MANILA, Philippines—Oprah is a fan. Angelina Jolie swears by it. Now Maria Sharapova is onboard to give a welcome boost to Cole Haan’s efforts in proving that, after 80 years, it continues to be relevant to modern consumers.
In Tokyo last week, Cole Haan’s top brass led by chief executive James Seuss and VP design director Paul Overfield welcomed some 400 guests to the 80th-year festivities of the American leather goods brand.
Being one of its more important markets, accounting for over 10 percent of total sales, Tokyo was chosen to host Cole Haan’s party for the Asia-Pacific region.
The event took place a week after Seuss announced the company’s collaboration with the 21-year-old tennis star and fashion icon at the New York Fashion Week. Sharapova will be appearing in Cole Haan’s spring campaign, and co-designing a special collection to be released in Fall 2009.
Moving forward
The move is one of the brand’s endeavors to “move forward,” says Overfield, who was hired in early 2007 to head the design division of women’s products. He refers to the young and vibrant attitude Sharapova’s image is expected to bring to the brand.
In his current post, which he assumed the same year, the British designer’s goal is to create “trend-right and relevant” products from a brand that’s perceived to be thoroughly traditional.
The company has also worked recently with up-and-coming Anna Sheffield on a jewelry collection commemorating the brand’s milestone. It’s an unlikely partnership, considering the heavily tattooed jewelry designer is known for her edgy designs, while Cole Haan’s success has relied on its classic looks.
But Overfield explains: “She adds to the portfolio of who we are. She gives us a different perspective. That’s what collaboration is all about. You bring these diverse people in to shift your mentality. It draws you to a different direction as well.”
Overfield, who has designed accessories for such brands as Gucci, Calvin Klein and Oscar de la Renta, describes Cole Haan’s look as “conceited conservative,” one that marries fashion and accessibility to a great number of consumers.
“It’s accessible fashion in that you can wear it every single day. It’s not just for a specific season,” he says.
In the United States, Cole Haan’s women’s shoes retail from less than $300 (handbags from $400+) while men’s footwear are from less than $400.
“Being able to afford it is luxury,” Seuss says.
To which Overfield adds: “People’s perception of what luxury is has also changed dramatically. If it’s beautifully designed, that’s luxury.”
Revolutionary
The company was founded in 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, as a footwear brand by two men named Trafton Cole and Eddie Haan. In 1979, it rolled out its first women’s shoes.
Nike Inc. acquired Cole Haan in 1988, instigating a revolutionary partnership between sports technology and fashion in the form of sole-saving high heels that would come a few years later.
In 2006, the hand-sewn leather-footwear maker introduced the first sexy high heels using Nike Air technology which guaranteed all-day comfort for the wearer. (The counterpart in men’s footwear was created in 2000.)
The shoes had an instant fan in talk show titan Oprah Winfrey, who devoted a segment on the shoes in one episode of her show. The next day, Cole Haan sold $1 million worth of footwear of the style she wore, says Seuss.
Known to have many foot problems, Winfrey continues to put in her orders every season, her last known visit being a week before this interview, at the Cole Haan flagship in New York City’s Rockefeller Center, Seuss says.
In this year’s Cannes film festival, the pregnant-with-twins Angelina Jolie famously showed off her Cole Haan heels at the red-carpet premiere of “Kung Fu Panda.”
Sales of Cole Haan-Nike AIR shoes account for 25 percent of the total Cole Haan business. The brand is bolstering this accomplishment with Sharapova’s icon status in reinventing the sporting line.
Market share
While the addition of products for women is fairly recent, Cole Haan now enjoys an equal market share for men and women globally.
In the Philippines, where it has been available for 10 years under 128 Dream Fountain Corp. (with boutiques at Power Plant Mall, Glorietta and Shangri-La Mall, and at Rustan’s Makati, Shangri-La Tower and Gateway), the female share is also fast catching up, especially with the popularity of the leather handbags.
Reviving the penny loafers, which is one of its classics, for the 80th anniversary, Overfield says designing for a brand like Cole Haan that has strong traditional roots requires runway influences as well.
“It’s very important to be trend-right and relevant. If it’s not appealing to a woman, or if she doesn’t feel emotionally attached to the product, she wouldn’t buy it,” he says. “We start with the more fashion side and draw influences from that for the larger part of the consumers.”
In the end, after all, what women want is “something she can wear all day—day to evening.”
Copyright 2009 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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