Shoe designers employed by Aldo keep their heads down because the job requires them to.
“You see our designers, they never look up. They’re always looking at shoes no matter where they go. If you don’t have that passion [about shoes and shoe design], you’re toast,” said Nathan Cray, Aldo Group International general manager for Asia and the Pacific.
It’s called understanding the customer, he pointed out.
“We think of customers as style seekers,” he said. “They have the same characteristics wherever they are. They see the world as a mood board. They dress according to their mood. They want to be fashionable, to be bold but they also want to be appropriate.”
Adept
Cray added: “You have to understand [their mind-set]. If you don’t, you’re lost. It means you’re just guessing. You have to understand what they want and what they need.”
Doing this means Aldo’s shoe designers must be adept at “understanding the trends, being inspired, traveling the globe, going to the right shows, just walking down the street.”
Cray was recently in Manila to oblige lifestyle journalists with a look-see of the company’s Spring-Summer 2017 collection.
Ladies and men’s shoes come in a wide-ranging array of colors and designs.
Aldo shoes for women range from active slip-on sneakers to feminine two-tone pumps. Open-toe sandals talk of relaxing out of the office.
Men’s shoes, on the other hand, reflect the East Coast-West Coast vibe—they should come with their own salty ocean air.
Cray talked of passionate customers in over 100 countries.
Weather
While he agreed climate often plays a major role in footwear choices, he said there would always be style seekers, like those in Manila, who would ditch the heat index and romp around in high-cuts.
“The weather influences your decisions [but] sometimes you ignore it,” he said. “I think whatever you’re doing that day—this is something we learned from research—people want to style and step up.”
“If you put on a pair of shoes or sandals or boots, it needs to be additive to what you’re doing,” Cray added. “We all have that feeling of putting yourself together and then looking in the mirror. You tell yourself, ‘That’s right’ and walk out with just a little more confidence.”
