Now trainer-mad young men buy shoes more often than ladies do!

THE saying goes that you can never have too many shoes.

And while that might prove true for many women, Britain’s most prolific shoe buyers are now young men, according to researchers. They say that 95 per cent of men aged 16-24 bought shoes last year, compared with 90 per cent of young women.

Although women are still overall more likely to buy footwear, the popularity of trainers boosted the sales of men’s shoes by 31 per cent between 2015 and 2017, consumer analyst Mintel said. Sales of women’s shoes grew by 10 per cent over the same period.

Chana Baram, of Mintel, said: ‘With trainers such a popular category for men as a whole, young men in particular are likely to respond positively to advertising campaigns by sports brands that feature their favourite male sports personalities.’

Women are also ditching high heels for trainers and sandals, the research found, with the number of women buying heels falling from 29 per cent to 20 per cent.