Shoe designer finds inspiration fitting
As many fashionistas avow, you can never have too many shoes. But little Addison Loverin has 20 pairs of shoes or more in her closet, ranging from Mary Janes to sneakers - and she's only 6 years old. Addison's father, Marc Loverin, is design director for Stride Rite, the Lexington children's shoe company. Addison even has a shoe named after her, Addie, a sporty Mary Jane prewalker with rubber outsole, available in grenadine, classic navy, and pixie pink.
"Addie had pudgy feet and it was hard to get shoes to fit her," says Loverin. "So I learned a lot from her."
Loverin designs 40 to 50 pairs of shoes a year and is always looking for inspiration, whether it's in an elevator or hotel room. Once he saw an interesting texture on wallpaper squares, all juxtaposed at different angles and it ended up on the sole of a kids' sandal. "Instead of the infamous napkin, I'm always drawing my ideas on a hotel notepad. I can get ideas even from the pattern of a manhole cover."
One of Loverin's latest designs involves Super Balls - those bouncing rubber balls manufactured by Wham-O in 1965. The sole of the shoe incorporates actual balls to keep kids moving and maximize cushioning. "I'm constantly looking at different toys," says Loverin, whose cubicle includes a selection of toys, scattered about near his swatch and trend board, as well as color pencils, markers, and tracing paper.
He's also into slime these days, thanks to the Barforama, the shoe with a glow-in-the-dark, gooey, green, splat-inspired slime outsole. "The shoe includes its own label, 'Warning: Extreme Slime Drippage,' " says Loverin.
And yes, Stride Rite rolled out its own response to Crocs, which Loverin dismisses as a passing fad "but practical for kids to wear."
So, you don't like Crocs, but what about Heelys, those shoes that integrate wheels that kids can roll around on? I see the appeal, but I think they're dangerous. We haven't done anything in that regard.
You just returned from a trip to China, where you visited factories and developed samples. How did that go? I visited different factories in Dongguan and Zhuhai, looking at patterns, colors, and materials. We're working on fall '09 right now. It's the first time I see a shoe in 3-D. Up until this point, I am working from just drawings, so when you make the jump from the computer or a piece of paper to the actual shoe, it often doesn't look like you think it will. I review pullovers, which is a pattern that's actually stitched together and pulled over a lathe. It's not in the right color or material, but we can draw right on it to make changes. I look at dozens of pullovers and make sure manufacturing and cost issues are addressed.
What about the sole? The outsole is made with a rubber mold. I think of this as mixing engineering and sculpture. At the factory, I'm actually looking at a carved wooden mold, and we will take sandpaper to sculpt it and refine it to make changes.
What's it like traveling in China? The food is, well, let's say interesting. If it moves, they eat it. I thought I was eating calamari once; it tasted like pork, but it was deep fried pig's intestine.
Well, at least it wasn't the bottom of a shoe you were eating. How did you get into children's footwear design anyway? Growing up, I wanted to be an artist and an inventor. In college, at the Massachusetts College of Art, I thought I would be a toy designer, but, during my last semester, I interned with the kid's design team at Converse and was completely hooked on footwear design.
How much can a shoe designer earn? From $40,000 to up to $200,000, depending on the company and your experience.
Do you get ideas from your own kids? Most definitely. I work from home a couple days a week, and my son and daughter sit next to me while I'm drawing. I sketch out my ideas with a ballpoint pen or markers and then scan the drawings in. Addie and Charles, my 4-year-old, sit next to me and draw shoes as well. Once in a while they have an idea I can use, like a color combination of pink, green, orange, and purple, which I may not have thought of myself.
Where else do you get your ideas? I go on shopping trips across the US and Europe, doing trend research and looking for design inspiration. The other designers and I buy shoes, visit high-end boutiques, and go to toy stores. We've had people thrown out of boutiques because they were trying to take a photo of some fashions. So we try to be inconspicuous.
If I want my 7-month-old son, Adam, to wear the latest hot shoe, what should he wear? Neutrals are in for boys, and we're seeing a lot of jewel tones and purples for girls. But the biggest story is that everything is distressed and worn looking. Look for color combinations that are interesting and look almost accidental.
When you go out in public, is it difficult to stop thinking about kids' shoes? I look at shoes wherever I go. I have to make sure I don't come across as creepy, staring at other people's children. It's an occupational hazard of the job. 