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WF FOOTPRINTS
HAPPENINGS, PEOPLE AND PLACES
past 14 years as VP of finance and
administration at Two Ten Footwear
Foundation.
Mr Phillips attended Howard
University, graduating in 1970 with a
degree in business administration. He
received his CPA in Massachusetts
while working for Coopers & Lybrand.
From there, he joined the footwear
industry, beginning at the Sperry Top-
Sider division of Stride Rite in 1981.
ITALIAN SHOEMAKER DIES
FOLLOWING LONG ILLNESS
Italian shoemaker Stefano Bemer
died on July 27 aged 48 following a
long illness. Tributes have poured in
for the man whose workshop attracted
a number of celebrities.
Mr Bemer’s clients included Andy
Garcia, Julio Iglesias and Gianfranco
Ferré, all of whom visited his small
workshop in the San Frediano district
of Florence. Daniel Day-Lewis also
visited during his Tuscan holiday to ask
the craftsman about his shoes. The
next day and for the following eight
months, the actor showed up at 8am
each day to work as an apprentice.
“A man who incarnated the true
essence of the Florentine artisan has
left us prematurely,” said the mayor of
Florence, Matteo Renzi.
Mr Bemer started out doing shoe
repairs in Greve, Chianti, after the town
cobbler died. After seeing a pair of
John Lobb shoes, he moved to Florence
to study design.
Although his preferred material was
calf leather, he also used crocodile,
ostrich, stingray and even toad in his
collections. Each pair was shipped with
a brush set in a monogrammed
wooden wine box.
FORBES NAMES 25 MOST
INFLUENTIAL CHINESE IN
GLOBAL FASHION
The most influential Chinese in
global fashion is Peter Chan, who
chairs a company that owns Guy
Laroche and Aquascutum, according to
Forbes
magazine.
The US publication has named its
top 25 Chinese in the fashion industry,
and there are a number whose
companies produce or sell footwear.
Eddie Chen, head of Taiwanese
shoemaker Daphne, was second on the
list. Daphne has thrived in the middle
of the market at a time of relatively
slow economic growth, and also
distributes US brands.
At nine is Patrick Lee, Greater China
CEO of Michael Kors. He has led the
company’s expansion plans and aims
to have 40 stores in Greater China by
2014.
The head of C.banner International
Holdings, Li Wei, was named at
number 10. The group is one of China’s
largest retailers of mid- to premium-
women’s footwear.
At 11 is Liang Yaohua, CEO of
Kisscat, a supplier of women’s
footwear which has 455 stores.
Henry Liao, at 12, is head of Bree
Development, one of Taiwan’s most
successful luxury mall operators whose
shops include Coach, Gucci and Prada.
Bree is also a distributor of fashion
brands.
Also on the list are Mimi Tang,
president of PPR Asia-Pacific, the
French fashion giant whose brands
include Gucci, Bottega Veneta and
Stella McCartney; Wong Yat, managing
director of high-end menswear retailer
Trinity of Hong Kong; and Allen Yang,
the founder of luxury goods site VIP
Store, which has formed a partnership
in China with US department store
Macy’s.
MINISTER MAKES WATER
PROMISE TO TUNISIAN
FOOTWEAR FACTORY
A German-owned footwear factory
in Kairouan in northern Tunisia will
create more than 3,000 jobs in the city,
local media have reported.
After a recent visit by Tunisia’s
industry minister, Mohamed Lamine
Chakhari, the government has given
assurances that it will improve water
supply to the facility. The owners
complained that a lack of water was
causing production delays at the
plant.
8
WORLD FOOTWEAR | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
GOVERNMENT BACKS FOOTWEAR FIRM GRIMOLDI
President Cristina Fernández of Argentina announced a series of
government investments in industry on August 14 and one of the projects she
named as a recipient of the support is a new footwear components factory
and logistics centre for footwear brand Grimoldi.
Grimoldi has been making shoes in Argentina for more than 130 years. Its
plan is to build the new facility at an industrial park in Pilar, near Buenos
Aires. Grimoldi has said the project will allow it to create 150 new jobs. The
site, abandoned by beauty products brand L’Oréal in 2001, will now specialise
in producing two million thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) soles per year, for
other companies’ shoes as well as its own. Grimoldi’s output grew by 14% in
2011 and it currently makes 750,000 pairs of shoes a year.
Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández (left), with her
industry minister, Débora Giorgi.
CREDIT: GOVERNMENT OF ARGENTINA