Image via Footwear News

Footwear News announced their annual list of the 100 most powerful people in the footwear industry. I am excited to see some of my favorites topping the list this year, including  Zappos.com, CEO Tony Hsieh and TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie as well as, Ron Fromm and Diane Sullivan from Brown Shoe coming in at number 4!! I have a lot of friends who know/work for Diane and I always hear the best things about her! She is definitely an individual to look up to and respect.  There are many great people who made the list and I would like to send them all a big congrats!!

Amazon officially completed the purchase of Zappos.com, ultimately paying a whopping 1.2 billion dollars. Congrats to both companies….hopefully this will be a great collaboration! Read more HERE

Steve Madden inked an agreement with Dualstar Entertainment Group (Marykate and Ashley Olsens company) to design, make and distribute footwear for their Olsenboye brand, which is sold in J.C Penney stores. Those girls really know what they are doing….It’s amazing what they have been able to turn their brand into!!

Speaking of Blake Mycoskie, he is making the news again with the launch of his new luxury line which will be sold at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The line will feature new designs, special linings, and  premium fabrics which will be sold from $75 – $125 at retail. According to the article on WWD, Nordstroms is excited about the partnership and feels their are especially interested in the TOMS Shoes mission of giving back. Currently TOMS Shoes main focus is to try and reach the goal of giving away 300k pairs of shoes by year end! www.tomsshoes.com

GoLite Footwear is partnering with University of New Hampshire Outdoor Adventures in an effort to provide “learning with adventure”. They will be providing shoes to students and staff members in exchange for feedback, wear testing and brand exposure to a growing young target market.  “We are absolutely thrilled to have teamed up with the UNH Outdoor Adventure program,” said Scott Briggs, President of GoLite. Read the full  press release at: PR-INSIDE.com