Payless' Affordable Designer Collections Hit the Runway for Fall Season at New York Fashion Week

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Fashion icons, media and fans are heading to New York Fashion Week to catch a glimpse at the hottest clothing and accessories for Fall -- including the Payless Designer Labels Christian Siriano for Payless Gold and Lela Rose for Payless.

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Among the most widely distributed designer footwear labels in America, the Payless Designer Collections feature original designs at incredibly affordable prices. The Fall '12 collections are expected to be available in September with styles typically starting at under $40 an item.  Shoppers looking to glam up their Spring style now can shop the current Payless Spring Designer Collections, just arriving in stores and payless.com this week, including Christian Siriano for Payless Gold, Christian Siriano for Payless, Lela Rose for Payless, Isabel Toledo for Payless and Silvia Tcherassi for Payless.

"Providing high-end fashion pieces at affordable prices is something we pride ourselves in season after season," said LuAnn Via, CEO and president of Payless ShoeSource. "Christian and Lela continue to create inspired designs that translate well both on and off the runway; and we are thrilled to make their unique designs, along with all our Designer Labels, available and accessible for all to wear and enjoy."

Inspired by the 1930s movie, "The Vampire Bat," the Christian Siriano for Payless Gold label for Fall '12 draws from the dark, dramatic presence of bats with the intricate detail of the creature's veins and bones in a striking nine-piece collection. The lead actress in the film, Fay Wray, played an elegant and sophisticated woman who wore beautiful blouses tucked into long evening skirts in black and white -- a look juxtaposed with the horror content and backdrop of the movie.  This was great inspiration to Christian's line, as well as the grainy nature of the old film, which influenced the white and black color palate seen throughout the accessory fabrications, which includes croco and snake prints, faux pony hair, rich black velvet and strong use of black and white "snow bat" croco. The Estella bootie, Christian's wear-it-with-everything ankle bootie, combines a black faux pony hair upper with the snow bat croco and is accented with a large buckle.  

The long linear lines of cable-stayed bridges -- pioneered by  Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer, Santiago Calatrava -- inspired Lela Rose for her Fall '12 collection. The Lela Rose for Payless Fall '12 shoes are created with a mix of fabrics and textures such as wool, leather and wood, shown in a range of rich, deep colors such as pewter, mustard, Bordeaux and navy.  Details including unique stitched and tufted heels treatments, copper nail heads and curved T-Strap cutouts -- all tying back to the structural influences of Calatrava's bridge work.  Each of the five shoes is named after a city that hosts one of Calatrava's bridge designs.  The Pontevedra is a unique T-Strap pump that features a distinctive stitched heel and an exposed platform highlighted by vibrant striated color blocking. The pump's T-Strap incorporates a cable-stay bridge design with light cutouts up the T-strap vamp of the shoe.

The shoes that unveil on the runway at New York Fashion Week inspire the each designer's collection to be available at Payless in the fall.

About Payless Designer Collections
Payless Designer Collections are a key strategy for Payless in its mission to democratize on-trend fashion, design and the latest ideas in footwear and accessories for all to enjoy. Payless Guest Designers include Christian Siriano, with two labels including Christian Siriano for Payless Gold collection, his line directly inspired by his shoe and handbag designs from his runway show at New York Fashion Week, as well as Christian Siriano for Payless, an expanded line for more every day styling and moderately priced starting at about $20 for his Spring items; Lela Rose, who also has two labels: Lela Rose for Payless and a special occasion line, Unforgettable Moments by Lela Rose; Isabel Toledo with Isabel Toledo for Payless; and Silvia Tcherassi with Silvia Tcherassi for Payless. This select group of fashion designers create designer footwear and accessory collections for Payless featuring the latest runway and red carpet styling offered at value prices. Each collection is unique and reflective of the designer's signature style.

About Payless & Collective Brands, Inc.
Payless ShoeSource, Inc., a unit of Collective Brands, Inc., is the largest specialty family footwear retailer in the Western Hemisphere and is dedicated to democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories for all to enjoy.  Payless offers customers a range of well-recognized brands such as Dexter®, Airwalk®, Champion®, Above the Rim® and Smart Fit®, as well as designer labels by Christian Siriano, Lela Rose, Isabel Toledo and Silvia Tcherassi. As of the end of the third quarter 2011, the company operated 4,455 stores throughout the Americas and an online store (www.Payless.com) and also currently has more than 140 franchised stores located in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and in Mexico and Peru.

Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS) is a leader in bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and related accessories to consumers worldwide. The company operates three strategic units covering a powerful brand portfolio, as well as multiple price points and selling channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and licensing. Collective Brands, Inc. includes Payless ShoeSource; Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group, focused on lifestyle and performance branded footwear and high-quality children's footwear sold primarily through wholesaling, with its brands including Stride Rite®, Keds®, Sperry Top-Sider® Robeez®, and Saucony®, among others; and Collective Licensing International, the brand development, management and global licensing unit, with such youth lifestyle brands as Airwalk®, Above The Rim®, Vision Street Wear®, STRIKEFORCE(TM), Clinch Gear(TM), Sims®, Lamar® and LTD®, World Snowboarding Championships(TM) and Hind®. Information about, and links for shopping on, each of the Collective Brand's units can be found at www.collectivebrands.com.

SOURCE Payless ShoeSource