Footwear News: reporting on the latest in shoes industry , Sneaker & Boots trends, fashion news and celebrity style.Footwear-News.com

Sachin & Babi are ready for something new.

The married design duo known for their eveningwear and embroideries is taking their business one step further with an expansion into shoes and handbags for the first time.

In what they call a small “test-and-see” collection, Sachin & Babi have delivered a capsule of accessories filled with their signature design details. More specifically, the debut line includes two shoe styles and three bags that the couple say are a response to the desires of their loyal customers who often wear the label’s evening, bridal and occasion apparel.

“Our customers have been asking for accessories to go with our dresses for quite some time, Sachin Ahluwalia said during a collection preview at the couple’s home in NYC’s Tudor City neighborhood this week. “It felt like the right moment, especially given our exponential growth in recent years.”

As for important design details, Sachin points out that bows are “integral” to the brand’s design, so it was essential to incorporate this into their new line of accessories. And while the company does maintain a family-owned atelier in South Mumbai where second generation artisans craft all their embroideries, Sachin & Babi are working with partners in Vietnam to produce the footwear.

“We do make the bows ourselves by hand, but then they’re shipped to our external partners for finishing,” Sachin said. “This also helps keep our collection sitting at the value-driven price points we like to maintain.”

Looking at the shoe collection, which feature cushioned soles, consumers will find the “Lenox,” a closed-toe, obi-bow slingback which debuts in four colorways: Cerise and Noir Flower in duchess satin, as well as Garden Club and Pink Lemonade in faille. The second style, the “Chelsea” is an open-toe strappy pump available in two colors: Electric Lime and Blue Ikat Floral.

As for the bags, the duo has released the “On The Rocks” convertible clutch, which showcases a gold tone finish, faceted step-cut crystal embellishments, fuchsia lining with interior pocket, and a removable gold tone chain with top closure in both duchess satin or Faille. The look is fashioned in six colorways.

The “Bubbly Bag,” an evening look with a silver tone finish, features a pearl and crystal embellished half-moon top handle, fuchsia lining with interior pocket, and a removable gold tone chain with top closure, offered in black and pewter. And, the “Cupid’s Clutch,” in electric lime and silver sequin, boasts a silver finish, a removable silver tone chain with top closure, and what will become a signature fuchsia lining with interior pocket.

The new shoe and bag range, which retails between $295 to $425, is now available for pre-order and will be officially released in February. More styles are expected in coming seasons.

But for now, consumers will have to go direct to the brand’s website to get their hands on the label’s newest addition. “In the future, we will open the categories up to key retail partners, but in the meantime, we want to build this out sensibly and progress naturally,” Babi said.

Since launching their label in 2009, Indian-born husband and wife designers Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia first cut their teeth in fashion producing embroideries for such labels as Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Manolo Blahnik.

Today, Sachin & Babi has a growing global presence with an international e-commerce business and a select in-store offering with preferred retailers both internationally and domestically. Their designs have been seen on the likes of Michelle Obama, Priyanka Chopra, Jennifer Lopez and Taylor Swift.

Kelly Rutherford took a relaxed approach to vacationing in Italy — in fact, down to her shoes.

On Sunday, the “Gossip Girl” star snapped a new post on Instagram while on a trip to the Tuscan sea town of Forte dei Marmi. For the occasion, she slipped on a pair of Hermès’ Oran slides — a $700 sandal style crafted from smooth white calfskin leather, complete with flat soles and wide “H”-shaped cutout straps.

Rutherford’s casual, minimalist sandals were ideal when dealing with the summer heat, thanks to their ventilated silhouette and ability to be easily slipped on and off. The “Perfectionist” actress’ pair also smoothly complemented her outfit for the occasion: a lightweight, pale blue Lem Lem minidress with white and golden yellow trim, as well as a woven raffia handbag from French brand Cose.

Hermès’ Oran sandals.COURTESY OF HERMÈS

Slides like Rutherford’s are favored in the summer months for their open silhouettes and easy wear. Styles in brown, black and white suede and leather are the most popular, thanks to their versatility with a range of outfits and ability to be worn from day to night. The slide silhouette has also risen as a top seasonal shoe choice over the years, with new styles regularly released from a range of brands — as seen in new pairs from labels including Vionic, Tkees and Saint Laurent.

Rutherford’s shoe style is subtle and minimalist. On the red carpet, the “Melrose Place” actress often wears neutral and metallic sandals, boots and pumps from luxury brands including Christian Louboutin and Sania d’Mina. For more casual occasions, Rutherford can be seen in flat sandals and slides from Hermès and Birkenstock.

After closing its 2022 fiscal year in March with net revenue of $1.8 billion — the company’s second-strongest revenue performance in history — L.L.Bean is focused on its omnichannel growth strategy.

This effort, L.L. Bean said in a statement, will have its products in more than 70 new storefronts, in addition to e-commerce platforms.

“Our omnichannel growth strategy continues to be an effective framework for our business, ensuring we’re able to meet customers where they are through a unique mix of channels and locations,” L.L.Bean president and CEO Stephen Smith said in a statement. “We’re grateful to be in a position to expand our retail presence and build new wholesale relationships in order to serve more customers. Everything we do is in support of our company purpose to enable people to experience the restorative power of being outside, and these new ventures will ensure we’re able to fulfill that purpose for years to come.”

L.L. Bean announced in a statement that it is set to debut four stores in North America, including two in Canada and two in the U.S. The Canada doors will be in Quebec, located in the greater Montreal region — Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville opening Aug. 25 and Boisbriand opening Sept. 29. These mark the brand’s first retail stores in Quebec. What’s more, L.L. Bean confirmed it will launch a French-language e-commerce site to coincide with the store openings.

After closing its 2022 fiscal year in March with net revenue of $1.8 billion — the company’s second-strongest revenue performance in history — L.L.Bean is focused on its omnichannel growth strategy.

This effort, L.L. Bean said in a statement, will have its products in more than 70 new storefronts, in addition to e-commerce platforms.

“Our omnichannel growth strategy continues to be an effective framework for our business, ensuring we’re able to meet customers where they are through a unique mix of channels and locations,” L.L.Bean president and CEO Stephen Smith said in a statement. “We’re grateful to be in a position to expand our retail presence and build new wholesale relationships in order to serve more customers. Everything we do is in support of our company purpose to enable people to experience the restorative power of being outside, and these new ventures will ensure we’re able to fulfill that purpose for years to come.”

Why L.L.Bean Is Wiping Its Social Media Accounts Again in May

Dick’s to Acquire Moosejaw From Walmart to Bolster Outdoor Portfolio

L.L. Bean announced in a statement that it is set to debut four stores in North America, including two in Canada and two in the U.S. The Canada doors will be in Quebec, located in the greater Montreal region — Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville opening Aug. 25 and Boisbriand opening Sept. 29. These mark the brand’s first retail stores in Quebec. What’s more, L.L. Bean confirmed it will launch a French-language e-commerce site to coincide with the store openings.

L.L. Bran’s stores in the U.S. will both be located in Massachusetts. Hanover will debut first, opening Sept. 8, followed by Peabody on Oct. 6.

At the moment, L.L. Bean has 56 stores in the U.S, another 25 stores in Japan and has 13 licensed retail store locations in Canada that are operated by Jaytex Group.

Aside from brick-and-mortar expansion, L.L. Bean confirmed it will add two key wholesale accounts to its U.S. roster: Dillard’s and Moosejaw. Also, the company will add 10 independent specialty retailers in the southeastern U.S.

“As a 110-year-old company, we have taken great care in ensuring we deliver exemplary customer service to everyone who visits an L.L. Bean store, shops with us online, orders through our famed catalog, or via any other touchpoint,” L.L. Bean chief retail officer Greg Elder said in a statement. “We are honored to be in a period of growth as a company, and that is a credit to our customers, employees and partners. We look forward to continuing to deliver industry-leading customer service and offer everyone who shops with us the goods they need for life, home, and any adventure that awaits.”

This back-to-school season, Zappos is kicking it old-school.

The online shoe retailer has rolled out a ’90s-style catalog to advertise its kids’ and teen merchandise. The catalog, which was sent out in mid-July to about 700,000 customers who typically purchase shoes for kids, includes product images, games and a shoe sizer.

The catalog is designed to pull on the heartstrings of parents who likely remember growing up in a simpler time before e-commerce reigned supreme, when shopping from catalogs was the norm and an exciting part of the back-to-school experience.

“This is kind of our ode to that nostalgia,” explained Zappos’ chief merchandising and marketing officer Joe Cano in an interview with FN. “We want to make sure that as these elder millennial parents are having their kids go to school, they actually have some fun and have something that they can share with their kids and can create that moment versus being stuck to the screen the entire time.”

Zappos rolled out its first back-to-school catalog in 2019, but put it on pause throughout the pandemic. Now, the shoe retailer has brought back its successful initiative and has already seen a bump in traffic, according to early reads from the company.

In line with Zappos’ commitment to the adaptive category, the catalog also includes adaptive products from brands such as Billy Footwear.

“Adaptive will always be at the core of Zappos,” Cano said. “We want to make sure that someone can find the most amazing pair of shoes on our site, no matter what age or stage they’re at.”

The shoe retailer has utilized nostalgia for other campaigns in the past as well. For its 20th anniversary in 2019, Zappos turned its website back to what it looked like when it launched in 1999 for one day. And next year, Zappos plans to launch a similar series of nostalgia-focused campaigns for its 25th anniversary and is currently in talks with vendors to highlight and bring back shoes that were popular in the 1990s.

“Some of this nostalgia, as you’re seeing across the board, I think it’s resonating not only with parents, but with kids,” Cano said. “If you look at the current trends right now, they’re very much coming back to that ’90s nostalgia, which plays in perfectly with what this catalog represents.”

Other brands have also seen recent success with throwback campaigns. McDonald’s saw a surge in engagement when it offered a Grimace Birthday Meal special in honor of the purple mascot’s 52nd anniversary. Among footwear brands, consumers are increasingly opting for ‘90’s retro styles like the Adidas Samba.

For Zappos, the key is balancing this nostalgia factor with modern elements for shopping ease. For example, the catalogs include QR codes for people to be able to quickly make their way to the Zappos website.

“I want to make it fun and nostalgic, but I don’t want us to try to reinvent what ordering was back in 1999,” Cano said. “I want to make it very seamless.”

The catalog campaign is a part of Zappos’ continued push in the kids category, which involves a broader emphasis on the growing back-to-school business.

“Back-to-school is becoming a bigger and bigger portion for us,” Cano said. “For us, we want to make this a bigger portion of our business as we go forward.”

Amazon reported on Thursday that it saw the “single largest sales day in company history” on the first day of its Prime Day event on Tuesday.

According to the online mega-retailer, Prime members purchased more than 375 million items worldwide, up from the roughly 300 million in 2022.

The company, which didn’t disclose its internal numbers for total sales from the two-day event, added that this year’s event was also the biggest Prime Day ever for independent sellers, whose sales growth in Amazon’s store outpaced Amazon’s retail business.

On Thursday, Adobe reported that consumers spent $6.3 billion on July 12 (the second day of the Prime Day event), up 6.4 percent year-over-year. Across both days, $12.7 billon has been spent online in the U.S., representing 6.1 percent growth over last year’s $11.9 billion in sales, setting a new record for Prime Day, according to its Adobe Analytics data.

Adobe added that American consumers were enticed by steep discounts in categories such as electronics (peaking at 14 percent off listed price), apparel (12 percent) and toys (12 percent), along with home and furniture (9 percent), computers (8 percent), appliances (7 percent), sporting goods (6 percent) and TVs (5 percent).

Adobe also pointed out in its report that buy now, pay later surged during Prime Day as Americans are still feeling the pinch of inflation. On July 12, buy now, pay later accounted for 6.6 percent of online orders, driving $466 million in revenue, and growing 21 percent compared to the second day last year, Adobe said. Across both days, 6.5 percent of orders leveraged the service, driving $927 million in revenue, up 20 percent over last year.

“For months, consumers have felt the effects of persistent inflation and an uncertain economic environment, and it has pushed shoppers to embrace more flexible ways to manage their spending around the Prime Day event,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement. “The revenue growth attributed to Buy Now Pay Later is a preview of what we can expect in the months ahead, especially as we near the holiday shopping season.”

This data coincides with new numbers released by market research company Numerator. According to an early read of the full 48-hour, Numerator said that the average order size during Amazon Prime Day 2023 was $54.05, up from $52.26 in the same reporting period in 2022. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of households shopping Prime Day placed two or more separate orders, bringing the average household spend to roughly $155.67.

The consumer-sourced company also saw that the top items of this year’s Prime Day were Temptations Cat Treats, Fire TV Sticks and Liquid I.V. Packets, while the top categories shoppers said they purchased were home goods (28 percent), household essentials (26 percent) and apparel & shoes (24 percent), Numerator noted.