Blake Mycoskie

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Tracy Feith has signed a deal to be a full-time designer for TOMS shoes, his first high-profile job since unexpectedly shuttering his business in 2011. Feith has been a consultant for the brand's founder Blake Mycoskie for a few months now and in his new role will be focused on the higher-priced TOMS+ line of shoes. [Fashionista]
  

• Cindy Crawford, her mother, Jennifer Crawford-Moluf, and her daughter, Kaia Gerber, all star in a new JC Penney commercial designed to remind viewers about Mother's Day on Sunday, May 13. In it, Kaia — who recently starred in a campaign for Versace's children's wear line — says Cindy is "just the best mom in the world. I mean, she's so nice and I can actually hang out with her and have fun." [The Daily Telegraph]
  

• Vena Cava's Lisa Mayock says that her brand's expansion deal with Li & Fung means that the brand is going to change and grow sooner than expected. "We're working on more collections and a few surprises in the next couple of months; maybe some lower price points." [Daily Front Row]
  

• Neon nail polish technically isn't approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration, which has to authorize new beauty products before they hit the market. "Colorants used to create, neon, day-glo or glow-in-the-dark nail polishes have not gone through the FDA approval process, so technically they are not allowed for use for nail polish applications," said Doug School, chief scientific officer for Creative Nail Design. [Fashion Etc.]
  

• Salvatore Ferragamo is renewing its It brand status thanks to its clothing and shoes being seen on the backs of stars like Lady Gaga. "You can not just decide one day you want to target a younger customer, but it's just something that we see happening," said the brand's CEO Michele Norsa. [Forbes]

  Photo: Neon nails on Christian Dior's Spring 2011 runway.

>> TOMS shoes and The Row recently collaborated for Fall 2011 on a luxe wool and cashmere-blend edition of Blake Mycoskie's signature shoes, but it sounds like Mycoskie has something even bigger in the works. While giving a keynote address yesterday at SXSW, Mycoskie announced that his company is preparing to branch out from shoes.

An experience during a shoe drop in South Africa back in 2007 was the impetus, he explained: "I saw how people experience extreme poverty and their many needs not being met. After giving away 50,000 pairs of shoes, I realised TOMS’s one-for-one model was working. If it was this powerful for shoes, it could meet other needs.”

With a seven-foot-tall cardboard box by his side yesterday, Mycoskie announced: "The next one-for-one product is inside this mystery box, which will be opened on 7 June. The truth is what’s inside this box is not nearly as important as what is represents. TOMS is no longer a shoe company, it's a one-for-one company."

The struggles of American Apparel's woes have been splashed across the press, and we've all heard about CEO Dov Charney's sexual harassment suits and bad money practices. The firm's appeal used to be that it was different from the other retail giants because of its strong ethical values. Charney's image is fraying away lawsuit after lawsuit, and I'm wondering if this will make you think twice about making a purchase at American Apparel.

I must admit, I admire companies that embrace a strong moral core and are doing social good. I bought my first pair of Toms shoes two weeks ago, and I felt good about my purchase. The company was founded on a premise that for every pair of shoes you buy, another pair will be donated towards a less fortunate child.

Founder Blake Mycoskie started Toms because he was inspired by his trip to Argentina, where he saw children without shoes to protect their feet. It seems that the public is supportive of the message he's sending — Toms will be fitting its millionth pair of donated shoes on a child this September.

Source

Over 70,000 people worldwide have pledged to participate in Toms One Day Without Shoes event this Thursday, April 8. Asking people to go barefoot for the day (or just for one minute of the day), is Blake Mycoskie, founder and mastermind of Toms one-for-one shoe campaign.

Mycoskie says of his goal in creating One Day Without Shoes, "It's important to experience the impact a simple pair of shoes can make in a child's life. I think sometimes we forget all that we have, and occasionally we should remind ourselves."

People around the globe — from the US to Australia — will unite together on April 8 to bring awareness to the need for shoes in many parts of the world. Those who can't (or won't) go shoe-less for the cause yet want to participate can do so virtually by changing their Facebook profile photo, status, or Twitter avatar on the One Day Without Shoes website. As for Blake, he'll be with friends, family, and the team from Toms leading a barefoot walk in Venice, CA, and welcomes you to join him.

Blake Mycoskie, founder of feel-good accessory label Toms shoes, has co-designed a limited edition men's and women's collection with Charlize Theron. The two styles were created to celebrate Mycoskie's donation of over 10,000 pairs of Toms shoes to children in Theron's native South Africa.

Inspired by the South African baobab tree, the shoes, which have been made from vegan materials, feature the tree pattern embroidered over dyed canvas in blue and orange and are lined with Theron's own charity logo—that of the Charlize Theron African Outreach Project.

A portion of all proceeds will go directly to the African Outreach Project. If you need help remembering why (or how) to give Toms this holiday season, watch this video.

Happy socially-concious shopping!

Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie has been all around the world, but he's about to embark on a different, more luxurious adventure: he's launching an exclusive holiday collection at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman this week. "From a design perspective, we were trying to preserve the classic silhouette of Toms, but give an upgraded and exclusive version for the Neiman and Bergdorf customer," Mycoskie said.

Look out for high-quality fabrics like metallic linens for women and silk-tie for men. But just because they're more posh doesn't mean these styles aren't philanthropic. For every pair sold — prices range from $78 to $125 — the company will donate a new pair to a child in need.