The power of social media strikes again! I made friends with Lawrence XL Gays via Facebook and he sent me this video. His designs are fun and how exciting for him as a new brand to already be collaborating with well known names such as Richie Rich! Yet another new brand emerging out of this crappy economy…..love it!

Via YouTube: Lawrence XL Gays love affair with womens footwear began 1996 when he started a job as a mail handler for the Nine West corporate office in Stamford , CT. This was not long after withdrawing from Berkley College in New York City as a product development major due to financial hardship.

Delivering mail gave him a sneak peek into the various aspects of the footwear business. Although it was the lowest job on the corporate ladder, it opened my eyes to what I wanted to do. Delivering mail gave me exposure to various sectors of the business. I developed relationships in Design, Marketing, Wholesale, Retail, Finance, you name it. It wasn’t long before XL became friends with John Cali, one of the head designers and product developers at Nine West. XL commented on Cali s designs and when he learned Lawrence was attending F.I.T for accessory and footwear design, a mentor ship quickly ensued.

A series of promotions and hard work took XL from starting as a mail handler, to a sample coordinator, to a sample room manager then ultimately working product development in just three short years. Even with the accomplishments he was still unsatisfied. I still felt there was a void in the urban market no one was going after so I decided to go after it.

In 1999, long before the successful urban brands created footwear for their customers, XL launched XL Connections, a wholesale footwear business. He applied his experience from Nine West to produce his first sample line with a referral from John Cali to factories in Brazil . The reaction to his designs were so favorable that styles were featured in various publications such as ESSENCE, VIBE, Honey and Blackmen magazines to name a few. Celebrities including Pink, Lil Kim, Mary J. Blige, Eve and various hosts of BETs 106 & Park were also wearing his designs. XLs line was carried in independent stores in VA, CT, NY, TX, and KA. Not long after he opened a namesake boutique in 2002 which carried his brand among others.

In 2005 XL closed his retail and wholesale business and focused on designing full-time. With freelance design experience working for Nine West, Perlina Footwear and Steve Madden under his belt, he landed an in-house position for BCNY Intl, the shoe company that gave a licensing deal to Heatherette designer Richie Rich. XL produced a colorful, sexy collection for the partnership called Rox and Riley which debuted in 2008 and garnered great feedback. Sadly, the union dissolved but when Rich departed, he kept XL in mind for future endeavors.

XL and Richs second collaboration recently debuted during New York Fashion Week. XLs new line, XLLENT SHOES added spice to Richs Fall 2009 runway show for his namesake collection. The packed audience with a star-studded frontrow watched model Carldee and the others wearing XLLENT SHOES for their catwalk. XL worked meticulously to create new designs and develop samples for this opportunity and it showed.

Expect XLLENT SHOES to hit stores this winter. For info call 516 633 0236

www.xllentshoes.com
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xl@xllentshoes.com