Good profile by Michelle Bates Deakin in the Boston Globe Magazine today on Barbara Thornton who is CEO of DesignerShoes.com.
I find the profile important to two reasons:
1 - a woman recognized an opportunity and made it happen
2 - the underlying social/racial/biological/demographics make this most interesting
Quote to the point:
As much as Thornton loves shoes, what sustains her is the belief that hers is social-justice work. For her, feet are a feminist issue. Women's feet have been growing steadily -- especially over the past 20 years -- and at a faster clip than men's feet. In 1987, 11 percent of women wore a size 9 plus; in 2000, 37 percent of women did, according to footwear analyst Marshal Cohen of NPD Group, based in Port Washington, New York. The growth can, in part, be attributed to girls' increased participation in organized sports since the passage of Title IX.
"Young girls are driving up the demand for larger sizes, because they've been pounding up and down the soccer fields," says Thornton. "We're breaking through the indirect foot-binding America had been putting girls through by keeping them on the sidelines." She also sees the suppressed supply as a racial issue. "Most African-American women have larger feet," says Thornton, "but a lot of the industry has said we don't make large sizes."
Stay with it Barbara!
No comments:
Post a Comment