Via Spiga, a brand of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (www.brownshoe.com)
(NYSE: BWS) is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a partnership with
world-renowned jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane to create a limited
edition couture shoe collection. The commemorative line will debut this
fall.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100719/CG36418)
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100719/CG36418)
This is the first-ever partnership between Via Spiga and Kenneth Jay
Lane. The 25th Anniversary Capsule Collection shoes are designed by Via
Spiga's Creative Director, Paola Venturi, in collaboration with Lane,
and will include inspiration from some of the celebrated jeweler's most
famous creations. Lane's rise from Vogue magazine's art department to
heralded jewelry designer included a stop in footwear. He developed
collections for Delman and Christian Dior, and it was while working for
the latter that he began to embellish shoes with rhinestones and
discover ideas for jewelry.
"The Via Spiga style is truly timeless," said Kenneth Jay Lane. "I am
thrilled to help create a dazzling collection to celebrate 25 years of
this incredible brand."
The capsule collection will include limited-edition designs that bring
to life Via Spiga's sophisticated and enduring Italian style. Venturi
has selected a Kenneth Jay Lane crystal embellished snake ornament to
adorn each of the shoes in singular fashion.
"For 25 years we have been creating authentic Italian designs that the
sophisticated American woman can wear every day, and we want to
commemorate Via Spiga's anniversary with our customers. Kenneth Jay
Lane's work has brought elegance and luxury to women for decades, and
we've collaborated to offer a stunning capsule collection to consumers
who love both brands," said Jay Schmidt, Brown Shoe's Senior Vice
President-Wholesale, Better & Image Brands.
The 25th Anniversary Capsule Collection will be sold on ViaSpiga.com and
at Via Spiga's flagship store in New York's Soho neighborhood beginning
in October 2010. For more information visit www.viaspiga.com,
become a fan at www.facebook.com/ViaSpiga,
and follow Via Spiga on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ViaSpiga.
About Kenneth Jay Lane
Michigan-born Lane graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in
1954 and moved to New York for a stint in the Vogue Art department. This
whetted his appetite for fashion, and made him realize that he wanted to
design and create the products he saw around him. Shoes were his
starting point - he worked on collections for Delman and Christian Dior
- and it was whilst working for the latter that he began to embellish
shoes with rhinestones and play around with ideas for jewelry. Before
long his collections were being snapped up by hot boutiques across
Manhattan, as well as royalty and movie stars, and he was proving that
costume jewelry could be as beautiful as the "real thing."
Fast-forward to today and his name has become more internationally
recognized than ever. His designs have been worn by such fashionistas
as: Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, The Duchess of Windsor, Madonna, Sarah
Jessica Parker, Britney Spears and Nicole Kidman. However you chose to
dress with them now, they will be equally wearable in seasons to come;
as Lane himself says, "I like to create jewelry that can be worn any
time of the year, by any woman. Glamour is all year round."
As impressive as it is that Royalty, Celebrities, and Socialites choose
Kenneth's jewelry; it is not his primary focus. The designer's creations
are inspired with the everyday woman in mind. For more information visit www.KennethJayLane.com.
About Brown Shoe
Via Spiga is a brand of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. Brown Shoe is a $2.3
billion global footwear company. Brown Shoe's Retail division operates
Famous Footwear, a leading family branded footwear destination with over
1,100 stores nationwide and e-commerce site FamousFootwear.com,
approximately 270 specialty retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and China
primarily under the Naturalizer brand name, and footwear e-tailer
shoes.com. Through its wholesale divisions, Brown Shoe designs and
markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's,
Franco Sarto, LifeStride, Etienne Aigner, Sam Edelman, Via Spiga, Vera
Wang Lavender and Buster Brown. Brown Shoe press releases are available
on the Company's website at www.brownshoe.com.
