Oscar de la Renta is making plans to cash in on today's thriving footwear business, having set a goal to turn his eight year old footwear division into a into a $50-million entity within the next three to four years. To make this goal a reality, de la Renta Inc. has hired two designer-savvy executives.
Straight off the design squad at Manolo Blahnik (where she's been for 13 years), Annelie Hofstrom has joined Oscar de la Renta as executive vice president of footwear, while Alexia Aubert, who has designed for Pierre Hardy and Christian Louboutin, is now director of footwear design.
“Our shoe business has been lackluster for quite a long time. We have had some great shoes but we have never been able to consistently develop a great line, " CEO Alex Bolen told WWD. "In my opinion, we just didn’t have a team that knew how to make samples as Oscar and his team know how to make clothes.” The current footwear collection, which has included everything from basic flats to evening stilettos, retails from less than $400 for flat sandals to several thousand dollars for shoes or boots made from exotic skins.
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Hofstrom will oversee footwear-related product development, sales, merchandising, production, and marketing while Aubert will work closely with de la Renta himself to set the category’s design direction. “Our own stores hold huge potential for shoes,” said Bolen, who is also considering opening more stores overseas. With that many seasoned footwear veterans working together, we can't wait to see what they come up with! Stay tuned!
Article Source: WWD
Photo Source: shoewawa.com
-Alia Rajput
