Bata Shoes

An international brand

Bata has been producing shoes since 1895, the founder was Tomáš Baťa at the helm; in partnership with two of his siblings. Later becoming the largest footwear brand in the world and even today it is among the top ten shoe producers in the world. With retail outlets in over 70 countries, more than 5,300 shops and production interests in 18 countries. Bata is known for supporting their employees and setting up towns near their factories with schools and hospitals for social welfare.

There is one such town in Pakistan near Lahore called Batapur. Bata Pakistan has been around since 1942, with 431 retail outlets, 544 registered wholesale dealers and 136 DSP franchises; served by 12 wholesale depots across the country. The success of Bata lies with their workforce and the fact that they have made so many designs accessible to the average people. Bata did this by taking their quality control to the next level and being able to produce good products at a lower cost price. Today Bata is based out of Canada, where they also built the Bata Shoe Museum, in Toronto. 

Bata's range in Pakistan

Over the years Bata has developed another tear of labels that are sold under their name at the retail outlets. The various brands are for men, women and kids. A few of the labels are specifically for men or women or kids, others have a mix. The range encompasses shoes for all walks, from formal shoes to sports shoes to sandals and even Peshawari Chappals. The basic brand is the Bata Premium Collection with a mix of shoes and sandals for men and women. The design range is varied within this label, with ample options in design and colour. Bata's Ambassador label has a series of the classic men's styles with a tad more formal feel to them. Comfit is a variety of sandals that have comfortable soft soles, mostly open-toed. With designs that have open backs as well or straps to keep them more locked in. Bubble Gummers is the label for children's shoes. Leena from Bata has more fancy designs for women's sandals and a few heels as well. These are slightly more modern designs to go with all the lawn lines being released regularly. Insolia is a range of comfortable footwear specifically for women.

Northstar is the label that houses the urban shoes, closer to the street-style. These are made out of different fabrics with rubber soles. The Marie Claire line is the more upscale shoe range for women, closer to party wear. These designs are better than their regular wear shoes and the finish on these is of a higher quality as well, with sequins and glitter incorporated in some shoes. Mocassino from Bata is a range that has slip-on shoes, mostly for men but a few for women too. These would make for comfortable regular wear at the office or when dressing in a smart-casual tone. For athletic shoes, Bata developed their label called Power, which is a mix of shoes for different kinds of sporting activities. To make them more diverse there are ankle-high ones as well.

Weinbrenner is the rugged footwear label, with shoes that are durable and made from materials that would do well in an outdoorsy environment. Tommy Takkies, originally designed for a specific market are also a line of urban shoes. These designs are different from the other urban label from Bata. There is another label that does kids shoes too, called Spark. The Spark segment is limited to a few designs but adds to the overall catalogue. The one design range that stands out is under the Mello label. Mello is somewhat similar to the YEEZY sneaker range that Kanye West designed in collaboration with Adidas. Made with super cushy soles and comfortable fabric tops, a mix of slip-on and laced sneakers.

Bata does not diverge from shoes much, except for the small range of women's bags they have, under the label Prive.

Comments

Bata is known for its quality products being available at a lower-end price range. Allowing average people to have designs they would generally have to pay a lot more for. Being one of the first international shoe brands to come to Pakistan they have built a great reputation in the country. Aside from Servis, it is one of the most common shoe brands, especially in schools. By their own estimates, they serve 1 million people a day internationally.