Trying On Some New Shoes

Today I am starting yet another phase of my tenure at Wolverine World Wide.

My new role will be part of the graphic design team for the Heritage Brand group, including Cat Footwear, Sebago, Bates and Harley-Davidson. My focus will be primarily on the Sebago brand, which has produced upscale boat shoes since 1946. The brand has a history of fine craftsmanship and quality and I look forward to being a part of this hand-crafted, artisan lifestyle. 

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This change follows Wolverine's decision to close the Cushe footwear brand earlier this summer. I was part of the Cushe team for 3.5 years, and for me it has been a time of immense growth. I was given incredible freedom in my role at Cushe, and I thank each brand leader who trusted me enough with that professional responsibility. 

Wolverine acquired the UK brand in 2009. The smallest brand in the Wolverine portfolio, Cushe celebrated moments. It valued life's journey, kicking back and the pursuit of happiness

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When you work as part of a small team you develop a great respect for time, money, resources and the skills of those around you. The Cushe team was a dedicated staff, and I will look back very fondly on my time with them.

If you are a fan of the Cushe brand, you still have time to stock up on your favorites at cushe.com — most likely at a great deal. 

My schedule will remain the same following my transition to Sebago.***

*Photo by Dan Socie Photography

**Photo by Alicia Magnuson Photography

***3 days a week – except for the 6 weeks leading up to Fall and Spring Conferences (in May and November) when I am full-time at WWW. 

#HappinessHunting at the Spring/Summer 2016 Cushe Brand Conference

Just wrapping up another Cushe conference, which means I'm delighted to be returning to part time this week!

All 15 Wolverine Worldwide brands set up booths inside the Devos Convention Center for another week, showcasing their SS16 lines to reps, distributors and licensees. Cushe used their repurposed shipping container booth as their store front.

The highlight of the conference, by far, was collaborating with Erica Lang of Woosah Outfitters on an original wood cut, that she screen printed live at the event onto t-shirts. See a time-lapse of the carving process and printing process on Cushe's Instagram.

Woosah Outfitters and Printshop is a naturally inspired print and apparel brand based in Grand Rapids. Erica's outdoor inspired woodcuts are meant to inspire an inner peace and calmness—what she refers to as Woosah 

Woosah will be opening a storefront at the Avenue of the Arts on Division next month. You can see the Cushe booth set-up and follow the amazing work of Woosah on Instagram.

 

Shoe Stackin' Sheenanigans

Another Cushe Conference season has wrapped up. It was a mellow week. I won a little Tetris, assembled a cardboard safari, jammed to a guitar playing doe. Oh, and there was some shoes around too. 

Now that that's over, I'm very pleased (I daresay thrilled even) to be going back to my part time Cushe schedule. I foresee a lot of couch dates and lunch "meetings" in my future. If you want to catch up, just shoot me a note, I'd love to hear from you.

And to keep with with the daily sheenanigans, be sure to follow me on Instagram (fivefeettalldesign). 

Mellow Out: The SS15 Cushe Conference

We've just wrapped up another Wolverine Global Conference. This Spring / Summer 2015 launch marks the first season where I am an employee fully dedicated to Cushe Footwear. It feels great to have brand focus, and work as part of a very small, very driven product and marketing team.

Our global conference is a time for national and international sales reps, licensees and distributors for ALL 16 of Wolverine's brands to come and spend a week immersed in the product and marketing that will launch next spring. Each brand sets up a booth, not unlike a tradeshow space, within the DeVos convention center.

Cushe's booth is made from a re-purposed shipping container. We can close the doors and literally ship it to the next show. It opens up in the back for meeting and "mellow" rooms. The Cushe brand is Wolverine's smallest brand, and was a UK-based brand that was acquired in 2008—this year is Cushe's 10-year anniversary.

This year, the Cushe product is featuring a new footbed called mellow, that provides exceptional underfoot comfort. To promote this concept, we created a mellow space in the back of the booth, where you could sit, recharge your devices and have a beer. Below you can see some mellow pillows we made for the booth. #cushemellow

From the newbie perspective, the show seemed to go quite well. New product seemed to be received with a bit of enthusiasm.

Wednesday evening, after our main presentation, we bused everyone out to Camp Blodgett to share our amazing Lake Michigan with them. It was a chilly evening, and the fog rolled in fast and thick, but the Cushe crowd was happy.  #happinesshunting

 

Barefoot in the Snow

It's getting cold outside. But up at Wolverine, we're keeping nice n' toasty with Cushe!

A Not So Corporate Affair

I've been MIA. Off in the corporate world.. doing something, actually, a little non-corporate.... 

The last few weeks have been the Global Brand Conferences for Wolverine's 10  footwear brands. I work for two of these brands: Hush Puppies and Cushe. 

Let's talk today about Cushe. Cushe is a young brand, born in the UK in 2004.  (Wolverine acquired in 2009.) It's three primary product categories operate under a simple philosophy: We live in a Urban Safari. We are Universal Travellers. And we strive for Coastal Supremacy.

For the spring conference, we worked with Grand Rapids artist Bill Taylor, who made us several display vignettes from repurposed materials. These included, an urban street cart from a discarded bicycle, a beehive from corrugate cardboard, butterfly inspired pedestals from reclaimed barn wood,  and a wave from, believe it or not, last year's display. But in my opinion the piéce de résistance was the two massive palm trees that surrounded the structural poles of the Wolverine lobby. That, combined with the orange glow from the gelled lights, was enough to make you forget you were in a corporate facility. 

  

The auditorium was transformed: seating was rotated, a dock was built, a pond and waterfall were created and sand brought in. Outside, a graffiti artist from Detroit tagged the side of a shipping container that will soon be a new Cushe pop-up shop. And, for the final cherry, the night ended with fireworks—a little something to wake the slumbering residents of Rockford, Michigan. 

Read MLive's coverage of the event here.

All these great photos were by Alicia Magnuson. Check out her amazing work here.