Introducing The Limited Edition alice + olivia for Keds Collection!

LEXINGTON, Mass., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Keds, the all-American footwear brand that invented the sneaker, today announced the launch of a unique collaboration with alice + olivia, a sophisticated, yet eclectic fashion brand with a playful sensibility that epitomizes the personality and quirky style of its founder, Stacey Bendet.  alice + olivia for Keds® will launch exclusively at select Neiman Marcus stores nationwide and neimanmarcus.com this spring, followed by alice + olivia boutiques, aliceandolivia.com and select retailers worldwide.

Bendet created a fresh take on the Keds classic Champion silhouette, the original sneaker, by drawing inspiration from her own spring 2010 collection.  Available in four colors – black, silver, pale pink and safari green – each slip-on shoe is adorned with colored sequins.  The alice + olivia for Keds collection is the perfect addition to every girl's wardrobe, and can be paired with everything from a party dress to jeans and a t-shirt.  The shoes are expected to retail for $88 a pair.

"I don't think I removed Keds from my feet as a kid!  I can't even count how many pairs I had," said Bendet. "We decided to do a collaboration that would bring a little alice + olivia fun to the 2010 Keds® Champion, with what else but some fun colored sequins!"

This new collaboration is part of Keds refreshed position in the marketplace -- a brand dedicated to unleashing the creative freedom of the Keds Champion silhouette as America's blank canvas.

"As a brand we look to partner with artists and designers that can bring their own unique vision and creativity to the iconic Champion silhouette," said Kristin Kohler Burrows, president of Keds.  "alice + olivia was a natural partner for Keds as both brands embody a playful, fun and optimistic lifestyle.  It is through this shared spirit that alice + olivia created these new styles.  Stacey is helping us to take the blank canvas of the world's first sneaker to the next level -- making it contemporary, modern and fun."

About Keds

In 1916, Keds started a footwear revolution by creating the world's first sneaker. Through the years, the honesty, optimism and simplicity of Keds has brought people together. From movie stars to basketball legends, artists to tennis pros, first ladies to beatniks, just about everyone has walked, skipped or jumped in a pair of Keds. Keds power to endure comes not only from its unique American heritage, but also from its ability to stay true. The core of the Keds line is the iconic Champion style -- a simple rubber-soled shoe that over 90 years ago invented the world's first sneaker and invited us all to run a little faster, jump a little higher, and play a little longer. The Champion is the perfect place to start, and to come back to; the blank canvas that keeps all creative possibilities open. In 2009 Keds launched the Keds Collective.  Inspired by the brand's vision of creative freedom and individual style, this online community, housed at www.keds.com, brings together designers, cutting-edge artists, musicians, and other creative individuals, giving them an easy-to-use online design capability to express their creativity through designs on the Keds Champion™.  Keds Collective members can then set up an e-store to market and sell their designs creating a first-ever electronic business model to design, market and sell shoes.  Keds is also bringing people together to make a difference in our environment, with Keds Green, a line of footwear featuring organic cotton uppers, non-toxic inks and dyes, and recycled outsoles and laces. Pro-Keds has been a free-spirited American performer since 1949.  Born of basketball courts, afternoon pickup games, and backyard parties, Pro-Keds have been worn by basketball legends for decades.

Keds is a division of Collective Brands Performance and Lifestyle Group (PLG), which focuses on lifestyle and athletic branded footwear for men and women, and high-quality children's footwear.  PLG is a unit of Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS), headquartered in Topeka, Kan., a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and related accessories to consumers worldwide through multiple channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and licensing.  

About alice + olivia

Launched in 2002, alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet is a sophisticated, yet eclectic brand with a playful sensibility, which epitomizes the personality and quirky style of its founder, Stacey Bendet.  The line gradually grew to become a full lifestyle collection offering everything from party dresses and coats to embellished t-shirts and sweaters, to the pants with the perfect fit that started it all.  In the spring of 2008 a kids line was introduced, and with the birth of Stacey's daughter Eloise last year, the line has grown to include t-shirts, sweaters, dresses and coats for little girls.  Stacey is also expanding into accessories with jewelry and scarves and plans to launch the alice + olivia shoe collection in 2011.  Celebrity fans of the brand include Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, Blake Lively, Taylor Swift, Sarah Jessica Parker and Leighton Meester.  The collection is available at alice + olivia's five free-standing boutiques in New York, Greenwich, Southampton, Los Angeles and Malibu, aliceandolivia.com, and at over 500 select department and specialty stores worldwide. 

SOURCE Keds