bearpaw style | a supplement to footwear plus | 2011 • august

styleWHAT TYPE OF GIRL ARE YOU?TAKE OUR QUIZ.

HOT LOOKS

FOR FALL!

INDEXTHE COOL

TUNE IN TO BEARPAWtv

What’s In, What’s Out

BEARPAW

bearpaw_fashion_FINALforPRODUCTION.indd 1 7/11/11 8:46 AM

I HAVE A mantra that I say every day: “Love. Harmony. Peace. Prosperity. Protection. Serenity.” Those six words keep me grounded. And they keep me focused on what BEARPAW is all about.

We love what we do here. We love making boots and slippers. We love making you, our customer, happy. You might be a seven-year-old or a teenager about to start your freshman year of college. You might be a mommy blogger or a 50-something tourist who just bought your first BEARPAWs because your feet were killing you walking around Manhattan yesterday. Our fans are as diverse as our styles.

We work in harmony—with nature, with our customers and with each other. We’re team players. We respect and support each other and you. When you give us feedback, we pay attention.

Happy BEARday!

We strive for peace in our workplace and on our planet. If you’ve got harsh words and infighting, you can’t reach your potential. You can’t give your customers what they deserve—the best. Besides, if you’ve got turmoil, you don’t have comfort, and we are all about comfort when it comes to style and lifestyle.

Prosperity happens organically when the other pieces fall into place. Focus on what you do well, stay true to it, work hard, listen, learn, and success will come. BEARPAW is living proof.

Protection of our planet and the people in it is our mission at BEARPAW. That’s why we’ve developed our Live Life Greener program, which is helping us come up with new earth-friendly ways of doing business. We also work hard to help those less fortunate than we are all over the world through everything from international earthquake relief to homeless shelters in our own neighborhood.

When you think BEARPAW, you think snow-capped mountains, fragrant pines and crystal lakes—serenity in nature. It’s our guiding vision for every style we design and the way we run our company. It’s why our offices are in northern California. That pristine, serene setting keeps us close to our roots and true to our original vision.

Love. Harmony. Peace. Prosperity. Protection. Serenity.

It works. It’s how we built BEARPAW. It’s why we’re celebrating 10 awesome years and how we know that the best is still ahead of us. Think of this magazine as our birthday gift to you. It’s been a crazy, inspiring, rewarding, exhilarating and always fun-filled ride. We want to thank you for being a part of it. We invite you to celebrate with us and stick around for the future because we’re just warming up.

— Tom Romeo, CEO of BEARPAW

We work in harmony—with nature, with our customers and with each other.

FlorenceHenderson

Below: the Knit Tall boot On the cover:

the Gayle boot


BEARSTARS Celebrities who love their BEARPAW.

Jordana Brewster

Krysten Ritter

FlorenceHenderson

KellyPreston

Teri Polo

Tinsel Korey

Joanna Krupa

Crishell Stausee

Jessica Tuck

JenniferLove

Hewitt

JordinSparks

PetraNemcova

ShannonElizabeth

Chelsea Kane

PAWSPOTTING!We’d love to see a picture of you

wearing BEARPAW.

Please email your photos to:[email protected]

BEARPAWSHOES.COM 1


They have a conscience. BEARPAW gives tons of shoes away to people in need all the time. They gave 1,000 pairs of BEARPAWs to U.S. tornado victims this year, 3,000 pairs to victims of the earthquake in Haiti in partnership with the shoe charity Soles4Souls, thousands more to homeless shelters and every mismatched pair they make by accident they donate to a charity that provides footwear for amputees. And that’s just for starters. They give free boots and slippers to kids in need, people in poor countries and lots of other good causes.

They think green. BEARPAW uses 100% recycled paper and biodegradable bags for their packaging. They ditched the traditional stuffing that ends up clogging landfills. And they even use earth-friendly inks and glues. It’s more expensive to make boots that way, but BEARPAW ate the cost instead of raising prices. Why? Like it says on the box, “It is imperative that we contribute toward the preservation and the restoration of our natural world. We should help to ensure that there will be mountains, forests, beaches, oceans for generations to come.”

They practice what they preach. You won’t spot any suits or stilettos if you stroll into BEARPAW Village in Citrus Heights, California. When you work at BEARPAW, you live by the casual creed. You come to work in jeans, shorts, BEARPAW slippers—whatever clothes make you feel comfy, relaxed and creative.

They don’t play it safe. BEARPAW staffers are born innovators, and they don’t shy away from style risks. They designed nearly 200 new styles just this year. The newbies don’t always catch on. Sometimes they bomb spectacularly. But if you haven’t failed, you’ve never succeeded, as CEO Tom Romeo reminds his crew. The Internet is their No. 1 proving ground. Lots of BEARPAW’s hottest sellers get their start online and later show up in your favorite stores.

10 things you don’t know about BEARPAW, but should...

They love to hear from you. BEARPAW is all about feedback. It doesn’t even have to be good feedback. BEARPAW folks are on their Facebook page every day, reading what you have to say and writing back. They come up with new styles, keep old favorites, plan giveaways and more—all based on what you tell them. They talk with customers 24-7 through Twitter, email, snail mail and by phone. Don’t believe it? Facebook BEARPAW and find out for yourself.

The Hayden

boot


They love to showcase your photos. BEARPAW’s PAWSPOTTING program invites readers to email photos of themselves, their friends, or even people they meet on the street wearing BEARPAWs. They’ll post the photos on their website. Send it to [email protected]!

They’re 10 years old. One decade with no downturns is big news for any company, especially in the footwear biz. BEARPAW is celebrating its milestone birthday by gearing up for a long, happy life.

They have their own online magazine. It’s called BEARPAWstyle.com, and it celebrates living life comfortably with photos, articles, news, event updates and more.

They have their own TV show. Web-based BEARPAWtv features British-born former BBC host Simon Rawley-Wells on location at BEARPAW photo shoots, fashion shows and other fashionably cool events. It’s quirky, irreverent and sometimes hilarious. Check out the videos on YouTube or find them through BEARPAWstyle.com.

They give shoes away to normal people like you, too. BEARPAW not only hosts Free Shoes Fridays on its Facebook page, but they gave away 1,500 pairs of boots last December. Winners caught the giving spirit and coordinated with each other through Facebook, swapping sizes and styles. What’s more, BEARPAW wants happy customers. If you have an issue with the boots you bought—a real legitimate issue—you can contact them, and they’ll send you a replacement pair.

7The

Hayden boot

The Brandy

boot


∏“IT’S LIKE BEING a kid in a candy store,” says designer Linda Poetsch of working at BEARPAW. “For fall 2011, I designed more than 200 styles. That’s an enormous amount for one person, but it’s a designer’s dream to have the freedom I’ve got at BEARPAW. Usually you deal with lots of narrow constraints and criteria your designs have to meet.”

She should know. Before becoming BEARPAW’s designer, Linda spent dec-ades working for some of the biggest names in shoes, pioneering color and

design trends, engineering comfort innovations, and helping to shape athletic shoes for Avia, Adidas and Fila. To expand her design horizons, she opened her own studio in 2002 in Portland, Oregon, where still lives, and created everything from English riding boots to women’s apparel.

When BEARPAW needed a design mastermind of their own, Linda was their top choice. Though she gets lots of feedback from BEARPAW staff and devotees, she’s a one-woman show when it comes to creating the new looks for upcoming seasons. “I sketch all of it and I go to China eight times a year to work with our devel-opers there, who are superb,” she says.“They’re key to the process.”

Where does she find inspiration? Anywhere and everywhere. “I’m always looking for fine details that will set our designs apart,” she says, noting they have to speak to comfort and

be pleasing to the eye. “I always say, ‘When I look out my window, I want to like what I see and when I look in my closet, I want to like what I see.’ I think all footwear should be fun to wear and beautiful to look at.”

BEARPAW boots and slippers must also be fun, modern and trendy to stay in step with BEARPAW’s youth-ful following. “Our colors have to be ones you want to have in your closet, and each style needs to set itself apart. Fortunately, almost all women love shoes, and most of us like young-looking comfortable footwear. So if you design for a young customer, you attract a wide audience.”

When asked about the latest fall styles, Linda brightens. “I’m really excited about the variety we have!” she says, with obvious enthusiasm. “I tried to design collections for lots of different occasions and styles of cloth-ing you might have, so you’ll be able to find everything you would want to wear for a whole winter. It’s one-stop shopping from BEARPAW. There’s a little bit of military style, studs, some bling, some bright colors, furry exotic boots, boots made of very fine full-grain leather and lots more.”

MindMaster

Designer Linda Poetsch reveals the recipe for BEARPAW’s style.

Check out these hot looks for this fall: (left to right) the Bristol, Kola and Taylor boots.

The Gayle boot


You Can’t Do That on Television

Meet the man behind BEARPAWtv.

AS BEARPAW’S UNOFFICIAL cultural ambassador and host of BEARPAWtv, Simon Rawley-Wells has done everything from the glam (sipping wine with models) to the gritty (digging poop holes in the snow for the crew). Business as usual is perpetually UNusual for the British-born BBC alum, whose intrepid adventures in charting the latest newsworthy events for BEARPAW have taken him from the peaks of Tahoe to the beaches of Miami to the red carpets of Cannes.

“What I love best about my work with BEARPAW is the surprises,” Simon says. “I’m constantly on the go. I wake up and I don’t know where I’m going next, but I know it’s going to be great.”

Simon’s webisodes are the brainchild of SLAM (Sportie LA Media) and Raging Artists, launched in the summer of 2010 to showcase the BEARPAW spirit and attitude toward life. Nearly a dozen of the quirky, kitschy, sometimes hilarious videos—each running under five minutes—are now viewable on BEARPAWstyle.com and on the YouTube channel.

“Simon wasn’t just a reporter doing interviews,” remembers BEARPAW Senior VP of Marketing Randy McKinley of the team’s first meeting with him a year ago. “He had a lust for life that had been subverted, quite frankly, by a career in broadcasting. When we met, something clicked. We didn’t know it then, but it was the birth of this channel.”

“BEARPAW has so much cool stuff going on that we don’t script much; we just go in with a sense of fun and energy that conveys the culture of the brand.

“The sensibility of BEARPAW is very American in that there’s no pretense, no standoffishness,” he adds. “But BEARPAW transcends the culture it comes from. People all over the world love it—everywhere we go, they’re starting to know this brand. They feel like there are real people behind it. It’s not a faceless product.”

Simon is a key part of giving BEARPAW a human face, with his quirky man-on-the-scene reports. They can include anything from practicing Michael Jackson moves with Dancing with the Stars’ Karina Smirnoff to boasting about his prowess “shredding the gnar” to skiing ace Caroline Gleich, from careening down the slopes of Tahoe on a saucer to knocking back too many cocktails and finding himself in the awkward position of having to apologize to his colleagues for comments he doesn’t remember making.

“This job is so much fun,” says Simon. “There’s always more to be excited about.”

Good work if you can get it: BEARPAWtv’s host Simon Rawley-Wells dancing, interviewing and partying with the beautiful people.


L.A.-based actress, host and model and proud owner of more than 20 pairs of BEARPAWsWhat’s the most played song on your iPod right now? LOVE by Bruno MarsWho is your favorite fashion icon? What Anne Hathaway warps into in The Devil Wears Prada and what Leighton Meester wears on Gossip GirlWhat’s your favorite guilty pleasure? Cheesy horror flicks, dark chocolate, burgers and nachos

i (heart) my Bearpaws

Meet these BEARPAW-obsessed gals and find out why nothing gets between them and their favorite sheepskin boots.

Megan Wallin

Stephanie Stephanson

k

k

Professional beach volleyball player and publisher of SpikeKey Beach, based in Sarasota, Florida, and proud owner of two pairs of BEARPAWs What’s your idea of the perfect way to spend a free day? Sleeping in past 7 a.m. then taking a stroll with my dog Halia to get a hot cup of joe and see how the day unfoldsWhat’s your favorite store? Any surf shopYou get to have dinner with one famous person. Who do you choose? Warren BuffettWhat’s the most played song on your iPod right now? Country Girl (Shake it for Me) by Luke Bryan

Homemaker, gymnastics teacher and ski patrol member in Layton, Utah, and proud owner of five pairs of BEARPAWsWhat’s the most played song on your iPod right now? Bob Marley’s Three Little BirdsYou get to have dinner with one famous person. Who do you choose? BonoWhat’s your idea of the perfect way to spend a free day? Enjoying the outdoors then kicking back and enjoying a quiet day with my husband and my beautiful son

kBridgetta Tomarchio

Burgers and nachos!

6 BEARPAWSHOES.COM


Hollywood, California-based celebrity and network stylist, and proud owner of four pairs of BEARPAWsWho is your favorite fashion icon? Jacqueline KennedyWhat are your favorite stores? Target and Emilio PucciWhat’s your idea of the perfect way to spend a free day? In bed with my dogs watching reruns of Friends

Mandee Widrickk

k

Publisher of Horse Family Magazine in Watertown, New York, and proud owner of seven pair of BEARPAWsWhat’s the most played song on your iPod right now? Country Girl (Shake It for Me) by Luke BryanYou get to have dinner with one famous person. Who do

you choose? Superman/Clark KentWhat’s your favorite guilty pleasure? I’m a sucker

for nerd glasses. I love wearing them, and I love seeing men in them. Superman wore them during

his day job!What’s the best thing that ever happened to

you while you were wearing BEARPAWs? I once saved a fish’s life. Long story

Professional athlete and mentor based in South Lake Tahoe, California, and proud owner of five pairs of BEARPAWsWhat’s the best thing that ever happened to you while you were wearing BEARPAWs? I received my five Gold medals on the podium at United States of America Snowboard Association Nationals in Copper Mountain, ColoradoWho is your favorite fashion icon? Marilyn Monroe. She set the bar high!Who is your role model? My parents, Blanche and George. They taught me how to be respectful, hardworking and achieve my goals

kDonna Vano

Watching reruns of Friends.

I’m a sucker for

nerdglasses.

Jeni Elizabeth Burgers and nachos!

BEARPAWSHOES.COM 7


What’s the story behind the name BEARPAW? Back in 2001, when I was manufacturing athletic shoes, I went to China. The people I knew there had 50,000 pairs of sheepskin boots in a factory. They asked if I could sell them in America. I went home, showed samples to one of my biggest customers, and they said, “Interesting. What are you gonna call them?”

I needed a name fast, and I thought an American Indian twist would be interesting because American Indians created a lot of the best-known looks in the history of boots and slippers. So I called an American Indian friend and asked him to come up with one. He suggested Bearclaw, but we tweaked it to BEARPAW. He designed the paw logo and charged me $500. Best 500 bucks I ever spent.

What happened next? My customer sold every pair and asked for more. Business hasn’t slowed down since. Life is all about niche. If you can find your niche—find who you are—you’ll succeed. Our niche is sheepskin and wool slippers and boots.

Here’s the story...

The best $500 I ever spent.”

“

= What’s in a name? What’s cool about Dancing With the Stars? What’s the secret to happiness? BEARPAW CEO Tom Romeo weighs in.

Tom Romeo

8 BEARPAWSHOES.COM


The best $500 I ever spent.”

Who wears BEARPAW? We own the tween and teen market. Girls from seven to 12 love us. But so do college girls, soccer moms and grandmothers. I used to try to pinpoint who our customer is, but every time I did, I left someone out. Anyone into comfort, into being sensible, into wanting to pay the right price, look cool and stay warm is our customer. They’re mostly women and girls, but we’re getting there with men too.

How do you keep up on what all those tweens, teens, soccer moms and grandmas want? Social media lets us talk with our customers one on one and find out what they’re feeling every day. It also makes our jobs much more fun. When our Vice President of Sales and Marketing Randy

McKinley introduced me to Facebook, I had no clue. I literally said, “What’s that?” He told me, “It’s just like drinking a cup of coffee with your friend at Starbucks and chatting.” Now I’m on Facebook and Twitter talking to our customers all the time. We want them to tell us what they love and what they don’t like, so we can try to make it better. I tell people, “Come talk to me. Twitter me. Whatever. We’ll talk. We’re very approachable at BEARPAW.”

What makes people love BEARPAW? We use natural materials. We make comfortable shoes. And they’re sensibly priced. Natural. Comfortable. Sensible. That’s the motto we live by.

What’s hot now from BEARPAW? Karina Smirnoff from Dancing with the Stars is a huge fan of ours. She came to us and said, “Would you guys let me design something?” She came up with two beautiful suede and knit boots we call the KS Collection. They’re complete sellouts.

Where do you get your ideas? I do a lot of my thinking in nature. If you’ve ever been to Tahoe, you’ll know what I mean when I say you’re in God’s country. That tranquility lets you clear your mind and really get in the moment. When you think of BEARPAW, you think of mountains and beautiful lakes. We’re not about surfing and the ocean. We’re alpine. We’re always going to be true to that.

What’s a perfect day at work like for you? I love my work, but the most rewarding day for me happened a year ago. We went with Zappos to a local homeless shelter called Loaves and Fishes and we donated 1,200 pair of BEARPAWs to women and children. I helped hand out every pair. People said, “You just made my winter. Now my feet will be warm when I’m out in the elements.” One lady had two-year-old twins. She said, “You don’t know what this means to me. I always worry

about my kids being warm, and now they will be.” It was the best feeling I ever had.

I came home and told my kids and all my employees, “You’ve got to come with me next time! You don’t realize how many people’s lives you touch when you give something like boots away.”

Greed is the worst thing you can have. When you do the right thing, you recharge. You stay grounded and focused and real. People embrace BEARPAW because we’re real.

What’s the best advice you ever got? Our CFO, Wayne Cottrell, asked me, “Why is your rearview mirror small and your windshield large?” Answer: The rearview mirror is the past. It’s history. The windshield is the future. That’s the way we run every day. If we did something right, we say, “great job.” If we didn’t, “Hey, we learned from it.” Then we move on.

“If you’ve ever been to Tahoe, you’ll know what I mean...

that tranquility lets you clear your mind.”

Karina Smirnoff, from Dancing With

the Stars wearing the Alyeska boot


What Kind of BEARPAW Girl Are You?

Check one answer for each question. Count up how many of each you checked then turn the page to find out what type of BEARPAW girl you are. You might be a combination of several!

1. When it comes to colors, I go for: A) the dark and sultry look: black, silver, gray

and indigo B) cotton candy shades: baby blues, powder

pinks and pastels C) Mother Nature’s color palette: earthy hues like

olive green, rust and brown D) the brighter the better: scarlet, fuchsia, sun-

burst orange and anything eye catching

2. My ideal weekend would include: A) front row seats at the hottest concert in town B) a shopping spree followed by a spa pedicure C) hiking, biking, kayaking and sleeping under

the stars D) hosting a party for 100 of my closest friends

Take our quiz to find out!

10 BEARPAWSHOES.COM


What Kind of BEARPAW Girl Are You?

3. My favorite gift would be: A) an unlimited iTunes gift certificate B) a gift certificate for highlights and a facial C) an Adirondack jacket D) a karaoke machine

4. In my closet, you’re most likely to find A) leather jackets and silver sparkly pants B) designer dresses and lacy camis C) old favorite jeans and T-shirts D) the trendiest tops and mini skirts

5. On Halloween, I’m most likely to dress up as:

A) the Bride of Frankenstein B) a fairy princess C) a hippie chick D) a movie star

6. My favorite pet would be: A) a snake B) a kitten C) a llama D) a chinchilla

7. My dream man would: A) play bass in a garage band B) buy roses and write poems for me C) devote his life to saving the rainforest D) know how to get tickets to the Oscars

8. When waiting in the dentist’s office, the magazine I would most likely browse through would be:

A) Rolling Stone B) Glamour C) Outside D) People

9. The dessert I’m most likely to order is: A) death by chocolate cake B) strawberry shortcake with whipped

cream and a cherry C) blackberry granola crunch D) caviar and champagne sherbet

10. When it comes to makeup, I would most likely wear:

A) black eyeliner with nail polish and lipstick to match

B) pink lip gloss and a French manicure C) none unless it’s cruelty-free and organic D) crimson lipstick and silver sparkly eye-

shadow

THE ROCKER

GIRL

THE PARTY GIRL

THE OUTDOORSY

GIRLTHE

GIRLY GIRL

BEARPAWSHOES.COM 11

ANSWER KEY: If you answered mostly A, you are a rocker girl. If it’s B, then you’re a girly girl. Those of you who answered C the most are an outdoorsy girl. And if D was your most common answer, then you are a party girl.


ROCKERGIRL

Edgy, street-smart, indisputably cool hitmakers bound to steal the spotlight no matter where you stand.


Bison

Woodbury

Kelci

Audrina

Miriam

PHO

TOG

RA

PHY

BY

DEA

N P

OW

ELL


GIRLYGIRL

Furry, fuzzy, feel-good styles so cute you want to pick them up and cuddle them.


GIRLYGIRL

Kola

Shako

Boetis

Loki II

Brigetta


GIRLBold, fearless shades and jungle patterns perfect for taking a walk on the wild side.


GIRL

Mara

Kenya

Kelci

Serengeti

Mara

Hayden

Mikala


OUTDOORSY GIRL

Warm, wintery, rugged-luxe looks you can take to the woods or kick back in, fireside.


OUTDOORSY GIRL

Sonjo

Siren

Whitney

Tama

Tyrel

Sandra

Abigail


TRUE STORY. MY daughter Savanna’s softball team had made it to the championship game twice before. I sponsor them, so the players wear the BEARPAW logo on their uniform. It’s fun to see all these 12- and 13-year-old girls shake hands after a game and hear the other team members exclaim, “You’re sponsored by BEARPAW? No way! I love those boots!”

On this particular day, Savanna’s team was down 3-2. I was sitting next to their coach, and I said, “We’ve been to this dance before. We’ve gotta win this time.” Then I had a sudden inspiration. I ran down to the dugout and said, “Girls, if you come together as a team and win this thing, you can all pick whatever BEARPAW boot you want. They’re yours.”

They looked at me wide-eyed…and they won 4 to 3. The first thing they said when they walked off the field was, “Let’s figure out what boot to get!”

Rachel, the coach’s daughter, got out her iPhone and started showing them all the styles. They picked our black Brandy because the team colors are black, red and silver. Watching 12 girls come to a meeting of the minds in five minutes was amazing.

A few weeks later, I delivered the boots to them at a pep rally and the coach’s daughter pulled

me aside. “Tom,” she said, “I already have that boot, so you don’t have to give me a pair.” Talk about being a team player. She could’ve argued with her teammates after their victory. She could’ve forced them to choose something she wanted. But she never said a word. It was more important to her to have the whole team be happy.

I invited her to come to the office with my daughter, where we had a pile of sample boots in her size. “Take whatever you want,” I told her. “That’s for being a great

team member.” It’s stories like this that keep us pumped up and

passionate about our work at BEARPAW. They remind us that happiness, success, all the good

things in life come when you have the right attitude—when you care about more than just winning. We care about how we play the game. We care about our team, whether you’re one of the members who help to make our boots or one who buys them. That’s the

road to a victory where we all win.

BEARPAW CEO Tom Romeo’s tale on how teamwork creates a winner on and off the ballfield.

ChampionshipThat

Season

We are the champions: The Roseville Heat softball team.

Star power: JWOWWand Snooki at a

BEARPAW event.

20 BEARPAWSHOES.COM

Rachel proves there is no “i” in team.


Back to Cool IndexOur sliding scale of what’s trending now.

HIGH COOLOLD COOL

The BEARPAW

NEW COOL

Kristin Bauer

William Shatner

Buzz Aldrin

Crystal Bowersox

The Bieber

The hair and now.

Star power: JWOWWand Snooki at a

BEARPAW event.

Sweet charity: BEARPAW donates shoes to the homeless at a California shelter.

Social Media

Krispy Kreme

Star Power: Supernova

Greed is GoodGreen is Good: BEARPAW is committed to sustainable business practices.

The Mullet

Boob tube review.

Cheryl Burke

BEARPAW TV guide

Sleep to street: styling in slippers.

Circa 1967: Going barefoot.

Circa 2011:BEARPAW boots.

Cupcakes

The “Loki”by BEARPAW.

Do the right thing.

Out of this world BEARPAW partygoers.

Sugar rush.

Living life comfortably.



http://issuu.com/action/openurl?url=http://www.bearpawshoes.com/

bearpaw style | a supplement to footwear plus | 2011 • august

Documents

harmonywith nature

ceo of bearpawwe work

original vision

guiding vision

harsh words

happy bearday

deservethe best

freshman year of college