When times get tough, selling sandals that routinely retail for over $100 may become more challenging.

That’s backed up by data from Insight Trends World, which shows that luxury spending has slowed down.

“Luxury consumers, especially those under 35, are becoming more price-sensitive and value-driven, seeking alternatives like resale and smaller luxury items. They are also demanding higher quality, greater ethical practices, and more creative designs from luxury brands, expressing concern over perceived declines in these areas,” the report showed.

Some of the key findings included:

• The luxury industry lost an estimated 50 million customers in 2024.
• 77% of consumers believe luxury fashion items cost more than they did a year ago.
• 37% are shopping less, while 66% are waiting for discounts or sales.
• Consumers say brands could regain appeal by lowering prices (52%), improving sustainability and ethics (34%), and enhancing product quality (33%).

Together, the data point to a luxury market where higher prices are increasingly colliding with more cautious consumer behavior.

It’s a market that at least partially explains why Palm Beach Sandals, a company known for its high-end, handmade sandals that typically retail for over $100, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Luxury brands have struggled in 2025.

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Palm Beach Sandals files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

“Palm Beach Sandal Company, a West Palm Beach, FL-based Florida Profit Corporation specializing in luxury footwear manufacturing and retail, filed for Chapter 11 protection on December 23, 2025, in the Southern District of Florida,” according to data from RK Consultants posted on X, the former Twitter.

The company is proceeding as a small business debtor under Subchapter V.

“Founded by C. Ernest White in the 1960s, Palm Beach Sandal Company formally incorporated in 2011, continuing a heritage of handcrafted, 100% genuine leather sandals, famously worn by Jacqueline Kennedy,” according to RK Consultants.

The company operates a workshop and retail space in West Palm Beach, Florida, and its business model includes online sales and a franchise program that began in 2019.

Beyond sandals, it also offers dresses, handbags, and accessories.

Court documents do not state specific reasons for the Chapter 11 filing.

“However, the company has faced operational challenges, including a digital accessibility lawsuit filed in March 2024 and inherent vulnerabilities in its supply chain for luxury materials,” the consultants added.

Palm Beach Sandals Chapter 11 bankruptcy key facts

• Palm Beach Sandal Company in West Palm Beach files for Bankruptcy: Case #25-25134
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida (West Palm Beach)
• Address: 1027 N. Florida Mango Rd., Suite 6, West Palm Beach, FL 33409-5259
• Filed Dec. 23, 2025, in Southern District of Florida
• Assets $0-$50,000, liabilities $1 million to $10 million
• Major unsecured creditors include Ray and Andrea Titus with a $750,000 loan, Always.bank, and Readycap Lending with SBA loans totaling nearly $1 million, and TD Bank with a $150,000 loan.
• Other creditors include various financial institutions, and a former franchisee for a disputed $55,000 down payment. Source: BKData

An email to Brian K. McMahon, listed as the company’s attorney in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, was not returned.

Palm Beach Sandals hurt by broader trend

Palm Beach Sandals, the West Palm Beach-based luxury footwear brand, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the broader luxury market faces mounting pressure.

“Worldwide luxury spending, historically sensitive to uncertainty, is coming under intensified pressure as luxury consumers’ confidence is eroded by current economic upheavals, geopolitical and trade tensions, currency fluctuations, and financial market volatility,” according to a September Bain and Company report.

These industry-wide challenges help explain why high-end specialty brands like Palm Beach Sandals, which sells handcrafted leather footwear, have found the business environment increasingly difficult.

“Now, as we step into 2025, the luxury industry is facing a significant slowdown that has hit even top brands hard, not dissimilar to what the broader fashion industry is experiencing, as outlined in our State of Fashion 2025 report. For the first time since 2016 (excluding 2020), luxury value creation is expected to create less value than the previous year,” McKinsey reported.

The report shows a collection of reasons that likely hurt Palm Beach Sandals.

“Several of the industry’s growth-driving engines have stalled. Price increases have reached a ceiling, and higher prices are negatively affecting demand from aspirational luxury consumers,” McKinsey’s data showed.

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