Feet & Greet: World Shoe Association gets mileage out of Vegas convention

Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2004 | 7:57 a.m.

There were miles of shoes, plenty of sore feet, three convention centers and hundreds of foot models.

They brought Rod Stewart. They brought QVC. They brought cyber cafes and built neighborhoods of Kenneth Cole, Nine West, Edelman, Aerosoles and Bellini.

Dark-suited buyers walked en masse into private booths, where others need wait for appointments. They bent soles, felt fabrics and filled out inventory.

Representatives, caged in their own display areas for the expo's entirety, were dying to know what neighboring designers had.

"We pretty much spend eight hours in our booths," one girl said.

But somehow, somehow, the Candie's shoe model wearing tight jeans, a black T-shirt and two styles of shoes escaped to the restroom to primp as if this was her breakthrough moment.

You could hardly blame her. Image was everything over the weekend at the World Shoe Association trade show, the largest shoe expo in the United States and the third largest in the world (second to shoe events in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Milan, Italy, according to trade publication Footwear News).

More than 25,000 buyers, designers and manufacturers attended the twice-a-year event. Men's, children's and women's shoes were spread out over the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Sands Expo and Venetian.

Less than 10 months from now the decadent eye candy exploding from the customized booths will be topping shoe displays at department stores and boutiques across the country.

Designers hinted at the black, brown and earth-tone formalities of poetic autumn. But mostly it was the bling, the metallics, moccasins, shoe charms, mixed fabrics and vibrant colors of next spring's line.

"Color is happening. They want color and they want texture," said Anne-Marie Otey, representing Esquival and Joe's Garb shoes.

"There are crystals, feathers, charms. We have orange and green. We have yellow distressed leather and green mesh. We have a pink loafer and a blue loafer for guys."

While spring traditionally brings out the vibrancies in shoes, this year color has been brought to a whole new level, Otey said.

Even at Kenneth Cole Reaction it was difficult to decipher where the candy dish stopped and the shoes began. And the walking comfort shoe line Mephisto is trying rhinestones on buckles, a first. Its typically black, brown and white shoe, known as the Helen, now comes in purple. Its Sydel has a rhinestone. But as with rest of the women's styles on the 1.6 million square feet of expo floor, the rhinestones may not even make the spring line.

"The product developers and designers are busy little bees," said Diane Stone, the new chief operating officer of the association. "A show like this is kind of a litmus test to see what buyers are interested in.

"There may be 10 colors in a style where only five will make the line."

Lacing together

The WSA, a nonprofit organization celebrating its 55th year, moved to Las Vegas in 1990 and in 2000 changed its name from the region-centric Western Shoe Association to World Shoe Association after picking up East Coast clients when the National Shoe Fair had gone out of business in the early 1990s.

Even with its more than 1,600 exhibitors, WSA is planning to continue expanding. Its business is to connect the buyers and sellers, to get the live product in the hand.

"You can e-mail 'til hell freezes over," Stone said. "This is very social and visual."

Which is why labels go to lengths to customize, and in some cases cater, booths. While Steve Madden has bowls of Skittles and other candies, Report Shoes offers a feast.

"They like to entertain," Stone said, referring to some of the most exuberant exhibitors. "They're extending the hospitality to their customers because most of the customers will not be able to visit them on their turf."

At American Eagle there were no finger sandwiches, but a dizzying display of color and fun. Chartreuse, lime, magenta, turquoise colors, shoes with plastic flower petals, floral tie straps and glitter popped off the shelves.

"We specialize in fun. But this collection is more bright and playful than the year before," said American Eagle designer Jennifer Govan.

"People are not afraid of color. There's nothing too outrageous. Shoes are so exciting, so fun. There are more daring fashions now. They have bobbles, sparkles, PVC, and everybody's loving it. It goes from teenagers to soccer moms."

All about the bling

The expo mantra was: Anything can happen.

Manufacturers talked "hooker heels," metallics, floral applicaids and color. Occasional references to "Sex and the City" would slip out. Moccasins, ethnic beaded shoes and vintage western wear were on the shelves. Even Birkenstock has a fashion line that offers colorful patterns.

"Traditionally people have bought more conservative," said Noreen Moriarty, representing Report shoes. "People are actually wearing print on shoes. They are really buying colors and really wearing them.

"Shoes are getting more special, getting more like jewelry is or handbags. And now it's affordable. Before if you really wanted to buy a special shoe you had to go to high-end designs."

Jeffrey Campbell showcased sequined-covered boots and rubber rain boots that came in plaid, leopard, floral and striped prints.

"The really trendy customers are sticking with the colors, but they like the metallic," Campbell said. "They're eating up anything glitzy. It was pink and fuchsia last year. This year is gold.

"Metallic colors are really hot for us. We introduced a sequined ballet that sold out for the holidays. It just got bigger and bigger. Now it seems like every line is sequined."

J.K. Acid and Aquariccia presented charms and details: arrangements of miniature plastic fruits and flowers, monochrome marbles and a pair of conservative green leather flats with zippers that reveal pink mesh.

"Color is very big in fashion," said Tami Smith, representing J.K. Acid. "If you go into the stores, there's so much color out there. It's all about mixing materials with contrasts of colors."

At Diesel, where color and edge has always been part of the shoe, "One thing you'll see that's new is mesh combine with leather, mesh with metallic," said Jeanee Bergin.

While Prima and Mudd each still have their volume business, spokeswoman Joanna Hughes said, "People are looking for fun. We did a lot with embellishments, a lot of detail put on the shoe."

The new Naughty Monkey company, a junior-driven, trendy line under the parent company KIA Inc., showcased its ethnic-inspired beaded ballet shoes and painted-rose moccasins.

Diverse, another KIA line, showcased its European-influenced, high-heeled sneaker shoe, essentially an elongated pointy-toed decorative canvas sneaker with a pointy heel. Another model came in leather.

Recognizing the line as fashion forward with a heavy French influence, Maicie Bearden of KIA Inc. explained, "This is not a safe American shoe. Not every American woman is going to want to wear this."

But, she added, "Two or three years from now ... that will be different."

Unlike the other exhibitors, Rob Schmertz, brand manager and president of Steve Madden, was walking over piles of fall shoes.

"We're still working on fall," Schmertz said. "It's all about broaches, antiques and vintage so we're delivering boots with tweeds, with broaches, leather with broaches. It's all about adding extra ornamentals.

"We try to capitalize on everything that's happening right now so it's all vintage, it's all sexy. It's all about taking bling to the next level. Years ago when everything was black or brown, stitching didn't matter. Now she wants every part of the shoe detailed. Every detail counts."

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