Footex, the Dutch footwear sourcing company, has obtained a license for the production and distribution of footwear under the Mistral brand name. The deal covers the entire world with the exception of South America, and it will start from the beginning of 2011. The first range of Mistral footwear will be launched in the second half of 2010 to the sports, nautical and fashion footwear trade in the Netherlands and Belgium, but Footex will strive to draw more international distributors at the Bread & Butter show. For the last eight years Footex has been making footwear for Gaastra, the Dutch nautical brand, which is taking its footwear business back in-house. The new deal with Mistral comes after the brand was entirely taken over by Van Merksteijn Fashion, a company controlled by Ado Huisman, a former Mistral manager and Dutch distributor. As part of the arrangement around Mistral footwear, Pleun Broere, the general manager of Footex, will take a share in Van Merksteijn Fashion. Footex also has footwear licenses for MacGregor and Rapisardi, and it produces private-label footwear for prominent sports retailers from Foot Locker to Intersport and Euretco, the Dutch buying group running the Sport 2000 banner in the Netherlands, along with other large-scale customers such as Carrefour.