The Couture Technologies team recently had the pleasure of attending a talk by Stuart Weitzman at the Wondry Center for Innovation and Design on Vanderbilt University’s campus. Despite becoming one of the most notable shoe designers of the last four decades, Weitzman stood at the front of a fluorescently lit classroom with comfortable humor and grounded expertise. Amidst jokes with audience-goers, genuine questions about their entrepreneurial goals, and a mock-runway where he dressed our very own Deanna Meador in his famous “million dollar shoes,” he left us with some inspiring insights. Here’s what we learned.
Featured left to right: Cat Moon, Stuart Weitzman, Deanna Meador, Maeve Sullivan
Photo shot and edited by Lauren Carnahan, Deanna’s suit painted by Mobe Oner
1. Imagination is Everything
When Stuart offered to make Aretha Franklin custom shoes for the 1983 American Music Awards, he didn’t know that she would end up winning. He also didn’t know that she would hold up her shoes in a now-iconic photograph and thank him personally for making them for her. He was a relatively small-time shoe maker, a footwear fanatic who scoured red carpets for inspiration and found himself bored with the same five or six pairs often worn by celebrities. So he decided to try something different. He worked directly with Aretha, weaving in elements of her dress and creating something truly unique. Stuart Weitzman poured his artistry into these shoes, turning them from a mere dress companion into a pivotal part of the red carpet look. Making them beautiful enough to hold up next to an award. He used his imagination to establish his brand as a source of innovation within the industry. He dared to ask “what is no one else doing?” and then he dared to answer. As our COO Danny Pippin likes to say, “if you can’t get in the front door, how do you get in the back?” Without developing an extensive PR plan, Stuart Weitzman got his shoes in front of millions of eyeballs by thinking outside of the box.
Photo by Maeve Sullivan
2. Call in Favors, and Be Prepared to Deliver
When you see Kate Moss strutting down a London sidewalk in Stuart Weitzman thigh highs after hopping out of a taxi in the 2013 ‘Made for Walking’ campaign, it looks almost like the boots were made for her. That’s because they were.
Stuart Weitzman desperately wanted Mario Testino, famed fashion photographer and creative director, to work with his brand. Mario Testino had one condition: get Kate Moss. So Stuart got to work. He knew that his classic designs wouldn’t look right on the party-girl supermodel. He needed to design something different, something edgy and cool that would shout “Kate Moss” without demanding the same from other customers. A boot that felt sexy, subtly reminiscent of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, without alienating his older, loyal customers. His final result was a revolutionary thigh high that ushered in an over-the-knee boot era into popular fashion.
Stuart and Mario called on James Franco to shoot (and independent filmmaker Balthazar Klarwein to direct) a beautiful black and white video put on top of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made For Walking.” By calling in favors that benefited everyone involved, this campaign cost Stuart Weitzman $0.
3. People Care About People Who Care
You might be familiar with the Stuart Weitzman advertisement ‘Stuart’s Dog.’ It looks like this.
Photo courtesy of Ad Forum
This advertisement went on to win the Clio Award, an award for innovation and creative design in advertising, described by Time Magazine as “the world's most recognizable international advertising awards.” The message of this advertisement is simple: Stuart loves shoes. And people want to buy shoes from someone who loves shoes. There’s an earnestness to this image, as it invites the viewer to make a personal connection with Stuart as an individual, without taking itself too seriously. Companies often throw around the term “authenticity” when attempting to market their product or develop ads. The Catch-22 of authenticity is that the more that one strives for it, the further away they end up. Stuart taught us to keep it simple: What do you love? How can you convey that?
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