The goal of any brand mashup is to create a unique product that leverages the strengths and audiences of the respective labels so that, as the saying goes, 1+1 = 3. Recently in the footwear business, we’ve seen a host of licenses and brand collaborations that are striving to reach that goal.

Of course, for a “collaboration” to take place, all the brands involved have to be willing participants. Famously, over the past couple of weeks, in the episode of the “Satan Shoes” that resulted in a settlement, legal principles were maintained while at least a couple of the players reaped a windfall in publicity and promotion.

And Nike, which brought the complaint, itself ran into potential issues with the U.S. Postal Service after introducing versions of the Air Force 1 featuring design cues taken from the USPS’s priority mailboxes.

Differentiation for Distribution
“It all falls in the line of the definition of marketing,” says Bernie Leifer, Chairman of SG Companies, which sells footwear under the Sesame Street, Dockers, Izod and other licensed brands. “Everyone is slicing and dicing the market these days to maximize their distribution.  Everybody is looking at getting a bigger piece of the pie and what they could be doing to maximize their business” especially during the pandemic when so many stores were closed. “If it works, you go with it until it peters out.”

Some recent licensing deals and collaborations involve we observed stretched across the more predictable fashion and artist categories into beer, food and toys:

• New York’s famed Zabar’s Delicatessen added a new item to its menu: footwear. In an unlikely pairing, Zabar’s teamed with skateboarding brand Vans for t-shirts and slip-on footwear ($90) featuring its trademark fare. The promotion, launched in March with delivery in May, are part of Van’s “Foot the Bill” initiative with part of the proceeds going to New York’s food banks and food rescue organizations. Two other NY establishments – dim sum restaurant Nom Wah and Casa Magazines – also are fielding footwear as part of the program.
• Adidas is making a play with Lego. The footwear company unveiled a deal with Lego last fall and recently launched licensed graphic t-shirts, training shorts and footwear, the latter including Ultraboost DNA Lego Pilates ($200).
• Anheuser Busch InBev’s Pacifico beer brand is serving up footwear. Skateboard apparel brand Lakai Limited Footwear will launch Pacifico x Lakai eco-conscious footwear and apparel in July at specialty retailers and Lakai.com
• Vera Bradley is expanding its licensing business with Crocs, with whom it previously worked in 2019 and 2020 on children’s and women’s collaborations. The new versions of the foam clogs will feature four jungle-inspired designs paired with tropical birds and plant Jibbitz charms. Crocs, which recently renewed collaborations with Justin Bieber (his second), Post Malone (his fifth) and also signed a regional agreement with South Korean womenswear brand Rare Market.
  “These [collaborations] aren’t financially significant on their own,” Crocs CFO Anne Mehlman said told analysts earlier this year. “But they create a great halo for the brand. They are an important part of our marketing strategy, but you don’t need to worry about us anniversarying something from a financial perspective.”
• Supreme and Dr. Martens, which have been working together for four years, introduced their most recent collaboration for spring/summer 2021. Three versions of the “Five-Eye” shoes launched last week at Supreme locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Tokyo.