Nine West

History

Nine West was named for its founding location in the Solow Building at 9 West 57th Street in New York City. In 1983, Nine West opened its first specialty retail store in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1986, Nine West launched its first national ad campaign. Nine West first expanded internationally with the opening of a Hong Kong location in 1994. It has since become a brand retailed in over 800 global locations in 57 countries.

Initially founded as a fashion footwear brand, Nine West expanded into handbags, sunglasses, legwear, outerwear, jewelry, belts, watches, cold weather accessories, hats, scarves and wraps, and eyewear. After the launch of handbags in 1995, Nine West expanded to dresses, suits and children's footwear. Through licensing agreements, it also offers eyewear, sunglasses, legwear, outerwear, belts, hats, cold weather accessories, scarves and wraps. In March 1995, Nine West purchased the footwear division of the United States Shoe Corporation, which included the Easy Spirit brand. In 1996, it acquired London based Pied a Terre for $5 million. In 1997, it bought the shoes concession business of UK retailer Sears plc for £9 million and the following year, bought from Sears their last shoe store chain, Cable & Co.

In 1999, Nine West was acquired by Jones Apparel Group.

In 2006, Nine West began collaborating with Vivienne Westwood, Thakoon and Sophia Kokosalaki on limited edition "capsule collections". In 2009, Nine West and New Balance collaborated to develop a collection of footwear. Fred Allard served as Creative Director starting in 2006.

On July 7, 2015, the Canadian distributor and retailer of Nine West, the Sherson Group, filed for bankruptcy protection for the Canadian locations.

In April 2018, Nine West's North American operations in the United States and Canada both filed for bankruptcy and closed all stores. The Nine West brand was then acquired out of bankruptcy by Authentic Brands Group.

In popular culture

In Gwyn Cready's comedic romance novel Tumbling Through Time, Seph Pyle is transported back in time to 1705 after trying on a pair of sandals at the Nine West store in the Pittsburgh airport.

References

References

1. "About the Nine West brand". The Jones Group Inc..
2. Andrea Adelson. (March 17, 1995). "Nine West And U.S. Shoe Agree on Deal". [[The New York Times]].
3. (December 27, 1996). "Nine West buys Pied a Terre". [[Women's Wear Daily.
4. Nisse, Jason. (February 5, 1998). "Sears close to US deal for Cable & Co". [[The Times]].
5. (February 13, 1998). "British Shoe misses its step". [[Design Week]].
6. (3 March 1999). "Jones to Acquire Nine West in $900 Million Deal (Published 1999)". The New York Times.
7. "Nine West Inc. Company History".
8. (October 18, 2006). "Jones Apparel Group Names Creative Director For Nine West Brand".
9. (July 8, 2015). "Nine West store owner in Canada files for bankruptcy protection". [[CBC News]].
10. Rothstein, Matthew. (April 10, 2018). "Nine West To Close All Stores, Join Retail's Growing List Of Casualties In 2018". [[Bisnow Media.
11. Manzocco, Natalia. (April 16, 2018). "Nine West is shutting down in Canada". [[Now (newspaper).