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WF FOOTPRINTS
4
NEW LEADER FOR
TIMBERLAND IN ASIA
Following the recent resignation of
general manager Phil Blake, VF
Corporation has announced that the
Asian business of recently acquired
outdoor footwear brand Timberland
will be run by Robert Hiley, who is
being promoted from costing director
to vice-president of Asia sourcing for
Timberland Footwear.
A footwear industry veteran after
stints at organisations such as Peter
Black Footwear, British Bata Shoe
Company, Lambert Howarth Global,
FT International, Pentland Asia and
Next Sourcing Limited, Robert Hiley
joined Timberland in January 2008.
Simon Sharrocks, senior director of
product development Asia, Henry
Moison, senior director of
commercialisation and production,
Clint Bailey, director of materials Asia,
Scott Maslen, head of operations
Vietnam, Peter Stoeklein, head of
operations Thailand, Ramit Singh
head of operations Bangladesh and
Josephine Hsieh, senior production
planning manager, Asia, will all report
directly to Mr Hiley.
Timberland has said it is looking for
someone to take over the costing role
and that it will announce an
appointment shortly.
Robert Hiley will continue to be
based in Zhuhai for the next 12
months before moving to Hong Kong.
CELINE DION OWNS MORE
SHOES THAN IMELDA MARCOS
Canadian singer Celine Dion has
said she owns “about 3,000” pairs of
shoes – an incredible amount which
rivals Imelda Marcos’s 2,700-strong
collection.
The singer says she is obsessed with
footwear and admits she can’t resist
HAPPENINGS, PEOPLE AND PLACES
ASICS SIGNS AUSSIE TENNIS PRO SAMANTHA STOSUR
Japanese sports brand Asics has signed 2011 US Open tennis champion
Samantha Stosur as an ambassador in a multi-year deal starting this January. Ms
Stosur, who splits her time between her native Australia and her home in Florida,
started using Asics tennis footwear and apparel at the 2012 Brisbane
International.
“I am really excited to join the Asics team,” said Ms Stosur. “I’ve actually worn
their shoes for a couple of years, so now to be fully kitted out is really exciting for
me and I am really looking forward to getting the year started.”
Asics Corporation global president and CEO Motoi Oyama said: “We are very
proud to add Samantha Stosur to our global marquee sports marketing assets.
Tennis is one of Asics Group’s key priority categories in our strategic growth plan
to 2015, and we are delighted to have Samantha become our brand ambassador.
She fits perfectly with our company values and our brand’s positioning. We look
forward to helping Stosur excel through our tennis apparel and footwear.”
“We are so proud to have Samantha Stosur as a brand ambassador for the tennis category. She truly embodies the
Asics spirit and principles that the company was founded on. We look forward to seeing her head to toe in Asics on the
court in 2012 and beyond,” said Asics America Corporation president and CEO, Kevin Wulff.
Separately, ASICS arranged a special photo shoot with gymnasts to mark the launch of its latest running shoe
collection in December.
Reflecting the fact that the human foot contains 33 joints, the company has called the new collection ASICS 33. For
the promotional shoot in London, it persuaded 33 acrobats, comprising members of the Great Britain acrobatic gymnast
squad and a troupe called Spelbound, which became famous after it won a televised talent competition in 2010, to form
themselves into a human shoe.
Two choreographers helped the gymnasts mould themselves into the different shapes required to create the human
shoe and simulate movement for the cameras. One of the choreographers was Spelbound coach, Neil Griffiths, who later
said: “This is a first for us. We have worked for some interesting clients over the years but we’ve never been asked to
create the shape of a running shoe
before. Having 33 gymnasts
involved and showing the human
shoe move forward created some
challenges but we are delighted
with the result.”
Michael Price, marketing director
of Asics Europe said: “The 33
collection is all about natural
movement, flexibility and propulsion
and so what better way to illustrate
this than creating a human version
of the shoe with some of the best
gymnasts in the world.”
CREDIT: NEALE COUSLAND / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
CREDIT: ASICS