Thursday’s Child: Bearpaw Goes Beyond Takedowns

Bearpaw Gets Bold

Encouraged by the success of its women’s line, sheepskin staple Bearpaw will push further into the children’s market this fall, but it’s doing things a little bit differently. Rather than just shrink the women’s line into children’s styles, the designers made a concerted effort to avoid the takedown approach for the expansion.

“We changed our mindset. Kids’ was a takedown business in the past, but now we’re designing with kids in mind—whether it’s materials, patterns or accents,” Randy McKinley, vice president of sales and marketing, says.

The revamped collection, debuting this fall, boasts a wealth of color, standing out with teal, rose and boysenberry. Embellishments also play a large part, decking the boots out with studs galore. Even zebra print makes an appearance this time around, as does an interesting varnish that goes on as a floral.

McKinley described the reaction at the recent round of trade shows as “unbelievable” and was pleasantly surprised by how many kids’-only shoe stores expressed interest in the updated line. —Meagan Walker