How Clan Shoes is driving India’s shift to urban riding shoes

For years, riders in India had two choices: bulky riding boots that offered protection but felt impractical for everyday use, or regular sneakers that looked good and felt comfortable but offered little protection on the road.

Clan Shoes was built to solve that gap.

Sandeep Reddy, Dilip Reddy, Arjun Kumar Singh, and Kushang Moorthy founded Clan Shoes based on their own lived experience as riders navigating Indian cities.

As premium motorcycles became more accessible, riding began evolving beyond touring and weekend escapes. It became part of everyday life: city commutes, office runs, café stops, quick getaways, and everything in between. But while riding culture had evolved, footwear options had not. Riders were still expected to choose between bulky boots and unprotected sneakers.

The founders saw a clear opportunity: build protective riding footwear designed for daily use, all-day comfort, and modern urban lifestyles.

That insight came at the right time. India’s footwear market was valued at $19.42 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $34.7 billion by 2031. Alongside, D2C has emerged as one of the fastest-growing routes in the category. For Clan, that created room to build not just a product, but a more relevant riding footwear brand for a new generation of Indian riders.

Product design: balancing style and safety

From the outset, the founders were clear that this could not be a compromised product. Protection had to be built into a shoe riders would genuinely want to wear every day.

The goal was not to make a boot disguised as a sneaker, but to create a true urban riding shoe. Design and protection were treated as equally important, with careful attention paid to silhouette, proportions, materials, flexibility, ankle structure, and sole behaviour.

The result was footwear that brought together lifestyle-led design with waterproof construction, reinforced protection zones, and ride-ready durability.

Priced in the Rs 4,000-7,500 range and sold through the startup’s D2C channel, the shoes are aimed at young Indian riders who want protection without sacrificing style or daily comfort. But product innovation was only one part of the challenge. Clan Shoes also had to build trust in a category that barely existed.

Trust before scale

For a new brand in protective footwear, trust had to be built from day one.

Clan Shoes integrated D3O, a globally recognised impact protection material, and achieved CE certification across key products. The brand also introduced a one-year accidental damage replacement policy, a rare move in the riding industry.

That decision came from the founder's empathy as much as business strategy. The team understood that for many young riders, a crash does not just bring physical stress, it can also create an immediate financial burden. By addressing that reality directly, Clan made protective footwear feel more relevant, accessible, and dependable to a new generation of riders.

Its marketing strategy followed the same logic. Instead of relying on generic gear communication, the brand stayed close to rider realities, using storytelling, digital content, rider engagement, and community interactions to reinforce a simple message: riders no longer have to choose between safety and style.

“We have tried hard not to let the process dilute the purpose. What helps is staying close to the rider, staying close to product truth, and remembering that every metric ultimately reflects a real person trusting us with their safety and their money. That keeps the brand grounded. The systems have grown, the ambition has grown, but the reason we exist has not changed,” says Sandeep Reddy, Co-founder, Clan Shoes.

From awareness to adoption

Clan’s growth has been shaped by a deliberate balance between direct-to-consumer channels and marketplaces.

Its own D2C platform allows the brand to control its narrative, invest in storytelling, and build a deeper relationship with its community. It remains the primary platform for education, brand expression, and customer engagement.

As awareness grew, product experience became the strongest driver of adoption. Once riders tried the product and realised that protection, comfort, and style could coexist, the category began validating itself. As Clan scaled, urban riding shoes moved from a niche idea to a mainstream preference among a growing base of Indian riders.

Marketplaces, meanwhile, played a crucial role in scaling discovery and conversion. Platforms like Amazon brought Clan in front of high-intent users, while reviews and ratings became trust signals at scale. Rather than seeing these channels as competing, Clan has used them as complementary engines for growth.

What’s next

In just over three years, the bootstrapped startup has grown into Amazon India’s No. 1 selling riding footwear label, earned 4.3+ ratings across flagship products, and built the trust of more than 40,000 riders nationwide.

With annual revenue surpassing Rs 6 crore and a monthly revenue run rate of nearly Rs 60 lakh, Clan Shoes has scaled by focusing on supply chain efficiency, customer retention, and long-term margins rather than vanity-led growth.

The company is now preparing to launch three new products, including its entry into the touring segment, while also expanding into 150+ retail touchpoints nationwide.

For Clan Shoes, the road ahead is not just about footwear. It is about continuing to shape how India rides, and building a larger lifestyle brand for the country’s growing biking community.