A few months ago, the Olsens announced they’d be collaborating with Robert Lee Morris for a line of jewelry to complement their Elizabeth and James line.
Today, they’ve announced they’re doing another collaboration for E and J to make shoes – with Steve Madden.
Now, don’t get us wrong. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t have a problem with Steve Madden shoes in general. We only get annoyed at the knock offs – otherwise, we think he should make all the patent, Mary Janes his heart desires. And if he wants to partner with a clothing label as official cobbler, great.
But Elizabeth and James clothes typically range between $285 and $700, lower if it’s a tee, higher if it’s a coat. And we’ve never seen a pair of Steve Maddens make is past one season before wearing through completely – something expensive shoes should never do.
The collaboration hits stores sometime after Spring of next year, and according to WWD, will be sold in “high-end specialty retailers,” so we’re pretty sure we can expect to see them alongside the $800 feather skirts at Saks and Intermix.
So is this the beginning of $500 Steve Maddens? Or $100 gladiators at Neiman Marcus?
Either way, it’s quite a flip-flop of shoe prices – Either cheap shoes are going to get really expensive, or high-end retailers will carry cheap shoes. It’s like the high and low are crashing in the middle of the fashion spectrum, like the Big Bang at the beginning of some new direction for shopping. Maybe stores will take a cue from e-tailers, and start carrying a wider range of price points to attract as many types of customers as possible?
Guess we’ll see.