For Ruthie Davis, her shoe obsession started at the tender age of two when she tried on her first pair of red patent leather mary-janes. Ruthie fell so fast and hard in love with the shoes that when the salesman went to take them off, he was confronted with the fierce glare and tantrum of a baby fashionista. Little Ruthie wore the shoes out of the store and according to her mother, insisted on wearing them to bed that night.
Ruthie' s love-affair with shoes has transformed into an uncompromising desire to produce some of the most provocative footwear in the world. In 2006, Ruthie launched her own signature brand of handcrafted Italian-made shoes. The RUTHIE DAVIS® brand encompasses a high-style and high-tech merging of the designer' s personal style, referencing modernism, minimalism and high-octane glamour. Ruthie 's shoes are innovative in form, function and materials as she is drawn to future technology and advanced heel architecture, which has become a part of her unique design signature. In addition, Ruthie' s muse is the sassy, central female heroine from comic books or James Bond type movies who is decked out in mini dresses or cat-suits, but always wearing fabulous shoes and ready for action. Ruthie 's designs are timeless and sophisticated, the picture of futuristic chic.
In terms of the Fashion Industry, Ruthie has always understood where design and marketing are connected. While always keeping her keen eye as a marketer focused on the trends of the moment, she prefers to follow her own signature vision for modern, sexy and functional design. As a result, her collections are consistently at the forefront of what 's hot in fashion. Always taking risks and covering new ground, Ruthie doesn' t hesitate when it comes to knowing what she wants and making her designs come to life. Ruthie is a woman designing for women and that gives her an edge in the high-fashion industry.
Ruthie earned her Bachelors of Liberal Arts from Bowdoin College, where she studied Visual Arts (watercolor) and English Literature and then earned an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson Graduate School of Business. Ruthie began her career in fashion as a " Cool Hunter" at Reebok. She then became Director of the Reebok Classic division, where she launched Classic Derivatives : reinvented fashion versions of Reebok 's classic white sneaker. The success of this concept ignited a consumer love affair with throwback designs in footwear. From Reebok, Ruthie moved on to become Vice President of Design and Marketing at UGG Australia in California. She repositioned the iconic sheepskin UGG boot as fashion, with updated styles and a high-profile marketing campaign that utilized a combination of Hollywood product-placement and print ads in global fashion magazines. The result was an international fashion phenomenon. After her success at UGG, Tommy Hilfiger offered Ruthie an opportunity to helm a new satellite footwear office in New York City. As Vice President of Marketing and Design for Tommy Hilfiger Women' s Footwear, Ruthie took the brand in a more fashion-forward direction and also launched a new division, " Tommy Girl Shoes" , targeted at a younger and hipper girl.
In 2006, Ruthie launched RUTHIE DAVIS®.
Almost immediately upon its premiere, RUTHIE DAVIS® was embraced by the fashion press, celebrities, and New York Fashion Week for its bold incorporation of futurism, architecture and glam style. Ruthie' s shoes have made an entrance into both the high fashion and high art magazine worlds from their debut. With her first collection, Ruthie saw her shoes featured in eclectic publications such as ELLE, Lucky, Nylon, Wallpaper, Vogue Italia, Vogue Nippon, and Brazilian Vogue, which actually mirrored the emerging universality of her fan base in the US and Internationally. To date, RUTHIE DAVIS® has been featured in hundreds of publications such as Harper s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, InStyle, Marie Claire, Surface, Zink, WWD, FN, Muse, Teen Vogue, People, US Weekly, Ok!, In Touch, The New York Post, and many more. Ruthie also has a loyal celebrity fan base that goes back to her first collection and thrives today. Perhaps her most devoted celebrity fan is Beyonce, who looked to Ruthie for that perfect shoe to launch her new futuristic image at the 2008 Conde Nast Fashion Rocks red carpet event and has since worn countless RUTHIE DAVIS® shoes. She and many other performers see RUTHIE DAVIS® shoes as the go-to brand for fierce glamour that can pass the ultimate high-performance tests: walking the red carpet and dancing and singing on stage!
Ruthie' s celebrity fan base includes some of the most empowering and successful women in entertainment today such as Lady GaGa, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff, Leighton Meester, Alicia Keys, Lydia Hearst, Penelope Cruz, Paula Abdul, Rihanna, Michelle Williams, Avril Lavigne, Maria Bello, Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port, Kim Kardashian and many more. RUTHIE DAVIS® shoes have also graced many runway catwalks at both NYC and London Fashion Weeks every season since the brand' s inception.
Ruthie is not only a "designer for the stars", but also an inspiring mentor and promoter of "girl power". The July 2010 issue of Harper's Bazaar China emphasizes this point, as Ruthie was the only woman featured in the article titled "The Top 7 Leaders in the World of Shoes." As a woman running her own business, Ruthie is an inspiration to young women all over the world as someone who is taking risks and going after her dreams. Ruthie has spoken about her girl power philosophy at high schools, colleges, grad schools and women in business or entrepreneurship forums, where she encourages her audiences to work hard and dream big and to never compromise themselves as women. She says, " you can be totally smart and successful and also be a fashionista!" Most recently, Ruthie spoke at the opening of her exclusive shoe exhibit retrospective at the New Britain Museum of American Art titled, COUTURE. FUTURISTIC DESIGN. One woman who took her daughter to the exhibit e-mailed Ruthie and said, " My daughter Jessica loves fashion and was so inspired by your creations - she was truly in heaven."
Ruthie lives and works in New York City with her husband, Innes Weir, and their two Italian Greyhounds, Desert and River.
The shoes can be purchased at Neiman Marcus or online at:
www.endless.com
www.macrameclothiers.com
www.shopbop.com 1-877-SHOPBOP
www.shopsheboutique.com
THE SPRING / SUMMER 2010 COLLECTION IS HOT!
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