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Wouter de Wit was polishing his six pairs of leather shoes, ready for a new job in Amsterdam’s business district, when he received a text message from his new boss.

“He said: ‘Before you go any further, come in and look at the dress code’,” says De Wit. Smart shoes were out, trainers were in. “I had no sneakers, so I bought these,” the 41-year-old consultant adds, pointing at his box-fresh, white Adidas trainers.

As traditional Dutch shoemakers struggle with cheap competition from China, there’s another trend to contend with: a casualisation of modern footwear that the Financieele Dagblad has dubbed “versneakering”.

According to Statistics Netherlands and FD Research, the number of shoe shops in the Netherlands has halved from 3,400 in 2012 to 1,660 in 2024. Meanwhile centuries-old family firms, such as the loss-making Van Lier, say that sales of sneakers last season made up 60% of revenues, when once it was 10%.

Wouter de Wit’s boss told him he should wear trainers for his new role in Amsterdam’s business district. Photograph: Judith Jockel/The Observer

“It started four years ago [with Covid] when people no longer needed to go to work,” Van Lier’s chief executive, Christina van Spaendonck, told NPO Radio 1. “People started buying more sneakers. You see them worn under a suit and they are ever more acceptable on the work floor.”

“We are primarily data-driven, so if you see that sneakers are doing well, you buy in more … and we are seeing a trend towards both more dressy shoes and more dressy trainers.”

Thanks to widespread adoption of cycling, and the problems of cycling in a suit and leather shoes, the Netherlands has long embraced less formal business dress than London. Maarten Altena, 42, a banker in Amsterdam’s Zuidas business district, felt that his Santoni Italian suede sneakers with an orange sole suited him – and his clients too.

“I worked in London before and it was all booted-and-suited every day,” he said. “Here, it’s more relaxed. If your clients are tech companies in a T-shirt, when you’re in a suit, it sets the wrong tone.”

The Netherlands is certainly not the only place where trainers have caught on, according to Troy Nachtigall, professor of fashion research and technology at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. “If you look at trade tariffs, 100% leather shoes have an impossibly high tariff,” he said.

“Also, that classic brown shoe-blue suit look broke down about the same time that you didn’t have to wear a tie to work … and this white trainer thing just took over. The casualisation of our footwear has led to an explosion of styles: people are expressing themselves in sneakers. And even if it’s the all-white classic, the detail level is really high.”

The Netherlands has long embraced less formal business dress than London. Photograph: Judith Jockel/The Observer

There are, however, unwritten rules, according to Lilian Woltering, a Dutch etiquette specialist for business. “You cannot just take a pair of shoes out of your closet because you like them and you feel like wearing them,” she said. “It’s still your job, and you have to think: do I [project] trust, quality, professionalism?

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“It’s a different dress style than if I go to the pub with my friends, and I really think managers can make up some rules about it.”

Not too many, though, suggests Joost Fortuin, managing director of the PageGroup recruitment consultancy in the Netherlands, because there’s a pressing labour shortage in the country.

“We are working with new generations joining the market and in the driving seat,” he said. “There is a shortage of staff, which means you’ll try to make it as appealing as possible for a certain generation to feel at home. I think it doesn’t really matter any more if you wear tennis shoes or dress shoes, and it supports the diversity and inclusion agenda.”

It won’t damage your feet, either, according to Sjoerd Bulstra, emeritus professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). “Thick soles require more force to move, which can be problematic for knees and hips,” he said. “But if they don’t fit on top, or there’s not enough space for the toes, that’s more of a problem than the shoe type.”

Rutger Groot Wassink, 50, the deputy mayor of Amsterdam, proudly matches his 10-plus pairs of trainers with his suits.

“People sometimes comment on it, and say I’ve got strange shoes on,” he said. “Well, [I reply]: ‘I think they look better than yours.’ ”

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