Payless Shoes is changing lately. The shoe company is changing the way people perceive it by adding a host of new designers, styles and advertising. New designs under the labels of Abaete, Lela Rose and Alice + Olivia are the company’s latest offerings, the first of which will be in stores this fall. The changes are the doings of Payless CEO Matt Rubel, in what he called a way to “democratize design”. New designers and designs are likely to bring in new customers as well as create a higher level of interest in the market for the brand in general.
Rubel set out to find designers who were well known enough to be respected as fashion insiders but hadn’t become household names. “Some designers at the earliest stages of their careers are sometimes the most vibrant, but for some reason they’re not sticking,” he says. “I think we’re doing a service to the industry by platforming the young innovators.”
