the lens of: how are we contributing to a better tomorrow. That’s why we are thinking about children, as they are the future of all of us.

When it comes to product, particularly the Alpargata, do you see other opportunities for evolution?

We have an existing line of Alpargatas, but we’re also introducing new colourways, prints and textures, many of which are in limited edition drops. Other ways we can do this is through partnerships, licensing or collaborations. Another way is through innovation in design. One focus we have is creating a franchise or collection of related styles building off of our iconic Alpragata. Taking an iconic shoe and tasking our innovative designers to think about how they can expand and reimagine the item for today. For example, in spring 2026 we’ll be introducing a ballet-style Alpargata and in fall 2026 we will be introducing a Mary Jane version.

Another piece that we’re looking at is a capsule collection for our elevated retail accounts. More premium versions of our existing styles and new styles that might work better for their customers.

So you’re really doubling down on collaboration. What are you looking for in partners? What distinguishes the type of partners you’re hoping to work with?

I can tell you what I don’t want first. I don’t want collaborations that are disruptive in nature just for being disruptive, just for the press. I think that’s played out a little bit, and I don’t think that’s where Toms needs to go.

I do think we can have unexpected collaborations based on an alignment, whether that’s on philanthropic ideas or core feelings of heritage. There’s so many different types of collaborations we can think about. I have some partners in mind, but I don’t want to share those quite yet. I have a lot of ideas and we’re very focused on this, so I’m really excited.

Beyond signature slip-ons, which product categories do you see as the biggest growth drivers?

There's three. Sandals are an obvious one. The global sandal market is a billion dollar business [according to Business Research Insights, the global sandals market stands at 33.77 billion dollars in 2025, ed.], and it’s hyper fragmented. There’s no real major player in sandals, so there’s a huge opportunity for us there. It also makes a lot of sense for us to evolve into sandals with our DNA, from a summer perspective.

We also see opportunities in sneakers. Our TRVL Lite sneaker has done incredibly well globally. We’ve got some fantastic sneakers for fall/holiday 2026 as well as spring/summer 2026.

I would also say the same for transitional products – what we call ‘dress casual’. As we all know, in Europe, there’s really no warm place in the winter. That transitional product is really important to us. We’ve focused on the technical aspects of that product – being water and stain repellent. We need to think about how we can still dress our European consumer throughout all four seasons.

Certain trends, like the ‘big, ugly shoe trend’, are starting to wane a little. Yet no one wants to give up comfort. What we’re seeing is a sleeker product that is highly comfortable. We’ve evolved our footbeds to be incredibly comfortable, despite having sleeker shoes. It’s a good time for Toms to research this space.

I would love to dive a little deeper into innovation. What kind of innovations in footwear can be expected from the design and merchandising side of the business under your leadership?

This is present in some of those things we have discussed regarding the transitional capsule collection.

Footwear has an 18-month span to get your product out there. What you’re going to see in spring/summer 2026 is incredibly interesting new product. From the men’s category, it looks very European, very elevated for the price point. We have a number of different textures and styles, such as crochet products. Our product team is absolutely fantastic.

From an innovation standpoint, I’m just going to be the best leader possible to give them the space that they need to innovate. It’s important to let your teams really find their way and create product with their innovative eye.

So the menswear and European markets are going hand-in-hand at the moment. Are there other geographical areas that are showing promise?

The Middle East and Africa have been really strong for us, we’re really proud of the partners we have. We have huge opportunities in Southern Europe, there’s a lot of strength there. Greece is very promising.

There are places we’re distributing in already, but we could be more broadly targeting, like in Southeast Asia, India is very strong. There are a number of different markets that we’re really not tapped into. Asia for one. The same for Southern Europe. We could be so much more penetrated in those markets. There’s a tonne of opportunity here in Europe, and I’m happy to work with partners that can really drive the business with us.

Toms has worked hard to stabilise financially in recent years. What are your goals for financial growth going forward?

One of the things about Toms that I’m pretty impressed with is despite the challenges the overall footwear market has seen, Toms’ revenue is relatively stable and flat. It’s resilient in times of turmoil, which I’m really happy to see.

I do think there are always opportunities. Macroeconomic impact, political implications, tariffs, and then consumer trends, points of view and discretionary income: these factors will always be challenges. The goal of any CEO is to evaluate what risks are out there and how to then mitigate them early.

Tariffs have presented a particular challenge this year. Is that something you’ve had to consider when forming your strategy for Toms?

When forming the strategy, we really evaluated our manufacturing capabilities and portfolio. It was important for us to hedge any concerns within our commercial strategy, such as having too much of our product being made in one place.

We also looked at strategic pricing, where we see opportunity. We have already explored this in ways, and have done so successfully. It’s just something we have to think about, but they’re manageable. I don’t want to price products based on margins or tariffs. I want to think about the consumer first and tariffs, hopefully, last.

It’s just about remaining calm, steadying the ship and hedging any kind of risks you have.

You’ve also mentioned strengthening Toms’ digital and physical strategies. How is a footwear brand like Toms adapting to stay competitive in these spaces?

There are a couple of ways we are considering this. It’s mainly about leaning into the strong partnerships we have with both our distributors and wholesalers. That’s going to be really important for us going forward.

With our customers, we are focused on generating loyalty. We have a lot of consumers that love us and we have a very expansive database for all sides of the business. What we want to do is launch a loyalty programme where, for example, we can provide early access for seasonal products or collaborations. We’re really just focused on serving the consumer, that’s our core objective.

Finally, how is Toms positioning itself in this climate?

In the footwear industry, we’re all about reshaping the supply chain. Tariffs brought a lot of introspection on how to reshape the supply chain and localisation. Footwear is increasingly bridging categories of performance and fashion. Premium and design-led products are really gaining ground, and that’s what we want to bring to the market – design-led products.