|
Our favourite ‘basset hound' brand has had quite a journey over the last fifty years. in recognition of this prestigious birthday ft went to talk to david rist, hush puppies managing director to find out more about this iconic brand.
Q - Fifty years is a huge milestone for a brand. How has it evolved over the years?
A - The brand has evolved from 2 shoes in 1 country to a huge brand in 130 countries. Like all great brands it began as a novel and great product idea, breaking the mould of existing shoes on the market. Like a lot of really new ideas in footwear and fashion it was embraced by the youth and over time evolved into a broader concept embracing a much wider audience. The original 2 shoes were made out of Wolverine's "breathin" pigskin leather used in combination with lightweight crepe soles and as a result were soft, breathable and very comfortable. At this time the typical shoe was black, stiff and inflexible, requiring "breaking in", so Hush Puppies immediately offered something new visually and signalled the beginning of today's relaxed style. Wolverine was ahead of its time in immediately taking the new brand international, with partnerships created in Canada, the UK and Japan. From those first steps the Hush Puppies brand has relentlessly expanded around the world. As the brand grew in scale it broadened out to a wider audience and started to expand beyond its original product category, in order to provide a wardrobe of shoes for the many Hush Puppies specialist shops around the world.
Q - If you could choose a particular Hush Puppies style for each decade what would they be and why?
A - That's a tough question! 50's- the original shoes, the Wayne and Earl, which became favourites of Teddy Boys and the original Rock and Roll movement. 60's,- brothel creepers, much beloved of the Mods in the UK. 70's- platform boots, colour blocked in hot suede colours, 80'sdifficult to pick exact styles because the brand had become much broader and more moderate in appeal by now, 90's- typified by the re-birth of "The Classics", symbolized by Paul Smith adopting them for his collections in 96/97, and the whole retro movement. Now, I would say broad toe, funky linings, seam detailing, fashionable heel shaped "pumps". You can see a good selection in Schuh.
Q - Is Hush Puppies' typical consumer still the same as fifty years ago?
A - Some are, but now the appeal of the brand is much broader, for instance we have a successful brand for children, built around the unique Hush Puppies multi fitting proposition "Fit Left, Fit Right". The original shoes were for men and women. Our brand values now are pretty similar to those dictated by the original shoes. The typical consumer is a person wanting contemporary styling, in quality leathers, with superb comfort and good value. This customer values our heritage because it shows we know what we are doing. They value the re-assurance of a brand with our history. They like the fact that we made the original, classic casual shoes, and appreciate that we have continued to innovate and consistently express what modern casual looks like. It really is impossible to put an age on our typical consumer now, just as it was 50 years ago. Hush Puppies really is all about an attitude, an easygoing feeling, summed up by the iconic basset hound logo.
Q - What have been the high and low points for the brand?
A - Every 10 years or so the brand is a fashion leader! One of the high points was in the mid 90's when so called "Cool Hunters" were discovering the brand in vintage shops in New York, and catwalk designers like John Bartlett were putting it on their runway shows. That led to a huge resurgence in interest for the brand. Around the Millennium was a low point I remember, when the last of the national chain of Hush Puppies High Street stores was closed. But the brand has never had a bigger high than right now. We sell over 20 million pairs of Hush Puppies every year, which puts us in the top 3 or 4 shoe brands in the world, and we continue to expand at an impressive rate.
Q - How do you see the next 50 years?
A - If I knew that I would be lying on a Caribbean beach. The important thing is to maintain the brand momentum. That means for a brand with so much history, we have to keep reinventing ourselves. We need to remain contemporary and relevant in an everchanging world. That includes great design, backed by world class sourcing, eye catching marketing, and partnerships with the best retailers in the market. The so called BRIC economies- Brazil, Russia, India and China- are going to see huge growth in the decades ahead, and our brand with our global infrastructure and multi-national appeal is well placed to enjoy this upsurge. Nearer to home we have a big opportunity to grow in France and Italy where we have quite small businesses, and in Eastern Europe. We are making big efforts to expand the Hush Puppies values beyond just footwear and in a number of markets have successful bag, belt, socks and clothing collections. It is fascinating to see that in China we have a good number of Hush Puppies shops that don't sell footwear at all! We are not far off creating a powerful "Lifestyle Brand" symbolised by the Hush Puppies hound.
How do you keep up-to-date with the latest news from the Footwear sector?
