KICKS FOR KIDS Footwear Retail & Style
From Head to Toe KNOWN AS A luxury European brand for children’s footwear, Primigi has been providing “Italian style for kids” since its launch in 1976. Now the brand is delivering soup-tonuts children’s style through the addition of a new complementary clothing line for Spring ’11. To pair with the breezy apparel silhouettes, Primigi is also offering a range of trusted summer shoe designs that will provide classic head-to-toe looks. Gina LaRossa, director of marketing for Primigi USA in Hingham, Mass., said the brand’s key customers are loving the clothing line, which spans layette to size 16 and wholesales from the teens to $60. “The apparel is a natural extension of our footwear collection,” she noted. “It fills a niche that has kind of disappeared: basic quality dressing. We handpicked pieces for the States.” LaRossa said Primigi’s clothing and footwear collections will mirror each other. “If there is a nautical look, then there is a nautical shoe,” she explained. For spring, the shoe offerings veer away from the current clog and oxford
trends popular for adults. Instead, the brand is banking on sandals, dedicating 90 percent of its offering to kid-friendly, warm-weather staples. “We’ve covered every way to make a sandal for boys and girls,” LaRossa said. Natural materials like leather and canvas present an earthy vibe, and there’s an emphasis on the ankle for girls’ styles with straps, cuffs and embellishments such as rivets, beads, buttons and pearls. Boys’ styles are sportier and amphibious in nature, featuring plenty of mesh and suede combos with bright color pops. Popular colors for the shoes and clothing include purples, corals, natural tones and metallics. Primigi will also feature its traditional styles: dressier loafers for boys and shoes for girls produced with those extra touches that turn an ordinary shoe into a coveted item. “Our brand does core products with a twist very well,” LaRossa said. “We’re resistant to changing a winning formula with respect to the footwear line, so you’ll see more of the same great quality and style.” Affordability is another focus. With the recession-minded customer still cautious, LaRossa said Primigi is offering pleasant surprises on its pricing without changing its status as a premium footwear label. “As an upscale luxury brand, the biggest danger is in being reactionary and changing policies and ideals that have worked for us for a long time,” she noted. “Of course there are some concessions every company has had to make with respect to pricing and margin, but we have not made any drastic changes to how we interact with the market.” LaRossa and her team are optimistic about Primigi’s future, and with the outlook for the back-to-school shopping season much rosier than last year’s, LaRossa believes Spring ’11 sales should fare well. “The residual effect of a strong back-to-school [season] would be a great boost psychologically for the industry and for the country as a whole,” she notes. Even if the economy is still on the fritz, LaRossa is confident that the apparel launch will be a boon to the brand’s business: “There’s an elegance to this collection and a lot of attention to detail. It’s an all-encompassing line.” Call (800) 562-2212 or e-mail glarossa@primigiusa.com. —Christine Bove
Growth Category CRIB SHOES HAVE come a long way from their institutionalized styling era. From a boring and basic necessity, baby shoes have evolved into a fashion piece that can complete a tot’s look, whether it be traditionally sweet or edgy, and often a conversation piece to coo over. It’s for this reason that ABG Baby, a division of Elegant Headwear in Elizabeth, N.J., is launching a second label, Step Forward, to join its already established Rising Star crib shoe brand. According to Hillel Kirschner, the company’s design director, parents nowadays are purchasing baby shoes for specific outfits or special occasions—often in multiples—and Step Forward will give customers a new option. Both Rising Star and Step Forward offer a full line of soft- and hard-soled shoes for infants and pre-walkers. But while Rising Star concentrates on updated basics, Step Forward will address of-the-moment trends, such as grafitti prints and bold hues. “We look to fashion when creating our lines, and now we are seeing much in the way of color, sparkle and metallics playing an important role in footwear,” Kirschner said. For Spring ’11, the company is covering all bases with multiple categories: sneakers (including hi- and lo-tops plus laceless and twin-gore styles); dressy, special occasion footwear; and casual shoes and sandals—an area in which Kirschner has witnessed a lot of recent growth. While styling is always key, ABG Baby shoes are also known for their good fit and Velcro and elastic
closures for easy on/off. Affordability is also taken into consideration. “Retailers like that we bring high fashion at low prices,” Kirschner reported. Since ABG Baby’s start in 2007, the company has reached $10 million in annual sales. Kirschner said the plan is to double that number by the end of 2011. “[Soft-sole shoes and pre-walkers have reached] a whole new level as far as being a true fashion accessory for kids,” he says, noting that thanks to this rise in consumer interest, ABG’s goal is well within reach. Call (212) 695-8520 or visit www.abgbabyonline.com. —C.B. E A R N S H AW S . C O M • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 1 5