Long-Term Debt - Textuals (Details)			0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended																									12 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2013 Amended and Restated Facilities Agreement Term Loan C London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Schuh Group	Jun. 30, 2014 Amended and Restated Facilities Agreement Term Loan D London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Schuh Group	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Revolver borrowings USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Amended Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Amended Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Domestic Facility	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Domestic Facility Federal Funds Rate	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Domestic Facility London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), 30-Day LIBOR	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Canadian Sub Facility	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Canadian Sub Facility Canadian Overnight Rate, Bank of America	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Canadian Sub Facility Bankers Acceptances Rate, 30-Day BA Rate	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Uk Credit Facility Schuh Group	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Genesco Uk Limited USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement GCO Canada Inc. USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Swingline Loan Genesco Uk Limited USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Swingline Loan GCO Canada Inc. USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Standby Letters of Credit USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Canadian Sub Facility USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement UK Sub Facility USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Letter of Credit Genesco Uk Limited USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement Letter of Credit GCO Canada Inc. USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Line of Credit UK Term Loans USD ($)	Feb. 01, 2014 Line of Credit UK Term Loans USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 Line of Credit UK Term Loans Schuh Group GBP (£)	Jan. 31, 2015 Line of Credit Term Loan A Schuh Group GBP (£)	Jan. 31, 2015 Line of Credit Term Loan B Schuh Group GBP (£)	Jan. 31, 2015 Line of Credit Letter of Credit USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2013 Line of Credit Term Loan C Schuh Group GBP (£)	Jun. 30, 2014 Line of Credit Term Loan D Schuh Group GBP (£)	Jan. 31, 2015 Loans Payable Uk Credit Facility Term Loan A London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Schuh Group	Jan. 31, 2015 Loans Payable Uk Credit Facility Term Loan B Schuh Group GBP (£)	Feb. 01, 2014 Loans Payable Uk Credit Facility Term Loan B Schuh Group GBP (£)	Jan. 31, 2015 Loans Payable Uk Credit Facility Term Loan B London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Schuh Group	Jan. 31, 2015 Secured Debt Uk Credit Facility Working Capital Facility Schuh Group GBP (£)
Long-Term Debt (Textual) [Abstract]
Long-term debt maturing in year one	$ 13,200,000
Long-term debt maturing in year two	1,900,000
Long-term debt maturing in year three	1,900,000
Long-term debt maturing in year four	1,900,000
Long-term debt maturing in year five	10,300,000
Long-term debt	29,155,000	33,730,000																								29,155,000	33,730,000
Outstanding letters of credit																															14,800,000
Aggregate principal amount of credit facility								375,000,000.0								400,000,000.0			10,000,000	40,000,000	70,000,000	25,000,000.0	50,000,000	10,000,000	5,000,000.0			29,500,000.0	15,500,000.0	14,000,000.0		12,500,000.0	12,500,000.0					5,000,000.0
Capitalized deferred financing costs of credit facility and amendment						1,600,000	1,500,000
Amortization period of deferred financing costs for credit facility and amendment						5 years	5 years
Term of debt instrument																5 years
Increase in availability under credit facility																150,000,000	50,000,000	40,000,000
Aggregate amount of loans and letters of credit subject to receipt of commitment																	600,000,000	550,000,000
Components of borrowing base																90% of eligible inventory plus 85% of eligible wholesale receivables (50% of eligible wholesale receivables of the Lids Team Sports business) plus 90% of eligible credit card and debit card receivables less applicable reserves
Borrowing base based upon percentage of eligible inventory																90.00%
Borrowing base based upon percentage of eligible wholesale receivables																85.00%
Eligible wholesale receivables percentage of Lids team sports business																50.00%
Borrowing base percentage of eligible credit card and debit card receivables less applicable reserves																90.00%
Borrowing base percentage as maximum from loan cap																	30.00%
Percentage of shares pledged by company																	65.00%
Prime rate description												Canadian Prime Rate (defined as the highest of the (i) Bank of America Canadian Prime Rate, (ii) 0.50% plus the Bank of America (Canadian) overnight rate, and (iii) 1.0% plus the BA rate for a 30 day interest period) plus the applicable margin for loans made in U.S. dollars, LIBOR plus the applicable margin or the U.S. Index Rate (defined as the highest of the (i) Bank of America (Canada branch) U.S. dollar base rate, (ii) the Federal Funds rate plus 0.50%, and (iii) LIBOR for an interest period of thirty days plus 1.0%) plus the applicable margin
Basis spread on variable rate			2.50%	0.95%						0.50%	1.00%		0.50%	1.00%																				2.50%			3.75%
Applicable margin plus higher of condition one																Federal Funds rate plus 0.50%
Applicable margin plus higher of condition two																LIBOR for an interest period of thirty days plus 1.0%
Initial applicable margin for base rate loans and U.S. Index rate loans									0.50%
Initial applicable margin for LIBOR loans and BA equivalent loans									1.50%
Commitment fee on the actual daily unused portions of the credit facility one					0.25%
Commitment fee on the actual daily unused portions of the credit facility condition one																0.50% per annum if less than 50% of the Credit Facility has been utilized
Commitment fee on the actual daily unused portions of the credit facility condition two																0.375% per annum if 50% or more of the Credit Facility has been utilized
Financial covenants, Excess Availability threshold																25,000,000
Financial covenants, Excess Availability threshold percentage																10.00%
Covenants for fixed charge coverage ratio (not less than)																1.0
Covenants for fixed charge coverage ratio (description)																not less than 1.0:1.0
Minimum fixed charge coverage ratio																1
Excess availability under credit facility							367,000,000
Amended amount on senior debt covenant																500,000,000
Financial covenants, Excess Availability threshold for cash dominion																30,000,000
Financial covenants, Excess Availability threshold percentage for cash dominion																12.50%
Payment on the term loan (in GBP)																																			£ 100,000	£ 4,800,000
Interest coverage covenant minimum level															4.25
Interest coverage covenant maximum level															4.50
Leverage covenant maximum level															2.75
Leverage covenant minimum level															2.25
Cash flow coverage covenant minimum level															1.10