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Good shoes have a way of placing you on a pedestal once you step out in one of them. They do not only complete your outfit; shoes tend to be a reflection of one’s personality.
Aldo and Cole Haan are both notable names in the circle of shoe production because of what they offer in terms of style, design, and sustainability.
The likes of dress shoes, sneakers, and casual shoes are all offered by these two brands of shoes.
However, there are speculations about the invalidity of the shoes offered by these brands and I’m going to discuss these views shortly in this article.
This article will focus more on the comparison between the Aldo shoes and those of Cole Haan.
Differences between Aldo shoes and Cole Haan
Aldo shoes differ from Cole Haan in several ways. One of them is that Aldo is a Canadian-based brand having been established in the country while Cole Haan is of American descent.
Aside from that, the type of shoes which are offered by these brands is also a notable difference between the two of them.
Aldo shoes are generally stylish footwear, incorporating the fast fashion phenomenon with so much energy and vibe. Aldo shoes are for the modern man, citing their recurrent upgrade in design to meet up with the current trend or style in vogue.
The same cannot be said about Cole Haan shoes, because their shoes are more essential footwear that serves a particular purpose. They are disposable and do not have the stylish vibe seen in Aldo’s shoes.
Further, though Aldo is more stylish and trendy than Cole Haan, it is not priced higher than it. Cole Haan’s shoes are slightly higher than Aldo’s shoes when it comes to market value.
Although the price difference is not entirely high, there is a clear distinction that Cole Haan is more pricey than Aldo shoes.
The shoes offered by these two big names are considered affordable luxury shoes, as their price is not something to beat yourself up before you can get them.
Still, on the differences, the Aldo shoe brand doubles as a retail company, which Cole Haan is not.
It is also a corporation of its own Aldo International, operating as a private enterprise, while Cole Haan is a division of the Apax company and operating as a subsidiary label.
Brief Review of Aldo Shoes
Reviewing Aldo shoes would be incomplete without giving you a quick peek into the history of Aldo shoes. Aldo was founded in 1972 by a man named Aldo Bensedoun, in Montreal, Canada.
It is one of Canada’s biggest clothing companies that also handled the retail of its products across the world. The Canadian company is in the business of producing clothing materials and accessories, starting with shoes which it is known for.
The brand did not become a blockbuster overnight. It experienced a couple of transitions that brought it this far. The Aldo shoe has a place in the shoe production and retailing circle.
Aldo combines sleekness, style, exquisite design, and good representation, all in one package for its customers. The best part is that you get all these benefits at a price that is affordable and healthy for your account balance if you are on a budget.
Aldo shoes might not be the best of shoes out there in terms of quality, but they sure avail you the opportunity to look posh whenever you step out.
These shoes were initially made with faux leather because of how attractive and cheap it was to produce but gradually transitioned into using real leather in 2010.
This good development didn’t deter Aldo from being the stylish piece of work that it is, rather it gave the Aldo shoes a position to compete with quality shoes.
If you want to make a fashion statement and still maintain a healthy credit balance, then Aldo’s shoes are for you.
Pros:
- Fast fashion.
- Highly stylish.
- Great designs.
- Affordable and equal to the value of the price.
- For all genders, ages, and persons.
Cons:
- Not durable.
- Runs quite small.
- More trend-filled, low quality.
- Poor customer service.
Brief Review of Cole Haan Shoes
Cole Haan is one of America’s leading clothing hubs, labels, and producers, that has been serving the people for over 90 years.
The label was co-founded by Trafton Cole and Eddie Haan in the year 1928, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The company currently has its headquarters in Greenland, New Hampshire, and has its design center in upstate New York City.
Formerly called Cole, Rood & Haans, the label catered only for men’s footwear in its early days. But after years of transitions and growth, they now offer female footwear, clothing, and accessories.
The brand’s breakthrough came after it was sold to a group of partners anchored by George Danney in 1975.
The new management takes the credit for shaping Cole Haans into the American footwear icon that it is today.
Not too long, leading American luxury footwear and sports company, Nike took it over in 1088.
Nike incorporated sports into the structure of Cole Haan’s shoes and brought in Nike-inspired soles for the construction of the shoes, which remained to date.
In Nov., 16th 2012, Cole Haan was bought by Apax Partners and it has remained their subsidiary label to date. The best detailing of Cole Haan shoes is the level of comfort and flexibility that they provide.
Most of these shoes have an insole cushioning and a Nike-inspired sole with a shock absorber, which makes traction and walking very easy. Cole Haan’s designs are not as exquisite as their contenders, yet they still convert sales.
Pros:
- Comfortable and mostly lightweight.
- Sustainable material.
- Timeless design.
- Easy to break in.
Cons:
- Depreciated quality.
- Non-resolable.
- Poor quality Nike hybrids.
- Not equal to price value.
- Runs a tad big.
Head-to-Head Comparison of Aldo Shoes and Cole Haan
This is the part where I get to place these two brands of shoes on my comparative scale and examine their uniqueness and similarity.
The following texts of this post will help you determine the better option of shoes to buy in terms of quality, price, and style. I will build my analysis on the following.
Price
The starting price of an averagely priced Cole Haan dress shoe is at most $150 and goes up as high as $300. This market value does not in any way depict these shoes are luxury shoes because they are not.
Aldo shoes are also a bit pricey, citing their average quality shoes, but they are not as high as Cole Haan as their price revolves around $140-$150 for a starting price and is up as high as $200/250.
The price of these shoes is a reflection of the design and craftiness involved in their production and not their quality.
Build Quality
If ‘on average is a grade in build quality, then the shoe from both Aldo and Cole Haan falls in that category. The build quality of these shoes is not encouraging, as it is more focused on developing new designs to beat a growing market, than more quality to retain customers.
This phenomenon of selling with design is more common with Aldo shoes and it is an indisputable fact.
Aldo tends to give you the feeling that you are buying designer shoes, but with a low budget. The aftermath of this might be disappointing, as these shoes tend to wear out as easily as after 5 years.
It explains why a close friend of mine remarked that buying an Aldo shoe means you are hunting for more value with less and it usually backfires.
The same case presents itself in Cole Haan, as their collection of shoes lacks quality. This wasn’t the case before, as the brand produced high-quality shoes which were even matching up with the likes of Allen Edmonds.
But customers started complaining about a decrease in quality after Nike took over and things have not gotten better ever since.
Cole Haan’s shoes are undoubtedly comfortable, casual, and simple with fine aesthetics, but it lacks production quality.
An example is the Zerogrand series, it combines brogue with a sporty sole, which supports traction and easy movement.
Material
Aldo used faux leather in the production of their shoes until 2010 when they decided to switch things up and introduced the use of real leather.
Even at that, Aldo shoes didn’t stop the use of faux leather, because faux has already formed the basis of its face in the fashion world. Instead, it combined the duo to offer more durable shoes and contend healthily in the market.
Cole Haan also uses leather, but not the high-quality leather used by brands like Allen Edmonds or Trickers. The leather is of fair quality and wears out over time.
They used this leather in their dress shoes, penny loafers, and some other country shoes, while they used a cotton canvas for their boat shoes and sneakers.
Design and style
Who doesn’t know how stylish Aldo shoes are? From their men’s casual and dressy shoes to their women’s dress shoes; all of them are pieces of fashion statement makers.
Their trendy and right-at-the-moment designs even got them accused of copying styles from contenders.
- ALDO Men’s Larethienflex Oxford
But the Aldo spirit is more concerned with beating up the market and converting sales than responding to such accusations. You will see how Aldo shoes stand out if you get one, as they are a bunch of stylish affordable shoes.
Their women’s line would blow you off the roof with its cuteness and beauty.
- ALDO Salerno
Cole Haan retains a sustainable and timeless design, with a style that is unshaken by a sudden change in trend or upbeat.
Their style is what I call a ‘retro-intro’ style, as they do a fusion of old shoe staples and modern craftiness.
You can notice this in their collection of Oxford brogue wingtip shoe, which comes with a Nike-inspired outer sole. This fusion makes the shoe look retro but sporty and modern.
Durability
If durability for you means holding up to 5 years of constant wear, then none of the shoes between Aldo and Cole Haan is durable.
These shoes would probably last and hold up for up to 7 to a year of constant wear and might start breaking up afterward.
The problem usually starts with the leather, which starts peeling off, then splitting soles and possibly looking shabby and unkempt
However, there is a rule with wearing shoes wi5th low quality and the tip talks about having a steady care routine for your shoes.
A good care routine can help them last longer than expected, but not as long as shoes on the higher end like AEs.
Popularity
The question in this segment is, which of these brands of shoes has a stronger and bigger fan? Which is more popular, in factors like public recognition and customer acceptance.
To answer this, I will use social media as leverage since the world now revolves around it. Judging from the stats collected from popular social media platform Instagram, Aldo shoes garners over a 3.6million followers as against Cole Haan, which has about 379k followers.
I have answered the question without much hassle because Aldo shoes are much more popular than Cole Haan.
Final Verdict
My verdict is going to be straight and profound. I am rooting for the Aldo shoes over Cole Haan. Who wouldn’t want to look fly in some pair of affordable premium shoes?
I do want to, and if you don’t want to, then it is your choice, not mine. Aldo shoes offer style and trends in a solicited fashion.
They know what you want, and they produce it.
Notwithstanding, the quality is fair enough for the price and would last longer than you expected if you employ proper care measures.
Conclusion
In this segment, I will be wrapping up this article, having dissected both Aldo and Cole Haan’s shoes.
You would concur that the analysis in this article is in line with the thoughts of so many people on this particular subject.
This is because Aldo shoes are so stylish that they tend to bring a lot of gazes down to your feet, and I’m so down for that experience.
Therefore, I will imbibe you to stick with what appeals the most to you, as I have picked Aldo shoes as a better contender for the comparison between it and Cole Haan.
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