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Roxy Lady
When designing for Roxy's shoe line, Birgit Klett stays in touch with her inner teen.
Birgit Klett spent years designing footwear for labels such as Esprit, Sam Edelman, Kenneth Cole and Reef, but it's at teen brand Roxy that she's found her niche.
As soon as I walked into the [Roxy] building, I felt like I was home, said Klett, who joined the surf-lifestyle brand, a division of Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Quiksilver Inc., in 2004 as senior footwear designer. Working here allows me to still be young [at heart], and I relish that.
With Klett at the design helm, Roxy has been making big moves on the footwear front. The business has doubled in the last three years, according to Klett, as the assortment has grown beyond flip-flops and vulcanized sneakers to include canvas skimmers, wedge loafers, peep-toe flats and fashion boots. The shoes, which retail from $12 to $89, are sold in surf and skate stores such as PacSun and Tilly's, at mid-tier department stores and at Roxy and Quiksilver retail stores in the U.S., Japan, Europe and Australia.
For fall '09, the footwear offering will expand further with the introduction of Lounge, a $32-to-$70 collection of indoor-outdoor slipper-style shoes in brushed flannel and wool tweeds with faux fur linings and rubber soles.
To keep pace with the fickle, ever-changing teen crowd, Klett has to be up on the latest in pop culture and trends, but she said that her teenage daughter and memories of...