Ashley & Mary Kate Olsen Appointed Creative Heads of Superga

[Thefrenchy]

There's a WWD.COM article for it, but I don't have access to it.

They’re always looking for new ways to expand their horizons, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsenrecently inked a deal as creative directors of Superga, an Italian sneaker label.

According to a report, the “Full House” hotties/high-end designers made quite an impression on the Steve Madden Ltd execs, who own the licensing rights to Superga in North America.

Of the arrangement, honcho Steve Madden told press, “We do a lot of business with Mary Kate and Ashley. They’ve become friends.”


Ashley added, “We were at a meeting with Steve, and we were wearing Supergas — two years later, it kind of fell into our lap. I really don’t think there’s anything like this brand. It’s a tennis-shoe brand with 100 years under its belt.”


And Mary Kate explained, “Superga is really a luxurious brand. We are really hoping to bring it back to its roots. We’re just concentrating on our brand and Superga for the time being.”

- GOSSIPCENTER.COM

 

[kimair]

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have expanded their fashion empire yet again.

Steve Madden Ltd., which inked a deal in February with BasicNet SpA for the exclusive North American license of Italian sneaker brand Superga, has tapped the Olsens as creative directors.

“We do a lot of business with Mary-Kate and Ashley. They’ve become friends,” said creative and design chief Steve Madden, explaining that it was the Olsens who first approached him about doing something with the heritage athletic brand.

“We were at a meeting with Steve, and we were wearing Supergas — two years later, it kind of fell into our lap,” Ashley Olsen told WWD. “I really don’t think there’s anything like this brand. It’s a tennis-shoe brand with 100 years under its belt.”

Superga, whose North American license was previously owned by R.G. Barry Corp., said its sales were just under $5 million last year. With the help of the Olsens, Steve Madden plans to quadruple that sum in the next 24 months. The licensing deal lasts three years and is renewable for four additional years.

According to Franco Spalla, chief executive officer of BasicNet, Superga’s parent company, the collaboration with the Olsens will allow the company to “better meet the tastes of the American customers.”

Indeed, as creative directors, the Olsens will not only use their clout as celebrities, but also as successful designers of luxe brand The Row and contemporary sportswear collection Elizabeth and James.

Within the last two years, the Olsens have broadened their reach, expanding into eyewear, as well as shoes for Elizabeth and James courtesy of a licensing deal with Steve Madden.

For Superga, the Olsens will launch an upscale spring 2012 sneaker collection that will be co-branded with The Row and will be available in stores where The Row’s clothing and accessories are sold.

Beyond this collaboration, the designers will develop all creative and marketing initiatives for Superga, as well as oversee retail lines of distribution. Currently, the sisters are aiming to get Superga in high-end department stores and specialty footwear boutiques at a price point of between $60 and $150.

“At first, Superga just needs to start off in the right stores and be on the right people’s feet,” said Ashley Olsen. “We look at a million opportunities a day; it’s very personal for us.”

That may be true, but the girls were adamant that there were no plans in the works to either expand their own mini fashion empire or add apparel or new accessories offerings to Superga’s collection.

“Superga is really a luxurious brand. We are really hoping to bring it back to its roots,” added Mary-Kate Olsen. “We’re just concentrating on our brand and Superga for the time being.”

wwd / september 12, 2011

 

[MaybeJaded]

looking forward to see how this goes, and the price doens't seem to be very high.

 

[Thefrenchy]

These girls are such crazy workaholics , not to mention savvy businesswomen. As if being in charge of The Row, Elizabeth and James, Textile Elizabeth and James, Stylemint and Olsenboye (is that still on?) wasn't enough, they're now adding Superga. They are on pretty much every segment of the market now, non? I wonder what will be next?

For Superga, the Olsens will launch an upscale spring 2012 sneaker collection that will be co-branded with The Row and will be available in stores where The Row’s clothing and accessories are sold.

That's quite interesting.

 

[softgrey]

an interesting development...to be sure...
i didn't even know that steve madden had bought the US rights for superga?!...

superga is a great brand...
i don't think it's going to be so difficult to make them hot and trendy again like they were in the early 90's...
keeping them hot is the trick with this kind of thing really...



though i do kind of wish they would concentrate on their own label the row...
i'm looking forward to seeing how this develops...

 

[Thefrenchy]

First look at the The Row x Superga...


TWITTER.COM/MEENALMISTRY

 

[lifeistiffanyblu]

^ ah thanks for that! are those cashmere I wonder? I used to have a wool mix pair before...absolutely love the colour and the detailing..the gold hoops etc. I wonder if there will be any way of buying them across the pond in Europe? I don't think so though, think the collaboration is just going to translate into the US market...

 

[Thefrenchy]

^I suppose they're made of cashmere, yes. I really want the beige/sand-ish pair. I hope we'll find a way to have them shipped to Europe.

 

[softgrey]

I think Barneys is going to start carrying superga now...
so crazy how politics works...

 

[luckyme]

i saw them in tj maxx the other day.

 

[isa.b.elle.]

so here they are at Colette..made of linen and cashmere, price 175 euro
http://www.colette.fr/#/eshop/article/30945722/superga-for-the-row-sneakers/90/

 

[luckyme]

the row versions are now for sale at barneys online in cashmere...and they are dreamy. also online at the row store but the grey are sold out. i got mine through barneys with gift cards total was $80! yay.

harveynichols

 

[Thefrenchy]

At the Crosby Street Hotel to celebrate Superga, Steve Madden says that the cashmere and linen styles for The Row have already sold out.

- TWITTER.COM/womensweardaily

 

[Wolkfolk]

Everything these girls create always ends up sold out. It's astonishing.

 

[Thefrenchy]

Taking the collaboration with The Row a step further with these pairs in python, croc and ostrich

TWITTER.COM/lapantin

 

[Thefrenchy]

Steve Madden, Olsens Celebrate Superga Launch

The subterranean level of the Crosby Street Hotel in New York was in bacchanalian splendor on Wednesday night for the American launch of Superga sneakers, with a warmly lit display of Italian comestibles surrounded by flowering vines and potted lemon trees scattered throughout the space. A vertical garden-cum-step-and-repeat proved a mossy green backdrop for the party’s sponsors, Steve Madden and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The Olsens are the brand’s new creative directors.

“We’re excited, Superga is a great sneaker, and we’re launching it,” Madden said, adjusting his navy baseball cap and surveying the crowd. “Mary-Kate and Ashley are friends of mine, and they wanted [Superga], so I got it for them.”

The new Superga retail location is directly facing the hotel at 78 Crosby Street, which at the time of the party had a lipstick red 1961 Alfa Romeo convertible parked in front, top down.

The Olsens appeared at the fete from an entrance behind the bar, a little over an hour after the party began. Both wore long, black drapy numbers by The Row and smatterings of jewelry of mixed metals.

Ashley shed a little more light on the genesis of the collaboration. “When we first met with Steve Madden, who we’ve collaborated with for a long, long time, I was wearing my old, beat-up Supergas…” she gestured at her feet, where, sure enough, her white pair were visibly scuffed, “and he said, ‘Oh, I’ve been wanting to buy that company,’ and I said, ‘Well, you know, if you do, please think of us.’ And now our styles for The Row have sold out in a matter of hours, when they first came online, and we’re thrilled. Really, we are.”

Surely their fans will be disappointed not to be able to get the luxe styles? Mary-Kate smiled and linked the fingers of her hands together. “You just want to grab all the little baby ones, the little cashmere baby ones. They’re amazing.”

- WWD.COM

 

[Wolkfolk]

Taking the collaboration with The Row a step further with these pairs in python, croc and ostrich

TWITTER.COM/lapantin

Holly sh*t !!!!!

 

[Thefrenchy]

Steve Madden on Working With The Olsens: ‘They Are a Pain in the *** But They’re Very Good’

Last night, Italian sneaker brand Superga invited fashion’s best and brightest to celebrate their first-ever American store in SoHo–and they pulled off an impressive feat in the process, getting many of fashion’s die-hard heel-addicts, including the brand’s Creative Directors Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, to ditch their signature stilettos for Superga’s cool and classic sneaks. Hey, anything that gets us closer to wearing comfy shoes at fashion events, we can get behind!

At the event we also had a chance to chat with Steven Madden, who is responsible for bringing the classic Italian brand stateside and who has worked with the Olsens for five years, first on their Elizabeth and James shoe line and now on Superga. Madden is a pioneer–and a character–in the shoe industry and he’s certainly not one to mince words.

When asked what it was like to work with Mary-Kate and Ashley on the twins’ line of shoes for the brand, Madden said with a wry smile, “Painful. Painful.”

“They’re very demanding, they’re very tough,” he continued. “You know, just tough, tough. They want what they want. And so we worked hard to get that done.”

Obviously Mary-Kate and Ashley, who are successful designers and billionaires to boot, maintain a strict standard when it comes to their work–something which Madden confirms. “They are difficult. They are exacting,” he said. “They are a pain in the ***. But they’re very good though.”

Madden’s critical eye was not limited to his much-younger collaborators. Asked whether there were any misunderstandings due to the generational gap between them, Madden responded, “No. They’re awesome. They’re very grown up, very worldly. And I’m very immature. So we meet in the middle.”

As to why Madden decided to bring Superga to America in the first place, the shoe exec said that it started out as a “casual thing.”

“I’ve always liked Superga. When I went to Italy as a kid I saw girls wearing backpacks with Superga,” he said. “I thought it was really cute. I thought it’d be great. And so I said [something] to Ashley Olsen…and she goes ‘I love Superga.’ I said I’ll get it for you, I’ll bring it to America and you’ll be my creative director. So that’s how it happened.”

- FASHIONISTA.COM

 

[Thefrenchy]

I'm quite tempted to get the cashmere ones but I'm so scared to get caught by the rain this winter and that they end up being damaged Any opinion?

 

[Thefrenchy]

Superga Launching Online Style Diary

SUPERGA’S TALKING SHOES: Superga’s creative directors Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen have teamed up with The Sartorialist and Garance Doré to create a photo and video style diary called “If These Shoes Could Talk.”

Scott Schuman, founder of The Sartorialist, photographed the campaign, which features five “influencers” from Los Angeles, Miami and New York, while Doré created a film highlighting each individual’s personal history with the brand. The style diary, which launched Monday, is being released over three weeks, introducing a new city each week.

Los Angeles will be the first city to be introduced in a video featuring fashion editor Jessica De Ruiter. College baseball player Sam Andros and fashion blogger Martha Graeff will appear next in a video showcasing Miami. Finally, New York will introduce Paper Magazine’s market director, Luigi Tadini, and Devon Ashley Head, an art history student at New York University.

“Mary-Kate and I love the heritage of Superga, and love seeing different personalities gravitate to the brand through the lens of Scott and Garance,” said Ashley Olsen.

“This series, ‘If These Shoes Could Talk,’ shows how versatile the Superga brand is,” added Mary-Kate Olsen. “Even with its traditional roots, Superga style is always evolving.”

- source: WWD.COM