Karl Lagerfeld, the long time creative director of Chanel, is being sued by New Balance. A lawsuit, obtained by entertainment site TMZ, details the Boston-based brand’s complaint, describing the shoe that is says is causing “confusion” for its customers. New Balance claims the K motif on the $370 sneakers sold under Lagerfeld’s eponymous label is too similar to the N logo it’s been using since the ’70s.
Riddle me this: How does a $3 million shipment of Nike shoes vanish into thin air in 2009 and resurface on a front lawn in Kentucky in 2014 going for $5 a pair? A woman in Radcliff, KY, and her daughter told local media outlets that they had bought them off another woman and had no idea they were stolen. They planned to sell them at a flea market. The Radcliffe Police Department have since confiscated thousands of Nike shoes that were scattered in front of their home.
Skechers has added yet another sports string to its bow of sponsorships. The Manhattan Beach, CA-based brand today announced that it will sponsor thoroughbred racehorse California Chrome as he contends at the Belmont Stakes on June 7 to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed nabbed the title 36 years ago. Trainer and owner team jackets, caps and apparel as well as California Chrome’s horse blanket, gear, barn and related promotional events will all feature Skechers branding.
OluKai has announced its partnership with the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage, a prestigious three-plus year journey of sailing canoes built with the same ingenuity that brought the first Polynesians to the archipelago of Hawaii. The Orange Country, CA-based lifestyle brand will supply the watermen and women crewing the canoes with Spring/Summer 2015 products to wear test and share feedback on the performance of each shoe.
Fred Segal owner Sandow has today announced a partnership with equity investor Evolution Media Partners (EMC) and has hired veteran retail chief Paul Blum (best known for leading the growth of David Yurman, Kenneth Cole and Juicy Couture) to lead the expansion of the iconic California lifestyle brand into a global luxury retail concept.
If your customers can’t get enough of Richer Poorer’s colorful socks, here’s a new solution: the Los Angeles-based brand has launched an athletics collection for Spring ’14. Chock full of the same eye catching colors and prints the brand is known for, the line is made from Coolmax performance fabric and incorporates such top-notch technical features as compression arch support, padded foot beds and a reinforced toe seam. Available in men’s sizes 6 to 12, the athletic socks retail for $14 per pair on richer-poorer.com.
Baseball great Pete Rose will join football Hall of Famer Joe Namath in Skechers’ upcoming Fall ’14 campaign for its Relaxed Fit line. Spanning TV and print to outdoor, online and point-of-sale materials, the campaign will run through 2015. “I’ve loved these super comfortable Relaxed Fit shoes from the moment I first tried on a pair, so it makes perfect sense now that I’m working with Skechers,” Rose says. “I can’t wait until everyone sees what we have planned. I know I’m in great company with the roster of legends that have worked on this campaign.”
Storied American brand Cole Haan has launched The Driver Shop, allowing consumers the opportunity to put their own spin on the brand’s Grant Driver. Options include a kaleidoscope of leather and cord laces, which can be left natural or finished with barrel knots, tassels or metal aglets, while a colorful array of kilties add a nod to the shoes’ golfing origins.
Custom cobbling was once reserved for presidents, popes and Wall Street fat cats but thanks to today’s technological advances made-to-order footwear is not only far more accessible, it’s more one-of-a-kind than ever before. Come August, miAdidas will offer consumers the chance to upload their Instagram shots to a high resolution photo print app and have them printed on the brand’s ZX Flux training shoes. That’s right. That delicious lunch you snapped a photo of today? It can now live forever on your feet. The beautiful sunset from your last vacation? That too. Even your beloved labrador.
Hometown hero and Olympic champion Aly Raisman stopped by Saturday’s Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Boston at Reebok headquarters in Canton, MA. The pint-sized gold medalist, who was accompanied by her mother, Lynn Faber, signed autographs and posed for pictures before cheering on the thousands who turned out to walk the 39.3 mile journey in an effort to help find a cure.
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