Some say diamonds are a girl’s best friend. But some fashion-savvy observers are wise enough to know that shoes are undoubtedly in the running. Hence the start of a kid-friendly footwear collaboration between e-commerce shop Kidsshoes.com and the popular doll brand American Girl.
Kidsshoes.com’s Sarah Caplan and Holly Wallace conceived the idea around the relationships between best friends and footwear. “A lightbulb went off after many conversations about best friends and girls loving American Girl, and we thought it would be really cool to have the dolls represented in footwear,” said Caplan.
“It was actually right around my daughter’s birthday, and we had a birthday party here [at the American Girl store]. We both sort of had American Girl in our head and so it was literally a text one day around 6 a.m. and talking about best friends,” added Wallace.
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Nearly a year later, that concept came to fruition in the form of a special celebration for American Girl and Kidsshoes.com Wednesday, as the two entities hosted a Spring Shoe Party in honor of their second collaborative WellieWishers collection. Young girls from throughout New York and beyond swarmed the American Girl store at Rockefeller Plaza to partake in a lively afternoon full of activities, giveaways, WellieWishers dolls and, of course, kid-friendly footwear.
The ethereal children’s assortment includes 18 different styles that are exclusive to Kidsshoes.com, Nordstrom.com and Nordstrom stores (with separate styles designated for Kidshoes.com versus Nordstrom). Each shoe was inspired by one of five WellieWishers dolls (a trademark American Girl line) and their unique personalities: Ashlyn, Camille, Emerson, Kendall and Willa.
The line includes sandals, slides and sneakers, and offers embellishments such as glitter, 3-D butterflies and ladybugs, and interchangeable patches. While all of the styles are enchanting and versatile, the team behind it pinpointed a few favorites.
“The Willa sandal with the butterfly in the front — I adore it,” said Kerry Lynch, director of brand development at Synclaire Brands, parent to Kidsshoes.com.
“I’m a Kendall. All of Kendall’s stuff are my favorites,” added Wallace.
“Mine is the Camille with the seashells. The mix-match of kid’s footwear is so big right now, and it’s amazing to get that mixing and matching of the American Girl line and be so on-trend,” Caplan chimed in.
She continued, “All of the footwear is so on-trend to what’s going on in fashion, and then you’re getting the doll aspect and the fashion aspect all in one, which is why it was such a perfect relationship for Synclaire and why we were able to execute that so well.”
As for Evan Cagner, president & CEO of BCNY International & Synclaire Brands, who was on hand at the event to enjoy the festivities, it’s a slightly different story.
“I love them all. I love that the kids love them,” he said.
See and shop the shoes at Kidsshoes.com.
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